Patient payments have become one of the most influential drivers of provider cash flow. As deductibles rise and health insurance shifts more financial responsibility to patients, the question is no longer just how patients pay for care, but whether they can afford to move forward at all.

When patients are expected to pay large balances up front, even necessary care can be delayed or declined. Healthcare providers often invest their time and budget in better payment software, but the real driver of treatment acceptance is flexible patient payment plans. Financing allows costs to be spread out, reducing upfront pressure on patients and supporting more consistent treatment decisions.

For providers, this directly impacts treatment acceptance, average procedure value, and the predictability of cash flow. As a result, patient payments have evolved from a back-office function into a strategic lever for improving both access to care and practice revenue.

Why Patient Payments Are Now a Strategic Priority for Healthcare Practices

Patients are paying more out of pocket than ever before. Deductibles, co-pays, and upfront balances can turn even routine care into a financial decision, even for patients with insurance coverage through employers, Medicare, or Medicaid. When the patient payment experience is unclear or inconvenient, patients often delay care, miss follow-ups, or struggle to pay medical bills after services are delivered.

For medical practices, these challenges often lead to:

• Slower payment collection and unpredictable cash flow
• Increased patient billing follow-up and phone calls
• Greater administrative burden on staff
• Friction between clinical care and the financial experience

Payments are now a defining part of the patient experience. When handled thoughtfully, they support patient satisfaction and smoother workflows. When handled poorly, on the other hand, they create stress for both patients and healthcare providers.

Patient Payment Plans vs. Patient Payment Solutions

Patient payment plans and patient payment solutions are often discussed interchangeably, but they serve different — and complementary — roles in the healthcare payment experience.

Patient payment solutions are the systems that help facilitate healthcare payment. These tools support how payments are processed and managed across the patient journey, from check-in through post-visit follow-up. They often connect with an office’s practice management system, EHR/EMR, and broader health system infrastructure to help streamline workflows and support revenue cycle management (RCM).

Healthcare payment solutions typically enable:

• Secure payment processing designed to support HIPAA and PCI compliance
• Self-service management options through a patient portal, supporting price transparency through insights into payment history, patient statements, and more
• Real-time billing that supports payers at the point of care, whether in-person or online
• Multiple payment methods, including card-on-file, online payments, and digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay
• Convenient payment options like text-to-pay, recurring payments, and other digital payment tools that help optimize the billing experience and automate follow-up
• Integration with EHR, practice management, and broader health system infrastructure
• Reporting and dashboards that support RCM and financial oversight

These tools are essential for managing payment efficiently and turning the point of purchase into a smoother touchpoint within the overall patient experience.

Payment plans, on the other hand, address the decision to move forward with treatment by allowing self-pay patients to pay over time instead of covering the full amount up front. They directly influence patient engagement, treatment acceptance, and whether recommended care happens at all. Without a payment plan, even the most user-friendly payment solution still requires patients to pay the full balance immediately, which is often the real barrier to care.

In practice, patient payment solutions and payment plans work best together. Payment solutions support the process, while payment plans help patients move forward with care by making costs manageable over time.

Types of Patient Payment Plans

In-House Patient Payment Plans

In-house patient payment plans are managed directly by the practice and typically involve allowing patients to pay balances over time according to internally defined terms.

These plans often include:

• Practice-controlled pricing and repayment schedules
• Staff-managed healthcare billing and payment follow-up
• Paper statements, manual tracking, and phone calls
• Increased administrative burden and patient collections risk

While in-house payment plans can provide flexibility for patients, they also require practices to take on the role of lender and collections manager. Missed or delayed payments directly impact cash flow, and administrative demands grow as patient volume increases. Over time, this approach can strain workflows and limit a practice’s ability to scale.

Third-Party Patient Financing

Third-party patient payment plans shift much of the financial and operational responsibility away from the practice. Managed by an external financing partner, these payment plans allow patients to spread the cost of care over time while helping practices reduce risk and administrative burden.

Rather than relying on internal billing processes, third-party payment plans are designed to improve affordability up front, increase treatment acceptance, and provide more predictable cash flow for providers. Here are the most common financing models that healthcare providers use to offer flexible payment plans.

Healthcare Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL)

These are healthcare-specific payment plans designed for medical expenses. These options typically offer flexible terms, soft-credit-check applications, fast eligibility decisions, and higher approval rates, making it easier for patients to move forward with treatment.

Consumer BNPL

“Consumer BNPL” refers to general-purpose BNPL plans that patients may already recognize from retail settings, like Affirm and Klarna. While familiar, these options are not always designed for healthcare use and may lack integration with clinical and payment workflows.

Medical Loans

Medical loans are longer-term financing options for higher-cost procedures. Medical loans allow patients to spread payments over extended periods, but approval criteria and repayment terms are often more rigid — requiring a hard credit check for approval.

Medical Credit Cards

These are healthcare-focused credit products that function as revolving payment plans. While they can expand access to care, they may introduce complexity around interest rates or deferred terms, which can affect patient trust.

Each model offers different tradeoffs in terms of patient accessibility, practice risk, and impact on cash flow.

How Third-Party Patient Payment Plans Work

While details vary by provider, most patient payment plans follow a similar financing-focused process designed to reduce friction for both patients and healthcare organizations.

Payment plans are introduced early

Payment plan options are discussed during scheduling, check-in, or treatment planning so patients understand their financial responsibility, including deductible and co-pay amounts, before care begins.

Patient eligibility is determined

If financing or extended payment plans are offered, patients complete a brief eligibility step. Many third-party payment plans provide fast decisions, allowing patients to immediately understand their options. Cherry, for example, instantly approves over 80% of patients across credit profiles following a quick, 60-second application that doesn’t hurt credit score.

A payment plan is selected

Approved patients choose a payment plan that fits their budget, whether that’s a short-term installment plan or longer-term financing for higher-cost care. Many consumer-focused BNPL lenders offer low-interest or even no-interest plans, but lower financing limits and shorter terms. On the other end of the spectrum, medical loans offer higher limits and longer terms, but no options for 0% interest.

Healthcare-focused BNPL providers like Cherry strike a balance, offering higher limits for complex procedures (up to $50,000), as well as flexible terms and low or no-interest options — like Cherry’s always-interest-free plans up to two months, and longer terms up to 60 months with true qualifying 0% APR (never harmful deferred interest).

The practice receives payment

Once a payment plan is selected, the practice is paid for the services up front, helping stabilize cash flow and reduce repayment risk. Third-party BNPL services pay the practice directly, while healthcare credit card companies and medical loan lenders rely on the patient to make the payment themselves.

Funding the provider directly is generally seen as the lower-risk option for practices, since leaving the responsibility up to the patient can lead to delays or even reallocation of funds to another provider. Anyone approved for a Cherry Payment Plan must use the funds at the practice where they were approved.

The patient pays over time

Patients repay their balance based on the agreed schedule, while the financing partner manages reminders, notifications, customer service, and ongoing repayment.

This approach keeps the financing process transparent while reducing the administrative burden on practice staff.

Benefits of Patient Payment Plans for Practices

For healthcare providers, patient payment plans offer clear financial and operational benefits. Key advantages include:

• Increased treatment acceptance and larger case values
• More predictable cash flow and faster payment receipt
• Reduced administrative burden across billing and collections
• Fewer manual follow-ups, paper statements, and phone calls
• Improved scalability as patient volume and complexity grow

By addressing affordability up front, patient payment plans help practices protect revenue while keeping operations manageable.

Benefits of Patient Payment Plans for Patients

From the patient’s perspective, payment plans make healthcare more accessible and less stressful. Patients benefit from:

• The ability to pay for care over time instead of up front
• Clear pricing and expectations around financial responsibility
• Reduced financial pressure when pursuing recommended treatment
• Greater confidence moving forward with care

When patients feel supported financially, satisfaction improves and care is less likely to be delayed due to cost.

What Healthcare Practices Should Look for When Evaluating Patient Payment Plans

When evaluating patient payment plans, healthcare practices should focus less on surface-level features and more on how financing impacts patient access, treatment acceptance, and cash flow. Not all payment plans are created equal, and the right option should support both the patient experience and the financial health of the practice.

Approval rates across a broad range of patients

A patient payment plan is only effective if patients can actually qualify. Practices should look for options that approve a wide range of patients across credit profiles, rather than plans that only work for a narrow subset. Higher approval rates mean fewer financial dead ends during treatment discussions and more patients able to move forward with care.

Flexible repayment terms that align with patient budgets

Payment plans should offer flexibility in both payment amounts and timelines. Short-term installment plans may work for smaller balances, while higher-cost treatments often require longer repayment periods. Plans that adapt to different budgets help reduce sticker shock and improve treatment acceptance without forcing patients into one-size-fits-all terms.

Minimal repayment risk for the practice

One of the biggest drawbacks of in-house payment plans is the financial risk they place on the provider. Practices should prioritize payment plans that reduce or eliminate repayment risk, ensuring they are paid reliably without having to manage missed payments, defaults, or collections internally.

Limited administrative involvement for staff

Patient payment plans should simplify operations, not add to staff workload. Practices should evaluate how much manual involvement is required for setup, monitoring, follow-up, and collections. Plans that offload these responsibilities through third-party financing, dedicated customer support, and patient payment portals allow staff to spend more time supporting patient care instead of managing finances.

Clear visibility into payment status and performance

Even when repayment is handled externally, practices still need insight into how payment plans are performing. Clear reporting and visibility into payment status help practices understand cash flow trends, treatment conversion, and overall financial impact without requiring manual tracking.

Proven results through real-world outcomes

Finally, practices should look for evidence that a payment plan works in real clinical settings. Case studies, success stories, and demonstrated improvements in treatment acceptance or revenue performance can provide confidence that the plan will deliver meaningful results.

The right patient payment plan should support the full patient journey — from treatment decision to completion — while strengthening revenue cycle performance and protecting practice cash flow.

Where Cherry Fits in the Patient Payment Solution Landscape

Cherry fits within the healthcare BNPL category as a patient payment platform built specifically for healthcare practices. It is designed to support flexible payment options, streamlined workflows, and automated follow-up — helping patients pay medical bills with confidence while supporting stronger cash flow and simpler operations for practices.

As patient financial responsibility continues to grow, patient financing solutions like Cherry reflect a broader shift toward payment systems that are more transparent, convenient, and aligned with how patients want to pay. When the payment experience works well, both practices and patients benefit.

Patients get flexible financing for all types of treatment — from plastic surgery to veterinary — with limits as high as $50,000 and terms as long as 60 months. It takes just 60 seconds to apply and doesn’t hurt credit score, and over 80% of patients are approved instantly across credit profiles. Qualified borrowers have access to true 0% APR options with no deferred interest.

For healthcare providers, Cherry provides upfront payment while handling lending and repayment, which reduces administrative burden and eliminates financial risk. This approach makes care more affordable for patients, helping practices increase treatment acceptance while building stronger patient loyalty through exclusive approvals.

Combined with the lowest merchant fees in the industry, Cherry helps practices improve cash flow without adding operational complexity. Find out why over 50,000 providers partner with Cherry. Claim your personalized demo here.