For most dentists, it can be quite a tough decision to choose between patients with dental membership plans and patients with dental insurance. This is because the demands and capacity of each dental office and practitioner is different but at the same time the end goal is the same which is to make profit. This is why it is essential to understand the risks and rewards associated with both.
Most of us are quite familiar with the concept of dental insurance but what is not common knowledge is the fact that dental insurance first came into operation as a workable benefit only in 1954. Over the years different network of dentists like PPO’s and DHMO’s have been introduced to provide the best dental coverage to patients as well as to make it easier for dentists to be reimbursed for the services provided.
Dental Insurance Verification is the process of checking a patient’s insurance plan with their insurance carrier before the patient receives treatment. This helps ensure that the treatment which is covered in the plan is only given as there won’t be any surprise out of pocket expenses. At the same time, it also helps patients learn about their effective date, waiting period, deductibles and maximums as well as other crucial information.
Nonetheless, the results of the action have been far from the desired outcomes as dentists are continuously met with incessant requests for writing off more and more differences between the cost of services and the amount that the insurance provider has to pay. At the same time, for expensive treatments patients have had to pay out of their own pockets. This is why only the insurance providers who are providing coverage of maximum benefits at minimum costs are preferred over inhouse dental membership plans.
Inhouse dental membership plans are the plans that dentists offer to their patients directly for a monthly or annual fee.These plans can eliminate the extra cost charged by middlemen representing the dentists thereby bringing more revenue to the dental office. They allow a practice to set their own fees, increase uninsured patient loyalty as well as increase the revenue of the practice by a big margin. .
Moreover, apart from catering to uninsured patients in the area they provide instant access to services without asking the patient to wait while tallying the details with the insurance provider or in their own system if they have outsourced the service to a third party. Patients also get to enjoy transparent pricing for all procedures as well as get first hand assessment of what all treatments should they include in their dental membership plan from the dentist himself.
Nonetheless, the challenge with in house dental membership plans is as and when dentists increase their patient base it can become quite difficult to store information as every patient’s membership plan will be different. At the same time, the practices which are providing their patients an in-house plan need to consult an attorney as each and every state has different laws pertaining to what qualifies as an in-house membership plan and what becomes insurance.
Finally, if dental insurance providers are transparent with dental practitioners and offer maximum coverage at good cost to patients then dentists should go for patients with dental insurance. However, if the practice is not too big and sees many uninsured patients come in for treatment then patients with in-house dental memberships plans seem like the right choice.
