It is time to stop being PPO dependent! It is time to show the insurance companies that you are not willing to work for less than what you are worth and be a slave to the dental write offs.
These dental insurance companies are making you write off more and more. They are the ones profiting not you.
You all learned how to sign up as preferred providers and take a cut in pay. Now, it is time to boost your collections and work on less patients and make more.
Only a small percentage of dentists can be a FULLY FEE FOR SERVICE office. However, you do not need to be a member of EVERY insurance company. We still want to attract some extra patients by being on a list, but we should choose which list to be on.
Trust me, when it comes to gaining new patients, studies show that there is more correlation with your signage, location, the website presence, social media, and culture than there is with you being on a dental preferred provider list.
Before dropping your dental insurance preferred provider organization, you must consider and ask yourself these questions. How many patients can I afford to lose? Do I like those particular patients on that plan, or do they cause the biggest frustrations in our practice? Can I afford to lose some production and still be, OK? Where else do I get my new patients? Do at least 40% of my new patients come from another referral source? Do these patients cost me in no-shows already? Do I think my patients love me enough and value my services that they will pay a little extra to see me? Am I the only provider within a 30-minute radius, so they will have to drive further to see a PPO dentist? This may help you make the decision of dropping a particular insurance company.
There are apps and companies that can figure out the numbers for you. However, don’t skip the step of listing out every plan and umbrella plan that you accept. Then, run a patient report on each plan with the production and write offs from each plan. Then, ask yourself, “How many patients could I lose?”
Think worst case scenario… Could I lose half my patients? The thing is that I have NEVER seen anyone go backwards financially or loose half their patients. As a matter of fact, it’s usually just a handful that leave. They usually drive far to see you and figure it’s time for a change.
All dentists and the team are nervous about this process. If you do a great job and built relationships with your patients, they don’t abandon you over lack of dental insurance write offs.
The next step is to train your team and talk to your patients. Start explaining the WHY behind your decision and let them know prior to receiving a letter. Seriously, go ahead and tell patients over 2-6 months. Tell them the date you will no longer be a preferred provider. Talking to them face to face really helps them understand and see your sincerity in your decision. They tend to say, “I understand doc, you need to do what you need to do.”
Your patients must understand that the dental insurance is going to send the patients a letter and make it sound like you are very expensive and they must see someone on the list. Be sure to let your patients know (if it is true) that, “You can still come to our office and see any dentist of your choice. All of our patients want the best type of care and won’t let it affect their health.”
The key is to remain confident about what you offer and the fees you charge.
