Insurance: Should You Stay or Should You Go
Between increased inflation, rising wages, and declining reimbursement rates it makes logical sense that the cost of running a practice is going up. And many, if not most of the insurance carriers are cutting reimbursement rates.
The intense financial pressure soon becomes an economic question that practices must ask themselves, "Is staying in-network sustainable for my business?"
Now, there's no one answer for every practice, so in September, we kicked off the first episode of our Kleercast Webinar Series with Steven J Anderson of Total Patient Service Institute. He's helped thousands transform their practices, businesses, and teams to top-10 performance.
In this episode, Steve shares:
-
The formula to determine if your practice is ready to go insurance-free
-
The most significant mistakes practices make when dropping PPOs and how to avoid them
-
Patient retention strategies for practices as they move away from insurance participation
Kleer's Core Takeaways:
Reflect on your past to plan for your future
Steve outlines four crucial questions every practice should ask when navigating insurance participation.
-
Percentage of Contracted Patients: What percentage of your active patient base is contracted with insurance plans?
- Procedure Mix: Do your services align with the needs of your patients and the market?
- Competition Analysis: Understand the landscape to position your practice strategically.
- Target Market: Who are you best equipped to serve, and what are they looking for? The biggest mistake most people make is if they try to be everybody's dentist, they end up being nobody's dentist.
Define your goals and your timeline.
If your practice currently accepts insurance or is contracted with insurance plans, define the percentage, you aim to transition out of. Establish clear goals and timelines, echoing Steven's analogy: "You wouldn't get in your car and say, 'I'm just going to drive for a while and see where I end up.' What is your destination?"
Build a communication strategy.
Successful practices share a common trait — a robust communication strategy. Educate your team and patients, creating a strategic plan to inform them of the transition away from insurance participation. This proactive approach ensures patients stay informed, engaged, and loyal to your office.
Don't send the letter.
Contrary to common impulses, it's advised not to send a letter to patients when transitioning out of network. Instead, focus on comprehensive communication and education strategies to foster patient understanding and retention. Skip ahead in the video to [25:55] to learn more about this best practice.
Total Patient Service Institute offers exceptional dental practice management and dental practice coaching, specializing in implementing the highest level of patient service and communication skills in dental practices around the United States.
About Kleer
Kleer offers subscription-based dental membership plans, empowering fast-growing dental practices and DSOs to make an impact in an industry traditionally controlled by insurance. To learn how Kleer can best support your transition away from unprofitable PPOs, check out this guide or schedule a time to chat.
Get started, today.
Our experts will show you how our advanced, cloud-based membership plan platform—coupled with resources, tools and support from the experts at Kleer, can bring your practice phenomenal results.
+
more visits
+
more treatment accepted
+
more production
+
more collections