So You Still Don’t Take Dental Insurance
Here at Hycomb we hear the woes of a poor economy time and time again. It’s true—it’s more difficult for many dentists to get new patients, let alone keep those they have coming back.
In some places my clients seem to be doing fine regardless of economic concerns—in other areas practices are really suffering. Then there are areas that have such a high unemployment rate that nothing—not even accepting dental insurance—would help.
Ten years ago or so, dentistry started a big push to rid itself of the constraints of the ever-evil Dental Insurance Companies. Dentists didn’t want to follow physicians down the path of controlled practices. Shedding that burden made absolutely crystal-clear common sense.
Now might be the time to revisit the advantage of accepting patients driven by dental insurance.
No, you say? Well, if you have divorced the insurance companies, then you could establish your own guidelines. You could develop a new relationship with insurance companies that enables you to see more patients. That would be a big win for you—and patients as well. And you could improve the cash flow in your practice.
Here are some ideas I’ve had, based on my years of experience in the dental office.
My book, DENTAL MARKETING—When a Shingle isn’t Enough, has a whole chapter devoted to losing patients. Way back when the insurance exodus began, I thought it might backfire. I believe that for some practices it has and that new ideas need to come forth. Chapter 10, “Lost Patients—Fill the Cavity and Move On,” is printed below, beneath my Ideas to Stimulate New Patient Growth list.
Ideas to Stimulate New Patient Growth
- Start accepting dental insurance again
- Require payment of patient portion at time of service or in advance
- Do not become a member of any insurance plan
- Be willing to pre-auth treatment
- Be willing to finance patient portion (say CareCredit®)
- Get the word out that you now accept insurance. Stick to hard and fast rules about payment of patient’s portion in advance.
- Send a letter to patients you lost when you stopped taking their insurance. Tell them that due to the economic time you want to help them maintain their dental health and have reestablished new policies to accept insurance payments. Most patients didn’t want to leave you but couldn’t afford to stay. You could be a hero!
- Develop a written financial policy for patients who depend on dental insurance so that no miscommunication occurs.
Excerpt from When a Shingle isn’t Enough, Chapter 10:
LOST PATIENTS—FILL THE CAVITY AND MOVE ON
Ever get a tooth knocked out of your head in an accident? You learned two things: It wasn’t life-threatening—but it was permanent.
A friend of mine tells how he snapped off his front tooth when he tripped while chasing his brother down a marina dock. Flying forward, he hit a metal cleat face-first. He was only 8 at the time, and his adult teeth had just grown in. For years he prayed that a third set of teeth would grow in.
Guess what? It didn’t happen. That tooth was forever gone, but the loss was only a tooth—not his life.
Remember this lesson if you lose a patient to another dentist. Life-threatening? No. Painful? Very much so.
Moral of story: Accept the loss and move on.
Most dentists act like losing a patient is life-threatening. They worry. They take it personally. They forget that sometimes the patients they lose are actually worth losing!
Other times you lose patients you really like, patients you think LOVE you. That really hurts. It’s right up there between getting a tooth knocked out and being told to hit the road by a Significant Other.
Patients leave for many reasons. They may move across town and hate that commute back to your office. Or you move across town—and they hate that commute to your new office.
Then there’s money. Maybe your fees are unchanged but people think you charge too much, since you drive a Beamer while your office looks like a free clinic. Or your new higher fees are fully justified—reinvested in your office—but it has put you out of reach to some of your less affluent patients. Maybe their insurance covers less today than it used to. Or you no longer accept their insurance. Maybe they’ve been laid off or have become responsible for the finances of an aging parent.
Maybe they don’t like the way Suzie asked for the co-pay (or maybe they just don’t like Suzie). Maybe your hygienist talks too much and patients believe she’s not paying attention to the duties-at-hand.
Now please don’t slam the book closed as I hop on my soapbox.
My first year in dentistry was 1972. Some of you weren’t even born yet! CDS (California Dental Service)—or Delta as we’ve come to know it—was an insurance company formed by dentists. You as a dentist back in those good ol’ days sacrificed a piece of your fee to the good and growth of this company which was designed to boost dentistry in the minds of the consumer. You know what? It did. Employers started adding dental insurance to their benefit packages.
Over time Delta grew and that little piece of the action faded away. Before dental insurance, people went to the dentist only when it hurt, or when their moms read in magazines like McCall’s (I loved those cute Betsy McCall paper dolls—oops getting side tracked) that a good mother took her children to the dentist.
We went maybe once, when I was 8. I remember the cottonball bunny tail going round and round on the slow-speed (his only drill) and the GIGANTIC needles in those old screw-together syringes—yikes! There was no regular recare, nobody flossed, we brushed our teeth with Ipana once in a while and on Saturday—just like Bucky Beaver on TV.
Dental insurance made dentistry what it is today. Because of the new demand it led to cosmetics, periodontal research, regular recare, new and improved toothpastes, exciting new materials and technology—plus patients who don’t all wait until it hurts.
You know that some patients leave because you’re not on their Preferred Subscriber list or don’t take insurance any more. And, yes, dental insurance got too big for its britches. And, yes, it now dictates treatment and holds payment, but it got dentistry to where it is today. It made dentistry an important part of health care—and now, more than ever, maybe the most important part.
If a patient you like leaves because you no longer take their insurance send them a very nice letter. Tell them how much you enjoyed having them as part of your family of patients. Let them know the door is always open, that if they find they’re not happy with their new dental provider, you’ll welcome them back. Enclose your business card and a practice brochure. If you experience an exodus for a better deal, let those patients know that you’re the real deal.
Stop crying over spilt milk and lost patients! Go out there and replace the ones you lost. And pay attention to your team’s people-skills—nip sour apples in the bud.
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