Insurance, fees and who you attract

Which insurance networks you join, if any, is a business decision with large marketing consequences. It decides who looks for you, where they look and what they need to hear before they call. Make the decision first, then build the marketing around it.

In-network with PPO plans

Joining PPO networks puts the practice in the insurers’ online directories and in front of employers’ plan members, who often search by “dentist that takes [plan name].” For a start-up that can mean patients arrive faster and cost less to attract. The trade-offs are lower fees per procedure, more administrative work, and patients who may choose mainly on network status.

• List the plans you accept accurately on the website and the Google profile, and keep the list current. Callers ask about insurance more than almost anything else.
• Check that every network directory shows your correct name, address, phone and the dentists who are in network.
• Read your network contracts before advertising fees or discounts. Some contracts limit how you can discount or what you can charge plan members.

Fee-for-service

A practice outside the networks has to give patients a reason to pay its fees: the dentist, the experience, convenience, particular services or longer appointments. Marketing leans on reputation, reviews, referrals and clear explanations of value, and it usually takes longer to fill the schedule. Many fee-for-service practices help patients file their own claims for out-of-network benefits; if you do, say so plainly.

Be careful with offers aimed at insured patients. Advertising that you will waive copays or deductibles can create legal problems with insurers and under state law; ask a healthcare attorney before offering it.

Membership plans and patients without insurance

Many people have no dental insurance, and they search for cost: fees, “no insurance” and membership plans. An in-house membership plan, published fees and fair financing give a new practice something specific to market to them. The patient retention guide covers how membership plans generally work, the legal points to check before launching one, and how to publish fees honestly.

A mix, stated clearly

Many practices join a few networks, stay out of others and offer a membership plan. That works, as long as the website, profile and front desk explain it the same way. The worst outcome is a patient who discovers on the phone that you aren’t in their network after reading that you “accept most insurance.”