Driving Patient Access at Scale

How Careington® and Intelibly® Activated a Nationwide Dental Network

Executive Summary

In late 2024, Careington International Corporation — one of the largest privately held discount health care companies in the U.S., serving more than 50 million members across all of its companies, brands and industry-best products and services — partnered with Intelibly to embed the Intelibly “Book NOW” button across its nationwide dental network. The goal was simple: remove the friction between members searching for a dentist and actually getting on a dentist’s schedule, while giving Careington’s participating providers a no-cost channel for receiving new patients.

Roughly one year in, the partnership has scaled into one of Intelibly’s most active deployments. The platform is live across nearly half of Careington’s dental network by directory volume, conversion from button click to completed appointment request is approximately 76%, and monthly appointment request volume has grown 50–70% month over month. For Careington, the partnership has translated into a clear, measurable value-add for its dental clients and providers. For dentists, it has meant a steady stream of high-intent new patients at zero cost. For members, it has meant the ability to go from “searching for a dentist” to “appointment requested” in a single click.

Results at a Glance

Background

About Careington

Founded in 1979, Careington International Corporation is an established leader in the health and wellness benefits space — a nationally recognized product aggregator and full-service administrator that serves more than 50 million members through its national PPO and dental discount networks, flagship dental savings plans, and a portfolio of more than 150 health, wellness, lifestyle and virtual health products and services. Careington’s business depends on the strength of its provider network and the value it delivers to clients, members, and participating providers.

About Intelibly

Intelibly is a dental technology platform that removes friction from the new patient journey by seamlessly connecting patients to providers and payors. Intelibly’s platform powers “Book NOW” functionality inside trusted partner experiences — insurance carriers and dental brands — so that when a member finds a provider, they can request or schedule an appointment in a single click without ever leaving the partner’s site.

The Challenge

Across the U.S. dental market, the gap between “finding a provider” and “booking a provider” is one of the most expensive points of friction in the patient journey. A member opens a find-a-dentist directory, identifies a provider, and is then forced to call during business hours, navigate a phone tree, or fill out a generic web form on a provider site — if one exists at all. Many members simply abandon the journey.

For Careington, that friction had three downstream consequences:

• Members were searching for providers, but not converting to care as efficiently as they could be.
• Participating dentists were not seeing the volume of new-patient flow that justifies network participation.
• Careington’s clients had limited visibility into how the network was actually performing for their populations.

Careington needed a way to deliver tangible, measurable patient-acquisition value to its providers — without asking those providers to pay, integrate, or change their workflow.

The Partnership

In January 2025, Careington and Intelibly announced a strategic partnership to introduce Intelibly’s “Book NOW” functionality across Careington’s nationwide dental network. As part of the launch, Careington’s in-network dentists were able to receive new patient referrals through Careington’s provider search tool at no cost — removing the cost barrier that has historically slowed adoption of patient-acquisition tools in the dental space.

How It Works

The partnership integrates the Intelibly “Book NOW” button directly into Careington’s provider search experience. When a member finds a participating dentist, they see a “Book NOW” action right next to the listing. A single click opens the Intelibly appointment request flow in context — no redirect, no phone call, no form-hunting on the provider’s website. The request is delivered straight to the dental practice, and the patient receives an immediate confirmation that their request is being processed.

For practices already on the Intelibly platform, the button auto-populates and goes live on day one. Practices not yet on the platform can be onboarded via Careington’s existing communications and Intelibly’s free Basic account, which only requires the practice to claim its account in order to begin receiving requests.

Results

Patient Engagement

The members using the Careington–Intelibly experience are exactly the audience Careington’s clients want to reach: digital-first, high-intent, and actively trying to access care. The experience is converting that intent into action at rates well above industry norms for find-a-provider directories.

• ~76% conversion from “Book NOW” button click to completed appointment request — meaning the overwhelming majority of members who engage with the button finish the request flow.
• 50–70% month-over-month growth in appointment requests through the platform. Volume has approximately doubled month over month at multiple points; in the most recent comparison, requests grew from roughly 130 to 175 in a single month.
• Member experience is materially simpler — members go from “I need a dentist” to “appointment requested” without leaving the Careington experience or making a phone call.

Dentist Recruitment & Network Activation

On the supply side, the partnership has driven adoption across Careington’s dental network at a pace that has accelerated quarter over quarter.

• Approaching 70,000 directory points are now live with the Intelibly button — approximately 50% of the Careington dental network.
• Intelibly-engaged dentists in the Careington network grew from under 5% of total providers to over 15% in approximately 12 months — a 3x+ increase — and growth is accelerating month over month.
• Zero cost to participating dentists to receive new patient referrals through the partnership, removing the most common barrier to provider adoption of digital patient-acquisition tools.

Value to Careington

The data the platform produces has become a strategic asset for Careington. Engagement metrics flow back to Careington and its clients, giving the network — for the first time — line of sight into how often members find a provider, how often they click to book, and how often that click converts to an actual appointment request. That visibility lets Careington translate network size into network performance when talking to plan sponsors, employer clients, and providers.

• Tangible value delivered to participating providers in the form of attributable new-patient flow.
• Clear, defensible engagement data to share with clients and prospects — moving conversations from “network size” to “network performance.”
• Differentiated network value proposition vs. networks that offer directory listings without an integrated booking experience.

What Worked: Best Practices from the Careington Rollout

Three plays, run simultaneously, accounted for the majority of network activation and request volume:

1. DSO-First Recruitment

Dental Service Organizations (DSOs) deliver a multiplier effect — onboarding one DSO operationally activates dozens or hundreds of practices at once. Prioritizing DSO recruitment early let the partnership scale directory point coverage faster than a one-practice-at-a-time approach ever would have.

2. Targeted Provider Email Campaigns

Careington-branded email campaigns to participating dentists — explaining the no-cost advantage, the patient-acquisition upside, and how to go live — moved a steady volume of providers from “aware” to “activated.” Communications were most effective when initiated by Careington (the trusted source) with Intelibly supporting the messaging and cadence.

3. Sorting Activated Dentists to the Top of the Directory

This single product decision had outsized impact. By ranking dentists with the Intelibly button at the top of search results, Careington (a) gave participating practices a real, visible advantage for opting in — strengthening the recruitment pitch — and (b) increased button density at the top of the page where members spend the most attention, which directly drove more patient requests and engagement. The directory ranking change effectively turned the network into a self-reinforcing flywheel: more activated dentists → higher button density up top → more clicks → more requests → stronger pitch to recruit the next dentist.

Why It Matters

The Careington partnership is a working proof point for what the Intelibly platform was built to do: take a partner’s existing trusted relationship with members and providers, layer in real online booking, and convert directory traffic into appointments at industry-leading rates — at no cost to the provider and with no workflow disruption.

For payors, networks, and brands evaluating the platform, the Careington results answer the three questions that matter most:

• Will providers adopt it? Yes — Intelibly-engaged dentists in the network 3x+’d in roughly a year, with adoption accelerating.
• Will members use it? Yes — and once they click, they finish: ~76% click-to-request conversion.
• Will it scale? Yes — appointment request volume has grown 50–70% month over month, with directory point coverage now approaching half of the Careington network.

About Intelibly

Intelibly removes the friction from the new patient journey by seamlessly connecting patients to providers and payors for the benefit of all stakeholders. Intelibly’s goal is to streamline patient access to healthcare, enable providers to connect with new patients, and optimize healthcare insurance network performance.

For more information, visit intelibly.com.

About Careington International Corporation

Careington International Corporation is an established leader in the health and wellness benefit space. Founded in 1979, Careington is a nationally recognized product aggregator and full-service administrator, and one of the largest privately held discount health care companies in the nation, serving more than 50 million members across all of our industry-best companies, brands, products and services. Dedicated to improving individual health and well-being by providing affordable access to care, Careington’s national PPO and dental discount networks, flagship dental savings plans, and growing portfolio of more than 150 health, wellness, lifestyle and virtual health products and services are designed to deliver cost savings and service excellence across a spectrum of life needs. For information on Careington’s products, services, administration and marketing solutions, visit careington.com.