There are around 60 dentists per 100,000 population in the United States, and that number is likely to grow. 100,000 is a relatively small city, about the size of Boulder, CO. If distributed evenly, that is around 1,600 patients per dental practice. Not bad! But we all know that is not how the market works in the United States. In reality, living in Boulder you would be competing with 60 of your peers (and now big corporate chains) to acquire those patients, and it is not an even distribution.
So why would a patient go with you instead of the 59 other options? A few of the common reasons:
- Warm & Friendly Team
- Non-Stressful Environment
- High Quality Care
- Great Reviews / Word of Mouth
- Variety of Services Offered
- Competitive Pricing
However the problem is EVERY dental practice is trying to achieve these things too.
You can have all of these qualities and it still won’t set you apart from the top 30% of practices, because they are all offering them too.
But what if there was one thing that could make the difference still?
Imagine two of the top dental practices both offering all of those great qualities listed above.
Practice A and Practice B.
Bob is deciding between the 2 practices for a major implant case including bone grafts. Practice A quotes Bob at $10,000 for the procedure, which includes a great payment plan at low interest.
Practice B quotes Bob at $12,000, however because of the severity of Bob’s case, they are able to get a pre-authorization from Bob’s medical insurance policy stating the procedure would be partially covered. They calculate Bob’s out-of-pocket cost would be under $7,000.
Bob chooses Practice B and saves $3,000. Not only does Practice B get the case, they were able to charge MORE than Practice A and not compete on price.
That is the power of offering medical billing reimbursement in a dental practice. And it is not just for those big cases. Dental procedures commonly covered under medical insurance policies include:
- Dental Sleep Medicine / Sleep Apnea Appliance Therapy
- Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) Dysfunction (TMD)
- Surgical Clerance Exams
- Bone Grafting / Sinus Lifts / Specific Implant Cases
- Oral Surgery / Surgical Extractions
- Oral Cancer Screenings
- Botox for Painful Bruxism
- Exams related to these procedures
- CBCT / Tomography / Panorex related to these procedures
In addition, billing medical insurance can also help with gaining referrals. Once you enter the medical arena and communicate with physicians about your services, a whole new referral base is possible.
So take the time to learn medical billing for dentists and see the possibilities.
[1] http://www.ada.org/~/media/ADA/Science%20and%20Research/HPI/Files/HPIBrief_1014_1.ashx