Beyond the PPO: Why Going In-Network is No Longer the Only Option

Dental school prepares you well for being a skilled clinician, but as far as the business side of dentistry is concerned, most doctors–both new and seasoned–also have to learn to be a skilled business owner on their own. And these days, insurance corporations wield a lot of influence within the dental office. As practitioners like myself who have been in business for a while can attest, being “in network” can create as many problems as benefits for dentists and patients alike.

Dental insurance is a hassle to be sure; reimbursements continue to fall while regulations and restrictions on care are on the rise. Dental offices are bogged down in paperwork. Patients are delaying and even forgoing necessary treatment because of plan maximums and out of pocket costs. With all of these issues, I always believed that there had to be another path to providing greater access to affordable dental care while keeping the relationship between dentist and patient … the way it should be.

In fact, there’s a new trend experiencing a surge of growth recently in the dental industry–in-house savings plans. The idea was borne out of my personal frustration with the growing hassles that come along with accepting insurance. A dental savings plan is a low-cost alternative to traditional dental insurance, and today, Quality Dental Plan (QDP) is the premier in-house dental savings plan in the industry.

With an in-house dental savings plan, patients are able to access savings on annual treatment in their dentist’s office, and dentists can eliminate third-party hassles and outside influence on their practices. What does this mean? That accepting insurance isn’t the only option when it comes to keeping patients happy and the office busy.

Here are five ways dental savings plans can transform your dental practice:

1. You Can Determine Your Own Fee Schedule

When you implement a dental savings plan in your office, you are in complete control of your own fees. As a dentist, you are the expert when it comes to your patients and your local community, not some insurance corporation. And you best understand where your fees need to be set in order to provide the quality of care your patients deserve. You should be able to set your fees at a level that makes the most sense for the value of care you’re providing. That’s why, with an in-house dental savings plan, you have the freedom to determine your own fee schedule.

2. You Will Attract More New Patients and Grow Your Fee-for-Service Patient Base

The top reason patients forgo treatment is cost. They believe that if they don’t have insurance, they cannot afford care. Even those with dental benefits often mistakenly believe that comprehensive dentistry is a luxury, not a necessity. Their mindset changes, however, when you implement a dental savings plan.

With a dental savings plan, you remove your patients’ financial barriers and transform your practice into a place where the non-insurance-based patient population feels welcome and well taken care of. And by simply practicing the way you always planned to, you’re instilling a loyalty in your patients that will keep them coming back for years. Even better, with some plans you can also give patients the option to pay for the plan in a way that best suits their financial needs, whether monthly or annually.

3. Collections Will Improve

One of the biggest benefits of dental-savings plans is how they save the office team valuable time and effort in following up on delayed collections. Patients can either pay in full at the time they sign up or a pre-determined monthly fee. You get paid directly, instead of being forced to wait 30 days or more to get reimbursed. This drastically improves collections and saves the your office team from having to chase down unpaid balances, freeing them up to focus on other more meaningful tasks.

4. Patients Will be More Likely to Accept and Proceed with Treatment

Motivating patients to keep their appointments and accept treatment is difficult, especially when they don’t value dentistry. However, when you give patients the option for an affordable plan that saves them money in your practice, you’re creating value. You shift the conversation from fees, which never make sense to a patient, to savings, which actually shows real-world value. Offering a dental-savings plan demonstrates you understand that their budgets are tight and that you’re willing to work with them to make sure they can afford comprehensive dental care.

In your patients’ minds, a dental-savings plan works similarly to a membership at wholesale stores like Costco, Sam’s Club or BJ’s. Costco members feel compelled to take advantage of club savings.

Patients are encouraged to take advantage of benefits, to come in regularly, to remain compliant when it comes to continuing care and to accept comprehensive treatment plans because they understand that you’re offering them something of value that they want and need–at a fair price.

5. You Will be Building Longevity for Your Practice

Having a fancy website or hundreds of “Likes” on Facebook might help potential patients take notice of you, but these tactics aren’t necessarily going to keep them coming back to your office regularly. Patients want to know they are being taken care of, and they need to feel that they are receiving something of value. A -plan accomplishes both objectives, and so much more.

When a patient signs up for a dental-savings plan, he or she understands they are a part of something that they won’t find at any other practice in the community. Savings plans can increase revenue by as much as 20 percent. And patients who sign up for a savings plan are 70 percent more likely to refer others to the practice, generating a constant source of new patient flow.
In fact, here is what Dr. Steffany Mohan has to say about the power of dental-savings plan:

“We looked hard and long for a savings plan and once we learned about QDP, we knew we had found what we were looking for! We had been seeking a way to reduce our dependence on insurance companies this is it. QDP is easy for the practice to implement, simple for patients to understand and a real winner for dentists to make a huge improvement in their practices. Most of all, my team was 100 percent behind the plan for our patients. A million thanks, Dr. Marut!”

In this era of decreased insurance reimbursements and increased patient consumerism, it is challenging to grow a practice. There will always be forces beyond our control that present challenges to practice success, so remember to focus on what can be controlled. So what can you do now to create a sustainable practice?

It starts with thinking outside the box. Realize that the traditional dental insurance isn’t the only answer for achieving practice growth. In-house dental-savings plans give dentists the opportunity to provide greater access to care for larger numbers of patients, regardless of insurance coverage. They eliminate third-party influence and help dentists grow their practices on a long-term basis. And best of all, dental-savings plans allow dentists to get back to doing what they do best–improving oral health in their communities.

Dan Marut, DMD, founded Quality Dental Plan to connect dentists looking to make a difference in their communities with new patients, while giving people without dental insurance a compelling reason to go to the dentist. He is also a practicing dentist, a sought-after lecturer, and a published author. Dr. Marut is committed to giving back to his community and the world through his profession, and founded his practice and both of his companies with that vision in mind. For more information about Quality Dental Plan, visit QDPdentist.com. Dr. Marut can be reached via e-mail at danmarut@qualitydentalplan.com.