When an orthodontic treatment plan is approved, Make spawns the full installment schedule: tokenized card charges on the due date, instant receipts, and a polite three-step dunning sequence on failures — with staff stepping in only after a card fails twice.
Typical results
8 hrs/wk
Billing time saved
4 days
To recover failed payments
2
Failures before staff step in
Figures reflect typical results for this kind of automation.
The challenge
Orthodontic treatments run eighteen to twenty-four months, and collecting monthly installments was a manual grind: standing orders that lapsed, expired cards, and awkward reminder calls parents resented. More than a fifth of installments arrived late, staff spent ten hours a week chasing money, and some balances quietly slipped away entirely.
Before and after
On-time collection rate
+24%Hours chasing payments
−80%Days to recover a failed payment
−81%The automation
We connected the practice management system to the payment gateway through Make. An approved treatment plan automatically spawns its installment schedule, with the parent's card tokenized at signup. Each charge runs on its due date and issues a receipt instantly. When a charge fails, a polite three-step WhatsApp sequence offers a one-tap retry link over ten days; only a second failed charge — or an expiring card — escalates to staff with the full payment history attached.
How it works
- 01
Plan approved
A signed treatment plan automatically spawns its full installment schedule.
- 02
Card tokenized
Payment details are stored securely at signup and charged on each due date.
- 03
Receipts sent
Every successful charge triggers an instant receipt to the parent's phone.
- 04
Gentle dunning
A failed charge starts a polite three-step WhatsApp sequence with a one-tap retry link.
- 05
Human touch
Only a second failed charge — or an expiring card — escalates to staff with full history.
Starts from
- Approved treatment plan
- Tokenized card
Delivers
- Instant receipts
- Dunning sequence
- Staff escalation
The impact
On-time collection climbed from 78% to 97%, and failed payments now recover in four days instead of three weeks. Staff time spent chasing money fell from ten hours a week to two, receipts go out by themselves, and parents get gentle nudges instead of embarrassing phone calls.
Questions about this automation
How is the installment schedule created?
When a treatment plan is approved in the practice management system, the automation reads the total, the number of months and the start date, then creates every installment with its due date. The parent's card is tokenized at signup through the payment gateway, so no card details are stored in the practice system.
What happens when a charge fails?
A failed charge starts a polite three-step WhatsApp sequence over about ten days, each message with a one-tap link to retry or update the card. If the payment fails a second time, or the card is about to expire, the case goes to a staff member with the full payment history attached.
Which systems does the payment plan flow connect?
It connects the practice management system, a payment gateway that supports card tokenization and the WhatsApp Business API for receipts and reminders, with Make running the logic between them. This is a multi-step build, usually rolled out in stages, starting with scheduled charges and receipts before the reminder sequence goes live.