Choosing the Right Payments Provider for Healthcare Tech: A Guide for Medical, Dental, and Optical Practices
Payments Providers and Healthcare
In today’s fast-paced healthcare landscape, private practices from GPs and dentists to physiotherapists and optometrists are under pressure to modernise patient experiences while improving efficiency and cash flow. One key area ripe for innovation is payments.
As more practices adopt practice management software, there's an increasing expectation for these platforms to support seamless, secure, and user-friendly financial processes. 45% of healthcare businesses that use management software want more payment innovation.
Whether you run a single-site clinic or offer services across multiple locations, having the right payment provider can help you reduce administrative tasks, get paid faster, and provide better experiences for patients.
What Healthcare Practices Need from a Payments Provider
Healthcare is no longer an industry where patients expect to wait weeks for paper bills or fumble with cheques. Today’s patients are used to quick, digital-first payment experiences, whether they’re shopping online, dining out, or booking a holiday. Healthcare needs to keep up.
Here’s what modern private medical and dental practices, optometrists, and clinics expect from payment systems:
- Flexible payment options (card, contactless, pay-by-link, instalments, etc.)
- Fast, reliable payouts for healthier cash flow
- Compliance and security, especially around sensitive health and financial data
- Seamless integration with EHR systems and patient management software
- Mobile and remote capabilities, including pay-by-text or online portals
- Support for recurring payments or subscriptions (e.g., dental plans, physio packages)
Understanding Payment Methods in Healthcare
Offering a wide range of patient payment options is essential for improving patient satisfaction and reducing late or missed payments. While debit and credit card payments remain the standard, modern healthcare providers are increasingly embracing digital wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay), pay-by-link, bank transfers via open banking, and even Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) solutions for elective treatments like aesthetics or orthodontics. Some practices are also implementing direct debit and subscription models to simplify repeat billing for ongoing care plans. By enabling convenient and flexible healthcare payment methods, practices can improve cash flow, reduce administrative tasks, and deliver a smoother financial experience for patients.
Embedded vs Integrated Payments: What’s the Difference?
If you're exploring payment partnerships for your healthcare platform or practice management software, you'll come across two terms: embedded payments and integrated payments.
Integrated Payments
This model connects your software to an external payment processor via APIs. While it allows for automation and reduces manual errors, you're still juggling multiple vendors and systems, often requiring more support and customisation.
This is a more advanced approach. Here, payment functionality is built into your platform, so the entire transaction journey—from entering card details to receiving confirmation—happens within your app or site. Patients never have to leave your environment, and you stay in control of the experience.
Example: A dental practice using a patient portal with embedded payments can let patients’ book, pay, and receive invoices without redirecting to third-party platforms. It’s smoother, more secure, and ideal for recurring visits.
Why Embedded Payments Are Gaining Momentum in Healthcare
As more patients turn to digital tools to schedule appointments, manage prescriptions, and review lab results, there’s a natural opportunity to embed payments directly into that journey. Benefits include:
Improved Patient Experience
Reduce checkout friction and provide a consistent, branded experience—whether patients pay online, via app, or in-clinic.
New Revenue Streams
Platforms offering embedded payments can monetise transactions through interchange fees or subscription models, great for SaaS healthcare providers.
Real-Time Data and Insights
Track payment performance, identify patient trends, and improve financial decision-making with built-in analytics.
Scale Globally
For growing practices or healthcare SaaS companies expanding internationally, embedded payments offer multi-currency support and local compliance—without juggling several vendors.
Key Trends Driving Payment Innovation in Healthcare
Healthcare professionals should also consider broader shifts that are influencing the payments space:
- Rising demand for flexible payment options as out-of-pocket expenses grow
- Digitisation of Electronic Health Records (EHR), which are now central to payments and billing
- Increased demand for elective and private health services
- Ageing populations are leading to greater volumes of appointments and recurring treatments
What to Look for in a Healthcare Payments Provider
When shortlisting payment providers for your healthcare business or SaaS platform, keep these criteria in mind:
- Developer-friendly APIs and modular tools to customise your checkout experience
- Multi-currency and local payment support for global scalability
- Proven reliability, with strong uptime, fast settlements, and a banking licence (if applicable)
- Robust security, including tokenisation, PCI DSS compliance, and fraud prevention
- Excellent customer support and clear onboarding processes
- Ability to support recurring or subscription billing for plans and packages
- Transparent pricing, with no hidden fees or restrictive long-term contracts
Implementing Embedded Payments in Healthcare Software
Ready to bring embedded payments into your software or practice? Here’s a quick roadmap:
- Map the full patient journey, from booking to payment to follow-up
- Keep payments in-platform, whether through app, email links, or terminal
- Secure data properly with encryption and built-in compliance measures
- Test thoroughly using sandbox environments before going live
- Connect with your other systems, such as your CRM or accounting tools
- Monitor performance post-launch and continue optimising
How The Payments Directory® Can Help
Navigating the payments landscape, especially in healthcare, can feel overwhelming. With so many providers promising all-in-one solutions, it’s hard to know which one is truly the right fit.
That’s where The Payments Directory® comes in.
Designed to support healthcare businesses and software platforms alike, The Payments Directory® lets you:
- Compare vetted providers that specialise in healthcare and patient-focused services
- Filter by key features like recurring billing, EHR integration, or medical compliance
- Access verified insights on pricing, user reviews, and onboarding processes
- Connect directly with providers that meet your specific needs
- Stay compliant with industry regulations and patient privacy laws
Whether you're a practice manager, tech founder, or healthcare SaaS developer, The Payments Directory® helps you make confident, well-informed decisions about your payment partnerships, so you can focus on what matters most: delivering exceptional care to your patients.
