Dental Insurance Benefit Maximums

As we enter the second half of the dental benefits’ year, it is important to check remaining insurance maximums when calculating patient co-pays.  Many dental insurance companies provide a $1,000 maximum which can be reached quite quickly.  Often, dental patients are not aware of how low this maximum is and will not be keeping track of how much of their benefit maximum has been used.  In order to ensure the proper collection of a patient’s co-pay and maintain goodwill with your patients, a quick check of the patient’s remaining benefits should be conducted prior to presenting the patient with an estimate.  Patients may have received treatment in the office of a dental specialist and used most of their dental benefit amount there.  Some dental insurance companies provide year to date benefit usage information through online benefit systems or faxes, thus facilitating the verification process.

One of the biggest mistakes made in today’s dental practice is that of calculating inaccurate pre-treatment estimates.  Not only is this bad for your production/collections ratio, it can also tend to leave a very bitter taste in the mouth of patients who assumed their bill was paid in full, only to later discover that they are left with a weighty balance after insurance reimbursement.  The best advice I can offer to prevent this practice breaker is to get their bill right the first time!

Aug 10, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

Tips for Dentists Treating Autistic Patients

I recently contacted TouchPoint Autism Services to inquire about information for dentists and parents regarding dental care and treatment for patients with an autism spectrum disorder.  With the diagnosis of autism on the rise, most dental offices will have several patients on the autism spectrum.   Therefore, I thought it might be helpful to share this information with other dental health practitioners.

Autism Speaks has designed a colorful and descriptive fifteen page Dental Guide for patients with autism.  The guide covers  proper techniques for brushing and flossing, as well as how to find a dental office and prepare for the first visit.  One of their suggestions is that individuals with autism may benefit from a visual schedule depicting the daily toothbrushing process.  This guide also provides a visual schedule for a trip to the dentist office.  As an added bonus, the last portion of the guide provides information to dentists about how to prepare the office and staff for treating a patient with autism.  The guide includes a three page health and sensory questionnaire for patients with autism that can be used to assess how to best treat a specific patient.

An occupational therapist at TouchPoint offered the following recommendations for dentists treating patients with autism:

  • Provide prediction:  Tell the patient what you are going to do or how you are going to touch them before you do.
  • Provide firm touch.
  • Leave the xray drape over the patient for the duration of treatment for sensory input.  A weighted blanket is often calming to an individual with autism.
  • Distract the patient with something else like a visual toy or a video while doing something unpleasant.
  • Place your hand on the forehead while working in the mouth to provide pressure.
  • Complete some oral motor exercises or massage to reduce sensitivity.
  • Some patients may tolerate a vibrating toothbrush rather than a regular toothbrush
  • Experiment with different toothpastes. People with autism may be intolerant to certain tastes.
  • Avoid wearing strong smelling perfume or aftershave when treating the client, as many people with autism are hypersensitive to smell.

TouchPoint also pointed us to another guide for dentists working with autistic patients.  This guide highlights the following information.  Explain to the patient in short statements what will be happening during the appointment.  Some individuals with autism take information very literally so avoid phrases that might be confusing. Allowing the patient to see the instruments and know what they will do before their usage can  help.  Some patients may be soothed by pressure from touch, but inform the patient where you will be placing pressure prior to touching them.  Verbal praise should be used throughout the appointment whenever possible.  Enlist the parents help in giving suggestions for what will be helpful and harmful in working with their child.  As mentioned earlier, the Autism Speaks’ guide provides a questionnaire that may be helpful in attaining this information.

The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) also provides information on practical oral care for people with autism.  The NIDCR outlines information on behavioral, communication, health, sensory and oral issues that may present during a dental visit and tips for how to handle each of these areas.

About TouchPoint Autism Services

For more than thirty-five years, TouchPoint Autism Services has been a
premier provider of services for individuals with autism spectrum disorders
and their families. Our name reflects our desire to be the single touch
point for services to individuals with autism throughout their lives – a
place where families can always expect to receive quality services and
compassionate care and support. Services that are provided include: Adult
Programs/Support, Clinical Therapies, Consultation, Evaluations/Assessments,
Family Support, Individual Support, Residential Services, Parent Training,
and Training for Professionals, Support Groups, Training Services, and
Workshops/Seminars.

Jun 29, 2010 | 2 comments | View Post

The Low Overhead Dental Practice Part III: The Three Day Work Week

Operating your business within the framework of a more condensed schedule can yield maximal productivity in fewer hours and fewer workdays.  I am reminded of a statement offered by my childhood dentist, “I can produce as much in 25 hours per week as it would take most dentists 35 hours to produce.”  The data bear out that dentists operating within a highly efficient, compressed work schedule tend to be more productive and ultimately more profitable.  Dentists utilizing a three day work week often out produce those laboring four or even five days per week.  The explanation for this is that these three day practices are operating more efficiently.  There are fewer openings in their schedules, and waiting lists of patients help to ensure that.  Schedule compaction not only fosters greater hourly productivity, but also enhances profitability through overhead reduction.

The elimination of additional days per week of hourly staff pay and associated variable costs can reduce overhead and directly flow to your bottom line.  Less time at work permits periods of rejuvenation necessary for most dentists to side-step the all too frequent reality of occupational burnout.  A dental school instructor related an anecdote of once dining with colleagues, each sharing numbers of annual practice production, in an attempt to go one better than the others.  On the contrary, my friends and I often try to outdo each other by actually scheduling the fewest number of workdays per year.  Net income being equal, the true victor in terms of practice success may be the dentist achieving this income result via the fewest labor hours invested.

Operating your practice on a three day work week offers multiple variations of workday selection, provides patients with multiple appointment time options and helps prevent workplace boredom.  For example, a doctor may choose to work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of one week and Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of the next.  Vacation time can be worked into the six day chasm between weeks, eliminating the necessity to close the practice for an entire week.  When the doctor elects to open early on Monday and Friday and close late on Tuesday and Thursday, patients will always have convenient scheduling options.  Patients can choose appointments on any day of the week, early morning, through the lunch hour or after work, even though the practice is only open three days any given week.

Another option for the doctor is to open the practice the same three days every week.  Whether the doctor chooses M-W, T-Th, or W-Fr, the resulting five day break between patients regularly seems adequate to reduce professional burnout.  The downside to this type of regularity in the schedule is the difficulty it imposes on patients to find convenient appointment times.  Any three day work week also encroaches on a doctor’s ability to treat dental emergencies in a timely fashion.  For these reasons, a doctor may elect to open Monday through Thursday one week and Tuesday through Friday the next.  This schedule affords the doctor a four day weekend every other week and permits patients to be seen in a prudent manner through convenient appointment times.

Jun 24, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

Dental Patient Promotions

Limited time promotions can be a great way to attract new patients and re-appoint current patients during typically slow months.  The month of February often shows a slow down in my dental office schedule.  Patients wanting to take advantage of their remaining dental insurance benefits and time off around the holidays fill the office in December.  January can be busy with restorative treatment for patients who were waiting to access their new calendar year dental benefits, but in February the schedule can become more sparse.  National Children’s Dental Health Month, sponsored by the American Dental Association in February, provides a great opportunity for running an in-office promotion for children with appointments that month.  February is also a good month to send dental hygienists and dental assistants into area schools to educate children on dental health and provide personalized goodie bags with information about your office.

In the month of July, my office will be running a Ladies’ Month promotion.  We have secured giveaways from a local spa and Mary Kay representative.  We plan to offer door prizes and a drawing for free whitening each week.  Women tend to be busy during the summer months trying to juggle summer vacation plans so my staff thought it would be a good time to offer our patients a little pampering.  If this promotion is a success, we will expand our offerings next year.

Our business cycle has demonstrated the tendency for slower periods during September and October each year.  To stave off this trend, we prepare in advance with discounts for patients with an outstanding treatment plan and postcard reminders for patients with overdue recall appointments.  These techniques have helped to even out the schedule during a time of the year that formerly proved problematic.

Online opportunities for advertising patient promotions make it quicker and less expensive to get the word out regarding new promotions in your dental office.  A Google Places listing allows businesses to update their “status” regularly and this tool can be used to highlight a new promotion.  MerchantCircle and Yelp offer similar opportunities to highlight a special offer or promotion.  If you are active in social media through Facebook and Twitter, these platforms can be used to get the word out to current and potential patients as well.  All of the above mentioned online advertising opportunities do not cost anything beyond the labor to set up and update the accounts.

If you are feeling more ambitious about promoting your special offers and you are willing to pay for the promotion, consider sending an e-newsletter through a service like Constant Contact.  Dental patient e-newsletters can be sent to all current patients who have opted in to receive newsletters from your office.  An e-newsletter can be sent any time you are running a new promotion.  You can opt to bypass the cost of using an email marketing company and send out notices from your office’s email account, but for a relatively low cost an email marketing company offers email templates and statistical reporting.  Another paid option for marketing a new promotion is a limited time Google Adwords campaign with an ad specifically designed to highlight your dental patient promotion.

Please feel free to comment with any practice promotions that have been successful in your office.

Jun 22, 2010 | 1 comment | View Post

The Low Overhead Dental Practice – Part I

As it relates to the profitability of our practices, we as dental health professionals commonly undervalue the importance of reducing and controlling our overhead.  Routinely, the focus is on increasing our production, and for the truly savvy, improving collection percentage.  While these factors are clearly imperative to maximizing that which we take home, lowering overhead can also serve to moderate the stress involved with running a dental practice.

One efficient way to achieve overhead control is to hire a staff which is completely part-time.  Operating in an economy in which the stated unemployment rate is approaching 10%, while the true rate may be closer to 17%, workers are happy to secure a position of nearly any type.   This is particularly true of job opportunities for those lacking advanced or specialized degrees.  Retaining staff on a part-time basis allows doctors to avoid high-cost benefit programs, overtime pay and dollars lost to the inefficiency of salaried positions.  Stress reduction occurs by eliminating the headaches related to staff discord and discontent.   Additionally, the doctor is not forced to work hours beyond that which are desired simply to conform to the longings of the staff.  Running a profitable dental practice does not require us to out-produce our peers, yet only to more efficiently manage our businesses.

May 04, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post
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