Pearly Software Overview: Key Features, Pros & Cons

Office managers dread spending their precious time calling, emailing and putting bills in the mail – it’s exhausting and inefficient. Similarly, patients also dread being hounded by office managers and bill collectors. 

The conventional payment process after going to the dentist is cumbersome and labor intensive for all parties involved. Pearly’s mission is to remove these headaches and streamline dental bill paying. 

Founded in 2018, Pearly is a software solution designed to modernize, automate and simplify billing and payments for dental practices. While many dental practice management software providers try to do it all, Pearly is focused solely on being the premier financial management tool for modern, tech-forward dental practices. Their goal is to create the best patient revenue cycle automation software on the market.

Pearly serves two primary types of practices: DSOs/Group Practices and Private Dental Practices. This post will go into Pearly’s key features, and pros and cons to consider when deciding if signing up for Pearly makes sense for your dental practice.

Key Features

Patient Billing 

Pearly allows practices to automate patient billing communications. Bills are centralized on a single platform that patients can easily access and pay on their phones or computers. The platform allows dental practices to set up sequenced communications, putting collection reminders on autopilot. 

Accounts Receivable Collection

Pearly’s accounts receivable collection tool is designed to make paying bills easier for patients. Patients receive a link to their bill via text or email then pay their bill in a few clicks. Dental office revenue cycle teams get notified of payments immediately and outstanding balances are updated in real time.

Payment Plans

Pearly offers automated payment plans so patients can pay over time. This allows patients to opt into monthly payments to pay off a portion of their bill each month. Office managers can customize the terms and conditions of payment plan options to meet the needs of their practice and patients.

Membership Programs for Uninsured Patients

Membership programs are becoming increasingly popular for uninsured patients. Pearly allows practices to offer these customized packages and patients to sign up online or in office. Patients pay for these packages upfront – providing offices with a mechanism to bring in revenue from uninsured patients, a demographic that is typically among the most likely to fall behind on payments or stop paying altogether.

Patient Payment Experience

Pearly focuses on making the patient experience quick and easy. After receiving a text or email, the patient clicks to enter their online portal, then has the option to pay for everything or set up a payment plan. The whole process can be completed in a couple of minutes or less.

Practice Management Software Integrations

Pearly integrates with over 80 practice management software options. This provides practices flexibility to sign up for Pearly without making sweeping changes to their key software subscriptions.

Reporting and Data Insights

Pearly also provides reporting and analytics tools for all stakeholders – including patients, office managers and practice owners. Stakeholders can download reports and graphs and track practice performance, financial data, and patient payment trends over time. 

The Pros and Cons of Pearly For Revenue Management 

As addressed above, Pearly’s core products aim to save dental offices time and bring in revenue that has traditionally been hard to collect.

Here are some pros and cons to consider if you’re thinking about signing up for Pearly: 

Pros of Using Pearly

User-Friendly Interface

Pearly stands out with its user-friendly interface. The patient portal is sleek and easy to navigate for patients trying to pay their bills quickly.

It’s also intuitive for dental practices looking to check on payment statuses and analyze reports. Many financial software options feel clunky and slow; Pearly feels nimble and presents data in a digestible way that doesn’t require advanced analytical skills.

Automated Billing and Accounts Receivable

With automation features like reminders and notifications, Pearly helps improve patient payment collection rates. According to a Pearly case study, their accounts receivable and automated bill notification tool can boost collection rates 30-40% and expedite payment by up to 16 days.

Flexible Payment Options for Patients

Let’s face it – dental procedures are expensive and many patients don’t have the cash on hand to pay a four-figure bill all at once. When faced with an all-or-nothing ultimatum, these patients will delay paying as long as possible, potentially not at all. 

However, if given the option to pay in smaller chunks of $50 or $100 per month, then they may be more inclined to take action. Pearly enables dental practices to design payment plans that meet the needs of both their patients and the office’s financial obligations.

Perhaps the most valuable part of this feature is the auto-payment setting. Patients can opt in to have their credit card charged a percentage of the bill each month. This allows them to put the bill out of sight and mind and feel like they’re making progress paying off their bill without paying a crippling amount at any time. 

From the dental practice’s standpoint, it may take longer to receive the full payment, but it will be coming in reliable, consistent intervals. Additionally, office managers won’t have to waste time pestering the patient who is ignoring their phone calls. Overall, this is one of the most effective tools to collect payments from patients who are hard to track down.

Increases Revenue Likelihood from Uninsured Patients

Another great way to collect revenue upfront is to offer packages to patients without insurance. Because of larger bills and increased likelihood of financial instability, uninsured patients are less likely to pay for their dental work in full. 

To combat this trend, Pearly allows practices to offer packages of predefined dental work for a fixed rate over a set amount of time. 

For example, a patient can pay $400 upfront for two cleanings and one round of X-rays over the upcoming year. Depending on your practice’s costs, you can offer a small discount for these packages in exchange for the patient paying upfront. These packages are a great way to secure revenue months ahead of when services are provided and tap into a patient demographic that is typically hard to reach.

Frees Up Your Staff’s Precious Time

This goes without saying, but reliable automation tools enable your staff to spend less time playing tag phone and pestering patients with emails and text messages. This can free up their time to focus on strategic initiatives that grow your business or catching up on projects that have been on hold for too long. 

Mobile Accessibility

One of the niftiest features of Pearly is its mobile compatibility. Patients receive a simple text message saying something like “Your bill from XYZ Dentistry is ready. Click here to pay online.” The link directs them to a simple login page where they can view the services they had and enter their credit card for full payment or a payment plan. On a smartphone, it can take less than a minute. 

With tech-forward industries transitioning to mobile payments, allowing patients to pay their bills quickly from their smartphones will differentiate your practices that require patients to jump through unnecessary hoops just to pay.

Cons of Using Pearly

Initial Training 

Some dental practice staff may experience a learning curve when adapting to Pearly's online portal. While Pearly is relatively intuitive, if members of your team haven't used revenue management software before, it may require additional training time.

Limited Customization

While Pearly offers a comprehensive suite of features, some more technical users may find the level of customization limited. This can impact dental practices with highly targeted data analysis requirements.  

Integration Challenges

While Pearly supports integrations with over 90% of the practice management software options, integrations aren’t always seamless. Depending on how many other programs a dental office uses, workflow efficiency may be disrupted when adding Pearly your suite of software subscriptions. 

Support Responsiveness

Depending on your package and nature of your questions, Pearly's customer support may or may not be able to resolve the issue quickly. While this likely won’t impact you in any major way, it’s good to clearly understand who your point of contact is at Pearly and how to get in touch with them.

Price Point

Pearly's pricing structure may be perceived by some users as high compared to alternative solutions. Some of Pearly’s features may be overkill for small single-dentist practices or practices with budget constraints.

While Pearly does require paying a premium for its revenue management tools, it’s easy to measure the value it provides in just a few months. If your practice is bringing in more additional revenue that you previously weren’t able to receive and that amount is more than the monthly subscription price, it’s probably worth continuing to use Pearly.

Final Word on Pearly for Dental Practice Revenue Management

Pearly is an excellent choice for dental practice revenue management. Their ability to enhance the patient payment experience and cut out tedious labor for your office staff make it a great option for your dental practice as you choose your core subscriptions.

While you’re considering revenue management software, you should also think about other core processes that could be improved in your office. One area that many offices waste a ton of time and money on every month is referrals. Sindi enables you to manage patient referrals digitally on one central platform. 

Sign up today to learn how Sindi can help your practice transform how it sends and receives referrals.