Embracing Freedom: The Path to a Fee For Service Dental Experience

Embracing Freedom: The Path to a Fee For Service Dental Experience

Hi friends,

This week marked the beginning of Q2, a big week in our transition plan to a FFS (Fee For Service) model. A FFS model is where the insurance does not control the dentist’s fees, and the dentist will not be on the insurance carrier’s Preferred Provider’s list.

The plan is to have an in-person discussion of the changes with all of my patients, so they don’t feel blindsided by it at all. I am in charge of delivering the news to the patients, while my team is responsible for answering any follow-up questions. So far, there haven’t been too many questions asked, which may be because I’m explaining things clearly, or more likely, they don’t know which questions to ask!

Anyways, this is why we’re starting the conversation early, to give the patients a chance to think about questions and to ask me about it at their next recall. My hope is that all my patients at least understand the reasoning of why we are going FFS, regardless if they will stay or not.

One experiment I am running is to compare the effect that different explanations or reasons will have on patient retention. Basically, I want to see which reasoning resonates most with patients, leading to an increase in retention rate. How I am doing this is by testing three approaches, each for one month, and then I will collect the data on the approaches.

For the month of April, we are going with approach A, which is the standard approach that most consultants will give you when you go FFS. This is our control, in effect. The standard approach usually consists of positioning yourself as premium, with premium materials. It is also where we are patient-relationship driven, which is to say we are not rushed with our patients.

I have my initial biases of how effective this will be, but the truth will be born out of the data, which I am eager to collect. My verbiage touches upon the fact that since the insurance companies control our fees and haven’t given an increase in 5 years since we started, it is getting tougher and tougher to run a business, as the costs of running a business have gone up significantly since Covid.

This puts us in a crunch because the logical conclusion would be to see more patients each hour and to cut down on the quality of the materials we are using. Most patients are understanding of this fact.

I end with painting a picture for the patient on how this will likely affect them, from their perspective. I tell them the estimated increase in the out-of-pocket expenses, which I’m estimating now to be around $50-$100 out of pocket for a cleaning appointment. Most of my patients seem OK with this fee.

My ultimate goal is for all dentists to be able to have the confidence to break free of the shackles of insurance, and my mission is to help as many as possible. Gathering the data from my own transition is a good first step to creating an actionable plan for others to follow.

I’d like to ask you, the reader, what your thoughts are regarding a dental office that is Out-of-Network with insurance plans. What message does that send? How do you feel about that office?

If you know a dentist interested in going FFS or is already FFS, please forward my newsletter to them, so we can all learn from my journey together. Until next time, take care!

If you know a dentist interested in going FFS, or is already FFS, please forward my newsletter to them, so we can all learn from my journey together. Until next time, take care!