5 tips for running a successful and efficient dental practice

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5 tips for running a successful and efficient dental practice

Owning a dental practice and finding success are the two sides of the same coin. The success of a dental practice depends on a combination of factors such as patient care, dentistry, administrative tasks, etc. 

Here are five tips for running a successful and efficient dental practice to improve your dentist-to-patient experience: 

A streamlined insurance claim process.

This tip is number one because cash problems occur due to inefficient processes. Successful practice means how much cash your billing system puts in the bank. Whether you have an in-house biller or you are outsourcing, reworking insurance claims is a massive revenue drain and time-consuming. 

The best way to understand if the process is smooth is by checking the collection rate. You can get this number through the billable work in a month, subtract the write-offs, and that would be the net production. The total deposits received divided by net production is your collection rate. If the collection rate is under 98%, that’s the revenue you couldn’t collect. 

To improve the collection rate, try to submit the claim within 24 hours of the service. Ensure all the supporting documents, like clinical notes, intraoral photos, and x-rays, are attached to the insurance claim. Working on the appeal of the insurance aging report that got previously denied every day helps you have a clean claim process.

The smooth patient billing process

Once the insurance claim process gets sorted, the patient billing process comes next. Why? Because the insurer’s revenue impacts growth. Nobody will care for your patients as you do, and you deserve prompt payment. 

Asking for payments is awkward, but if you are confident about the insurance claim process, the patient will trust the amount billed on the statement. A smooth patient billing process means the team verifies the patient’s insurance before the scheduled appointment. 

It also means that you are aware of covered and non-covered treatment in the plan and the estimated cost for an out-of-pocket expense that you communicate to the patient before the procedure. This streamlined communication prepares the patient for upcoming expenses. 

Flexible payment option

Every successful practice provides patients with payment options like credit cards, cash, checks, and third-party payment plans. To get the patient’s paperwork and payment done before the last appointment, they can walk right after the treatment without getting bothered when their mouth is numb. 

Proper scheduling system

Scheduling is crucial for the patient and the dental team because of people’s time. On the patient side, if you mix their dates and time into an already busy schedule, then an angry patient might come to your office. Many dental practices offer weekend, early morning, or evening schedules to accommodate patients without getting into conflict. 

On the staff side, the complexities of handling practice appointments can cause friction, and make sure you have someone dedicated to the administrative team to keep it organized. Practice management software can automate this process and inform them about the appointment through text or email. In the case of a no-show, make sure to reschedule immediately to avoid any clashes.

Connect with the community

Make the most out of the community to keep them engaged and interact through advertising campaigns, social media content, dental postcards, newsletters,  brochures, etc. It is a part of the practice’s plan for success, as loyal patients will recommend your dental practice to friends and family. In addition, retaining existing patients is less expensive and effortless than acquiring new ones. 

But retaining existing patients require connection to the emotional level, offering adequate service,  easy-to-access location, convenient hours, and earning the trust to create an ever-lasting relationship. Today’s digital world allows us to reach out to existing patients and prospective ones on an ongoing basis. 

From volunteer to event sponsorship, there are options to show your community that you are committed to more than making money. That will help you turn your patients into promoters and delight them to the extent that they will never consider going to another provider.