The purpose of this viewpoint is to discuss the risks associated with offering clinic-backed payment plans, with a particular focus on financial risks. We provide a financial calculator tool that clinics can use with their financial information to make more informed decisions about whether implementing clinic-backed payment plans are viable for them. Realistic but hypothetical financial information for a clinic is used to simulate financial evaluations, including cash flow budget analysis, multivariate sensitivity analysis, and risk assessment to help clinics better understand these evaluations. Our simulations show that even under high default rates, the revenue benefits outweigh the labor costs and could bring higher profitability to clinics while increasing access to care for clients and patients.
Keywords: cash flow budget; companion animals; finance; managing risk; payment plans.