Quick Bites for your Dental Office

Insurance breakdowns are so important to collect 100% of what is rightfully yours. Get your FREE detailed insurance breakdown form here: https://www.bonddentalconsulting.com/dental-freebies

What is usually the first task that we give to our untrained or new-to-the-dental-field employees? Insurance breakdowns! We all have to do them and to the dental veteran it seems like it’s as easy as 1-2-3. But is a breakdown really just a breakdown? Is your office just utilizing faxbacks or generic online portal information?

What if I told you that an insurance breakdown is one of the first steps in collecting 100% of what is rightfully yours. A great insurance breakdown keeps account balances from moving from current to the dreaded aging report.

But why are insurance breakdowns so important? Let’s look at an example on how an accurate insurance breakdown could save your office from sending a patient to collections or possibly losing them:

Scenario 1: Susie calls the office as a new patient. She has Metlife insurance and wants to come in for a new patient exam. You get Susie scheduled and then quickly get a faxback of her insurance breakdown. You are ecstatic that she has 100% coverage for preventative and diagnostic and scan her breakdown into her document center without second guessing a thing. Susie comes in for her comprehensive oral examination and a full-set of x-rays (FMS) and is on her way after scheduling her cleaning. About twenty days later you get Susie’s insurance payment back and realize they did not cover her FMS. It appears she was not eligible. Now Susie surprisingly owes your practice over $100 without even getting her cleaning or consultation yet.

What could you have done?

Scenario 2: The minute after you get off the phone with Susie, you call and get her insurance breakdown and history. When you follow-up on Susie’s history, the insurance representative lets you know that she is not eligible for a FMS because she had a Panoramic X-ray done a year ago at another dental office. You gather the rest of your information and call Susie back right away. When calling Susie, you let her know that in order to properly diagnose her, your office typically does a full-set of x-rays upon her first appointment with them. You continue to tell her that she is not eligible as her insurance company only pays for those x-rays once every three years. With plenty of time before Susie’s scheduled appointment, you ask her to follow-up with her previous dentist to get her x-rays transferred to us and let her know that if they are of diagnostic quality then you will not have to retake them. If they are not of diagnostic quality, then you can let Susie know what her estimated portion will be when she comes in for her visit. You are able to explain to her that your office strives on getting your patients the best estimates possible to prevent any surprise bills as best as you can.

Keep in mind, you need to always make the patient aware that insurance is always an estimation and ultimately they need to know the design of their plan, as it may jeopardize their benefits. However, it is my belief that we are to give our patients the most accurate estimation we can. One thing I like to say when it comes to insurance breakdowns and collections is:

For the most part, patients do not mind paying their dental bills, what they do mind is paying SURPRISE dental bills.

Take the surprise out of it, and give your patients the best and most accurate insurance estimates before they come in. 

Does their plan downgrade to amalgam for posterior comps, tell the patient as you schedule their treatment. Do they have a waiting period on crowns for 12 months? Edit their insurance estimation accordingly. Do they cover guards for bruxism or for after perio surgery

In this episode Ashley Bond discusses the top FOUR tips to  increase your new patient base for your dental office. Leave this conversation with tools you can start implementing TODAY in your dental practice.

Email me your dental questions at [email protected]

www.bonddentalconsulting.com

In this podcast I will answer your question on the best type of patient communication and give you one take-away you can start implanting today!


In the twenty-first century, communication with our patients has become a breeze, but has it become more effective? We now have patient communication services that offer texting and email to patients. However, some argue that it seems like we have lost the ability to mix it up a bit and truly reach our patient base effectively. I’m not going to lie, I think texting is an amazing feature for dental offices, especially in the busy dental office. It can help book last minute cancellations and even get into contact with a patient you haven’t spoken to in 18 months. If you do not currently have this feature, I definitely recommend it. There are many amazing companies that offer this service and I really believe it is needed in order to have effective communication with your patients in today’s age.

However, my fear is that dental offices are getting stuck relying on only texting their patients, which leaves out the personal touch. I know a phone conversation can be scary and awkward at times, especially when you are collecting payments, calling on outstanding treatment, or scheduling past-due recare. Honestly, sometimes it may feel like you just don’t have the time to make phone calls. However, while I know texting is easy and efficient for your team, I would not say it is the best way of communication. The best type of communication is a mixture of all four approaches: text, email, phone and the good old snail mail. Take the temperature of how your office is currently doing in communication? Do you rely heavily on one method over another? Try simply changing up the way you communicate, especially if your aging reports are high or your books are open,

Let’s look at example of this in action:

Overdue Patient A/R:

Contact 1: letter in mail and email

Contact 2: phone call and text

Contact 3: letter in mail and email

Contact 4: phone call and text

Think about it, today our patients are getting bombarded with texts and emails all day long. Soon enough, your messages will fall into spam or just get blindly deleted. You can stand out from the pack by embracing personalized phone calls and hand-written letters. Yes, I said it, hand-written letters. Do you remember the last time you received a hand-written letter in the mail? How did it make you feel? Special, didn’t it. Let’s make our patients feel special and stand out from the crowd of overloaded noise in their inboxes. This tactic is especially helpful for collections and unscheduled appointments.

What can you implement today? Start sending all your recare patients who are 6 months overdue a hand-written letter from their hygienist or a team member. Mix up your communication styles and utilize all four avenues: texting, email, phone calls, and mail. For all my dental freebies sent directly to your inbox, visit my website at www.bonddentalconsultling.com/dental-freebies

Email me your dental questions at [email protected]