Dependence or independence? Relative to your insurance provider network your answer is probably affected by profitability. Even so, independence could be achieved by discovering how to create, launch, and grow an in-house dental membership plan.
Get clear on what is a dental membership plan (and why it could give you some revenue independence)
Consumers, like your patients, are acquainted with membership arrangements for acquiring products and services. The same preferred convenience and VIP-like benefits could extend to your patient care.
- Deliver high standard of patient care with an “exclusive” feel
- Eliminate the insurance provider (“middle-man”)
- Avoid insurance claim delays and denials
And a dental membership plan also helps boost your revenue cycle and cash-flow.
- More predictable revenue stream
- Less insurance reimbursement delays
Those and more are good reasons to consider a dental membership plan as part of your overall revenue cycle management.
”A dental membership program allows you to create your own plans as an alternative to insurance. Patients pay your office a monthly or yearly subscription fee in exchange for benefits and discounts. People leave dental practices for various reasons, but more often than not they leave because of insurance coverage (money issues) and not poor customer service.”
How to create, launch, and grow an in-house dental membership plan
Keep it simple
Patients should be able to easily understand the details and benefits of your plan. Simplify the description into one, benefit-focused sentence as a way of explaining it.
Simplicity allows you to quickly and casually offer the plan as an alternative in-the-moment. Patients want a straightforward explanation of your plan unlike that of making a payment commitment when purchasing an automobile or home.
- Streamline the treatment planning and financial conversation
- Keep the plan benefits aligned with maintaining their oral health
- Enhance your team’s buy-in and ability to communicate it to patients
And speaking of your team’s connection to the plan…
Train your team to promote it
Comprehensive team training from the front desk to your clinical departments will give your dental membership plan traction. Keep the training details and narrative relevant to the core benefits patients will receive from it.
- Outline the comparative benefits of the plan to insurance provisions in an informative flyer and/or digital document (downloadable pdf).
- Promote a patient referral incentive and benefit for sharing the plan with family, friends, and co-workers.
- Highlight the short and long-term cost savings of joining your dental membership plan.
- Keep the plan option visible throughout your practice and a frequent topic of your patient communications.
Make it a theme in your dental marketing strategies
Direct mail, email, and social media are go-to marketing channels for informing your patients and the public about your dental membership plan.
- Add a “blurb” to your direct-mailings that highlights your plan and a few benefit bullet-points.
- Create social media posts that target the uninsured demographic and engage them around the health and cost-saving benefits of your membership plan.
Keep it front-and-center on your dental practice website
Your online platform and presence is…
