MPMB Blog

It was the UDA dental convention this past week. We had a booth there and got to rub shoulders with our clients, potential clients, and many soon-to-be new clients who signed up for our training. Something a doc said to one of our team members at our booth has stuck with me, and I want to talk about it. When our team member asked the doc if he had [...]

I was asked to write an article on how to be profitable with PPO Plans, because that is our specialty here at My Practice My Business (MPMB). It’s honestly such a broad topic, as all of you who have been through our training here at MPMB understand, that I simply didn’t know where to start at first. However, I will be so bold in my old age as to [...]

We often hear dental professionals express their concerns, saying, "I'm working harder, but taking home less," or "my team is asking for raises, but there's just not enough money." These concerns highlight a common dilemma that dental practices encounter—the struggle for profitability, particularly when dealing with PPO Plans. Our goal is to shed light on the practical aspects of profitability within your practice and offer solutions that can [...]

Obstacles or Opportunities It's time to put an end to providing free dental services at the mercy of dental insurance companies and their misleading guidelines. Additionally, bid farewell to misinformation and break free from dependence on dental advisors who lack the necessary expertise. Discover how My Practice My Business (MPMB) can empower you to achieve fair compensation through PPO plans and, surprisingly, your self-pay patients.  Who are we? At [...]

I’m sure many of you saw the business article published in the ADA Weekend Edition and in the ADA Finance Edition titled: “ADA Council Urges Dentists to Report Full Fee to Payers.” Don’t worry, I’m about to rip this ridiculous article to pieces. Let me be very clear from the start. Dental Insurance Companies, commonly called “third-party” payers, DO NOT SET THEIR REIMBURSEMENT FEES BASED UPON YOUR FEE-FOR-SERVICE FEES. [...]

As a dentist, you may feel frustrated with the limitations of being a provider for dental insurance plans. You may be considering dropping some or all of the insurance plans you participate in. Before making this decision, it's important to consider the potential risks and consequences. Pros and Cons of Being a Provider for Dental Insurance Plans Being a provider for [...]

The number one trend we've noticed is dentists leaving Delta Dental. It’s no mystery that dental insurance causes headaches for dental offices across the nation.  Working With Dental Insurance We have rubbed shoulders with all the major dental insurance providers in the nation for many years. We worked very closely with many of them when we passed the “Network Leasing, Downcoding, and Bundling Protections Law” in 2020. [...]

The message to drop dental insurance seems to consume every dental channel. Facebook groups discuss it frequently. I’ve even seen booths pass out stickers to promote this at conventions. As the cost of living increases, dental insurance reimbursements certainly do not cover the costs of dental procedures. With more and more dental offices frustrated with insurance, it’s no wonder why everyone is talking about it. The Risks [...]

The title may sound harsh, but after working with hundreds of dental offices, we’ve discovered that nearly every office does the same things that negatively affect the practice. These actions ultimately decrease revenue, patient retention and employee satisfaction. The worst part is many of the things mentioned below have been preached in dentistry for YEARS. So, we can’t really blame you, but we can help “change you” for [...]

Dental insurance plans don’t pay for tooth whitening, yet most dental offices charge the patient for it directly. The same applies to electric toothbrushes. However, when it comes to better technologies, materials, or skills, offices will write off thousands of dollars each month. In those three examples just listed, you wouldn’t think of not charging the patient for those services. In contrast, very few dental offices charge [...]

What happens if the office manager goes on vacation, the hygienist calls in sick, or the dental assistant runs off with prince charming? Missing a team member for even one day can lead to chaos in a dental office. Team members feel overwhelmed, which could ultimately lead to a decline in the quality of patient care. It doesn’t have to be this way. The Office Manager I had [...]

The list is long and unfortunately distinguished. Don’t get me wrong, most of the time we don’t like dealing with dental insurance plans and their reps either. But we are the only major consulting company that teaches dentists and their teams to keep them, because we know and teach how to be profitable with them. Please allow me to tell each of you who these teachers of “dump dental [...]

Years ago, I wrote an article on direct operating costs, and how important they are when setting your fee-for-service fees - let alone evaluating your profitability with contracted insurance reimbursement fees. And we all know how most dentists simply hate to use the term “profits” when discussing their businesses. But the simple fact is this: Dentists and their teams often cannot grasp the concept that the patient is [...]

I had a great conversation with one of my respected and trusted colleagues (and friend) several weeks ago. The conversation was not an unusual one, as I have had this conversation with many of you who have been through some sort of consulting with various consulting groups out there. The simple question is this: Should you submit your fee-for-service fees or your contracted fees to the PPO companies you work [...]

It was July of 2017 when a 43-year-old male patient came to my office complaining of pain in #27. Much to my surprise he was missing all lower molars and bicuspids, with an RPD anchoring on both mandibular canines. He also had a full maxillary denture that flopped around like a fish out of water. The remaining lower mandibular teeth, 22 through 27, were not in the best condition [...]

For years I’ve given this topic a lot of thought. It’s a subject that, not until now, I had any answer to. First, let’s define the word “dichotomy”. di·chot·o·my /dīˈkädəmē/ noun: a division or contrast between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different. synonyms: contrast, difference, polarity, conflict;  gulf, chasm, division, separation, split; "the great dichotomy between theory and practice" Now let’s discuss the typical background of the dental office [...]

Each year in January many dental practices adjust their Fee-for-Service (FFS) fee schedule to help cover rising expenses in their dental business, and to hopefully generate higher profit margins. There have been many approaches throughout the years I have seen dental practices use to determine these new fees: There is the “across the board” approach where practices increase fees between 3% and 7% for all services. This works great if [...]

In the State of Utah our Dental Association puts out a publication every two months called the UDA Action. In the January February 2019 publication Dr. Chamberlain, our UDA President, shared some fantastic stats on dentistry here in Utah. If you live in another state, listening to this podcast, you might want to take note on my comments to this article, as it may have some cross-over where you practice. [...]

Oh my, where do I even begin? Many years ago, I lectured on digital imaging and radiography. Trying to help practices understand the benefits of this technology was difficult back then, and now it’s the norm for most practices. However, how many offices still use analog radiographs today? With the constant changes in dental technology, it’s not healthy to embrace the status quo. Most of you have heard the [...]

I’m finally getting around to looking at my first quarter results in my dental practice. Sound familiar? I was shocked to see our profits were down. How could this be? The number of patients seen and procedures worked were both up. But, profits were down for the first time in years. It was time to dig a little deeper and learn why. We discovered several things that have changed [...]

The other day we got a phone call from a new dental insurance company attempting to build their panel of dentists in the Salt Lake area. My office manager asked them to send us their fee schedule and we would consider joining. The fee schedule came, and we made a close observation to see if they cover our top forty codes we use the most. We noticed they had [...]

We’ve all seen them, the dirty little tricks insurance companies do to make our lives a living hell, right? At My Practice My Business our dental consulting helps practices deal with this “hell” head on with our Clinical Business of Dentistry Training. However, here is a small list of typical insurance tricks they use to torment us, and how to deal with them. -Baked in codes: This is one of my favorites. [...]

One of our team members at MPMB reached out to a long-term client of ours, and spent some time training a new office manager on our cloud-based dental software and key concepts with the Clinical Business of Dentistry Training. When it came to teaching the OM about upgrading, and the documents in My Dental Docs to print out, she said, “Oh no, we don’t upgrade as we have chosen not to nickel [...]

Whenever I give a lecture with the Clinical Business of Dentistry Seminar, which is the introductory to our Clinical Business of Dentistry Training at My Practice My Business, I always ask a few questions to watch people squirm in their chairs. Question 1: How many of you take intraoral photos on your patients to show or prove the need for treatment and charge for it like you would an x-ray? Question 2: [...]

We’ve all seen them, the dirty little tricks insurance companies do to make our lives a living hell, right? At My Practice My Business, our dental consulting helps practices deal with this “hell” head on with our Clinical Business of Dentistry Training. However, here is a small list of typical insurance tricks they use to torment us, and how to deal with them. -Baked in codes: This is one of [...]

It’s no mystery with all who know me that I love Disney! I grew up watching the Wonderful World of Disney every Sunday at 6pm, eating dinner on a TV tray in front of an RCA color television. I was so blessed… We teach in our Clinical Business of Dentistry Training the importance of giving our patients, what we call, the Disney experience. One of our Facebook reviews exemplifies what I’m [...]

There I was, sitting in a Utah Dental Association (UDA) Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) meeting that all practicing dentists in our state must attend if they want their malpractice insurance rates to stay low. These meetings are conducted by our UDA officers, and they do a good job at bringing issues to light which help us be better practitioners. On one occasion, our UDA President was taking questions and [...]

For all of you who verify insurance coverage on every patient coming in the next day, for all of you who verify insurance coverage on every procedure, for all of you who enjoy watching yellow stone set, for all of you who truly utilize about 30% of your practice management software system, for all of you who enjoy children screaming in your ear while doing a prophy, this article [...]

Nothing! Most days that’s what it seems like. Some of my favorite phrases were: “That’s not the amount I was quoted” “You’re doing a root canal and crown today? Why?” “You want how much for that cleaning?” “You scheduled me for three hours but I only have an hour” Are you kidding me? Unbelievable! Those are just some of the phrases I’ve heard throughout the years. I use to hear [...]

What you are about to learn is something they should really teach us in dental school. That is, case acceptance is grounded in biology. Who would have guessed?! If we look at the brain from the top down, you would see three sections: The inner section is known as the Reptilian Brain. This section is where the fight or flight section resides. It’s the instinct and survival section. The [...]