Money Can Be Awkward

Do you ever get a queasy feeling when you have to talk to patients about how much their dental care is going to cost? What is that threshold number when that feeling starts? Is it $500, $1000, $10,000 or more?


Money can be awkward to talk about.


I was reminded of this last month while applying for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. One of my closest friends who I have shared the ups and downs of my life with, was helping me with the application. When she asked for my yearly income, she did it in a tactful way, did not look me in the eye, said it was only needed to see if I would be eligible for a subsidy and I froze. Do I tell her the truth, will she think it is too little, that I am not successful, will she think it is too much for what I do. And I was thinking why is this happening to me...


Even though we believe in the treatment for the patient, we know it will change their lives, we still get uncomfortable. Why is that and how can we overcome it?



The money piece gets easier to deliver when the patient understands the WHY they need it done and they want it done. Simon Sinek says, people don’t buy what you do or how you do it they buy WHY you do what you do. How well do we communicate the our WHY and find out the patient’s WHY.

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June 1, 2020
Let me tell you about one client I work with who has dropped Delta Dental insurance, is no longer in network with any PPO plan, still has 2300 active patients and believe it or not 1825 of the patients are Delta Dental patients. How do you do it? Even if you want to only weed out your worst PPO plans you can, without losing money, if you have the right plan and tools in place. Here are the steps: 1. Have a plan, start 9-12 months in advance, know your patient stats, your KPIs—key performance indicators and estimate the impact if all of the PPO patients were to leave—they usually all will not, but you need to plan for the worst. 2. Start having conversations with your patients about the upcoming change. Why you are doing it and what it will mean for them. 3. Get your financial options in place and create a financial agreement policy so your patients have a way to fit their treatment into their budget. 4. Create a marketing plan, strategy and, budget to market for the ideal patients and services for your practice. If you would like to talk more with me about how to reduce your dependence on PPO plans I am happy to help. Here is a link to my calendar to schedule a call. https://calendly.com/dentalcoaches/30min
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