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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. As one of the biggest providers, Delta Dental seems to cause the most grief for dental offices.  Most dental offices spend hundreds of hours every month trying to get reimbursed by [...]

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 of Dropping Insurance Some areas in the United States can support high percentages of fee for service patients. However, if you’re like us, over 70% of our patients use dental insurance. [...]

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 the better! So, where does this misinformation come from? Much of it comes from insurance companies. That’s right! They spread false information to dental offices and then “dental consultants” pass it [...]

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. In addition, most dental insurance plans don’t pay for dental implants. Yet every office seems to charge for those products and services, right? 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 for local anesthetic, oral facial images, and pulp vitality tests, yet you should. There are costs of goods combined with overhead associated with those services. This ultimately [...]

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 a wonderful office manager early in my career who worked with me, or more accurately, put up with me, for nearly fifteen years. I hired her within a year of graduating [...]

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 plans” really are: 1. They are individuals who have likely never read a PPO contract, cover to cover, in their entire lives. That would require a lot of effort and investigative [...]

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 responsible to pay for more expensive products and services, whether insured or not. This is a simple and “insurance verifiable” concept we’ve taught at My Practice My Business for years, yet [...]

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 with? It’s a very simple answer when you talk with accountants, a “no brainer” when you talk with forensic accounting investigators, and it’s a “power struggle” when you listen to dental [...]

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 and would need removal. Sounds like the typical story “my hygiene was never the greatest," right? After further examination, it was obvious his alveolar ridges were atrophied, resorbed, nearly non-existent, and [...]

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 personnel: The Doctor: This person has typically gone through four years of undergraduate school, and four years of doctoral training at an accredited dental school. Very few dentists have received any [...]