Are you interested in increasing brand loyalty, patient retention, case acceptance, & recurring revenue? Would you like to decrease your reliance on dental insurance companies? If so, have you considered offering a dental membership plan at your practice?
In-house dental membership plans are a set of plans you design & offer your patients. They provide access to care based on an annual fixed fee or monthly subscription model. Generally, they cover preventative care & give a discount of 10-20% on restorative care. These plans generally range in price from $30-60 per month. It is important to note that there is not a "one size fits all" approach to pricing. You should set the monthly rate as close to your UCR fees as possible.
The key is to write off less than you would for an insurance patient. If you are a full fee-for-service practice operating at capacity with a healthy number of new patients, this approach may not make sense for you. However, if you are a PPO practice and/or struggling to get new patients, this may be a way to increase revenue & treatment acceptance. If you are considering a membership plan for your practice, talk to us & we can run the numbers for you to find the best price point for your specific situation.
If your practice is a good fit for a membership plan, there are many benefits. Offering an in-house membership plan will free you from reliance on insurance companies & provides access to care for your uninsured & out-of-network patients. A membership plan offering a 10-20% discount is better than the discounted rate you already take from insurance.
There are many benefits to offering membership plans. These plans increase brand loyalty, patient retention, & case acceptance. They provide your practice with passive recurring income, which will help offset the year’s low production times. Patients who pay a monthly or annual subscription fee are less likely to cancel appointments. If they do cancel, they are more likely to reschedule.
When implementing a membership plan, you can design & provide it yourself, thereby eliminating a third party taking a cut of your revenue. If you prefer, you can use a third party to administer it for a fee.
You will need to have a signed agreement with your patient that explains the full terms & conditions of the membership plan. Ensure that this agreement is clear & unambiguous in detailing what the plan does and does not cover.
Ensure you put the members on auto payment & renewal and track enrollment, case acceptance, & revenue generated. Indicate in the contract that the membership fee may be adjusted annually.
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