Special section for office managers! Great Questions. Great Answers.

Townies asked, and these top consultants answered some great questions on key issues that dental teams face daily

Managing a great dental practice can be a challenge—especially if you’re the one coaching your team on how to respond to some of dentistry’s key issues. In this special section, we asked Townies to share their biggest office-related challenges, then asked the dental industry’s top practice management consultants for solutions and suggestions. Here, Laura Hatch, Heidi Mount, Sandy Pardue and Penny Reed tackle the best ways to address insurance benefits, treatment plans, payment options and staffing.

If we don’t accept a patient’s insurance program, how do we reply to, “Do you take my insurance?” when he or she calls for an appointment?
Laura Hatch: This question has to be answered in a positive manner. Patients typically ask only two types of questions: something to do with their pocketbook or something to do with their insurance book. If the office starts its answer with “no,” it discourages patients from continuing the conversation and encourages them to hang up. First, thank the patient for calling and let them know that, yes, you do accept some insurance plans. Then, most importantly, find out more about the person, so you can build rapport and value and make the conversation about the quality of care, not about insurance.

Penny Reed: Let prospective patients know that it’s great that they have insurance, because many of your patients don’t have a benefit plan. Then ask who referred them to your office. If it was another patient, then you’ll know they called because they’re a referral, not a “shopper.” If appropriate, and you know which plan they have, let them know that you have dozens of families with their plan and you’ll be happy to file their insurance for them. Unless patients ask if you are in-network with their plan, it’s best not to directly say that you are “out-of-network.” While some patients understand the difference between in-network and out-of-network, many find it confusing and wouldn’t understand that they could still be a patient and utilize their dental benefits in your office.

How do I know when I need to hire another team member?
Heidi Mount: The front desk team is very busy; they have an extremely important position and a lot to accomplish. Many times, the clinical team feels like they are overworked and flipping rooms. When employees are busy, many dentists and employees believe they don’t have enough help and keep hiring.

Believe it or not, many offices are overstaffed, and the real issues are a lack of systems and priorities. Once the front desk team has clear job descriptions and training, things run like an ecosystem and everyone is happier. Once the front desk team understands that patient care, scheduling to goal and collecting are top priorities, the office reaches its daily, monthly and yearly goals. In general, one front office person can check in and out 16 patients a day and still complete the priority tasks. I have available a formula that identifies the number of hygiene days needed based on active patients. Basically, if the day is scheduled correctly and the doctor isn’t needed in a few places at once, the entire team runs like a well-oiled machine.

Sandy Pardue: Consider your overhead before hiring additional team members. The industry standard for team members is 25–27% of monthly collections. You typically need one hygiene day each week for every $115,000 of doctor yearly production. When you see new patients or periodontal patients being put off into the future because you can’t accommodate them, it’s time to take a look at adding hygiene days. Because doctors and assistants work together, doctors typically realize when they need to add an assistant before they see the need in any other position. The number of assistants and how they work is typically a personal preference of the doctor. You can maximize efficiency and capacity by assigning an assistant to each doctor treatment room.

For the front office team, Graph 1 (below) illustrates a simple formula for determining the number needed based on how many patients need to be processed each day.

Should I accept installment payments from patients and let them pay for their dentistry monthly?
Heidi Mount: I would like patients to pay their entire portion to reserve their dental appointment or at the time of service. It helps patients commit to their dental care, and they can leave directly after their dental appointment. When you’ve done a great job during your treatment planning appointment, patients are motivated to get their dentistry done and there is no need to loan your patients money.

Making financial arrangements that work for the patient and practice is up to the team. Many teams have the mindset that it costs money to use a third party financing company. But the fact is, when you fail to provide the patient with a financial solution, they walk out the door unscheduled. CareCredit, for example, has a simple online and visual form that shows the patient’s treatment plan, the insurance portion and different financing options available to pay the patient’s portion. It makes the decision very simple for the patient.

Sandy Pardue: In-house financing can be very difficult because practices generally aren’t set up with the tools and required guidelines to properly handle patient accounts. It involves a lot of additional work by the front office team and can take away from time with patients. There’s a lot less risk connected with utilizing a third-party finance company to help patients better afford their treatment and make installment payments.

If you don’t offer options to patients when presenting treatment plans, your treatment acceptance will be lower and your income will be less predictable. One of the most vital systems in the dental practice is office collections. Consistent billing practices must be in place so that treatment presentation and financial arrangements are seamless. Uncollectible accounts are a result of loss of control, or you may simply call it bad business practices. Many of these uncollectible accounts can be avoided if the practice makes firm financial arrangements before scheduling the next appointment.

How do I get more patients to accept my treatment plans?
Laura Hatch: There are three things that I suggest you be when working to help patients accept the treatment plans: clear, confident and caring. First, don’t present too many options to patients, because a confused mind won’t make a decision; they’ll just say “no” or “let me think about it.” Present to the patient the best option and let them know why you are treatment-planning that for them. Next, be confident in your presentation, because if the patient hears any hesitation in your voice or the way you present, they are less likely to believe or trust you. Lastly, make sure you care about them and they know it. Dentistry is not something most people love and if they feel you are just after their money or trying to fill the schedule with production, they won’t accept. People don’t care what you do until they know that you care.

Penny Reed: Start by asking them what their goals are for their mouth and their smile. Then use intraoral camera photos with every condition you wish to share with your patient (for conditions that will show in a photo). Every time you talk about the tooth/condition, be sure the photo is pulled up in view of the patient. Then be sure you are more than prepared to discuss financial options. These options must include third-party financing. When the average American doesn’t budget for dental care, it’s unrealistic to expect that patients will have a thousand dollars or more set aside and ready to spend on today’s treatment. We live in a world where the average consumers think in terms of monthly payments. Be prepared and ready to offer that as an option with an outside, non-recourse payment plan.