dental insurance

Is Lack of Dental Insurance Driving More Patients to the ER?

January 31, 2012 By Catherine Hughes 2 Comments

Do more people need access to dental insurance?

Uninsured Americans are turning to emergency rooms nationwide to manage the pain from dental problems, according to a 2010 Health Resources and Services Administration report.

The same report reveals that dental emergencies make up between 1.3 percent and 2.7 percent of all ER visits.

USAToday reports the reason is a lack of dental coverage for under-insured and uninsured patients as emergency rooms are treating toothaches, tooth abscesses and other dental care emergencies.

Although that number might seem like only a small percentage, Alan Sorkey, a Louisiana emergency physician, pointed out to USAToday that he treated 226 of the 6,336 patients for toothaches last year.

These dental care-related ER visits create higher costs for taxpayers because many of these dental patients return to the ER two or more times per dental problem to manage their symptoms, according to the ADA. And, while the Affordable Care Act addresses dental care for children on Medicaid, the requirement doesn’t exist for adults, ADA spokesman Robert Raible told USAToday.

The ADA is currently working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to devise an approach to get “broader and deeper numbers and look at key indicators for solutions,” ADA President William Calnon said.

What are your thoughts on this growing dental insurance issue?

For more: Lack of dental coverage sends patients to ER for pain

Filed Under: Dental Care, Dental Insurance Tagged With: ADA, Dental Care, dental insurance, dental marketing, dentist, dentistry, dentists, individual dental insurance

Dental Marketing: 69% of Dentists Credit Dental Insurance

January 3, 2012 By Catherine Hughes 4 Comments

69% of dentists report that insurance, as a dental marketing tool, brings in new patients to their dental practice, while only 18% disclose that dental insurance doesn’t bring them new dental patients.

Only 13% said that they don’t accept dental insurance in any form.

“Dental insurance lets me give the patients what I want to do without concern for payment. I give a higher level of care than they would have other wise,” shared a New York dentist.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics states that a the primary indicator of access to dental care in the United States is dental insurance. Studies have shown that persons with private dental insurance have more dental visits in the previous year than persons without private dental insurance.

The Wealthy Dentist asked dentists if participating in dental insurance plans was an effective dental marketing vector to bring new patients in to their practice.

Definitely a provider of new patients . . .

“Yes! With better and faster payors than there used to be.” (California dentist)

“Yes, but it is not insurance …it is a defined plan of benefits that dentists agree to accept at a huge discount!” (Pennsylvania oral surgeon)

“Yes, because we found that a number patients of record for many years suddenly disappeared. When finally contacted (many who avoided post cards, letters, phone calls) said they switched to someone who was an insurance provider. Not because they found fault with anything we had or had not done, but stated the economy as the reason they switched. We found that the patients did not value all that we did/had done for them over the years. We sent them a letter welcoming them back if they felt they were not satisfied with the treatment they received at their providing (cattle call) practice.” (Florida dentist)

“More new patients but at a reduced fee (PPO).” (General dentist)

“It has provided us with new patients and kept some patients who might have gone elsewhere had we not become a provider.” (Texas dentist)

“If you treat everyone to the highest standard, no matter their social economic status, type of dental insurance, or depth of their pockets then you will be rewarded with new patients. Some may refer others, fee for service or with “better” insurance coverage. Never judge a book by its’ cover. Treat others the way you would like to be treated and you will have a very successful and rewarding career.” (Top New York dentist)

Dental insurance brings patients at a cost . . .

“It brings in patients that are insurance-driven and may not have high value for quality dentistry.” (California dentist)

“Dental insurance brings patients that do not necessarily value good dental care.” (General dentist)

“Metlife has such a large number of clients in our area, so it would be a much slower new patient flow as a non-provider. The large discount stinks. We do get some non-plan patients referred to us though. I find that in general, plan participants don’t have much loyalty.” (Tennessee dentist)

“With so many dentists on the PPO provider’s lists, it proves not to be a source of new patient generation like the insurance companies promise it to be.” (California dentist)

“It brings in new patients, but at a “cost”. The fee schedules are terrible. I currently consider the write-off as a marketing expense.” (Kentucky dentist)

Two things to note –

Dental insurance plans are really not “insurance” in the classic sense. These are really “ discount benefit” plans.

Second, for an advanced dental marketing strategy on maximizing your profitability from dental insurance plans watch the quick video tutorial at www.dentalmarketingintelligencereport.com/advanced-marketing-strategies

Filed Under: Dental Surveys, The Wealthy Dentist Tagged With: dental insurance, dental practice marketing, dentist, dentistry, dentists, survey

Dental Office Embezzlement of $100,000 in Dental Insurance Payments

December 27, 2011 By Catherine Hughes 2 Comments

Dental office embezzlement is still alive and well in California.

Deborah Lynn Kessler, 45, pleaded guilty to four counts of grand theft over charges that she embezzled more than $100,000 in dental insurance payments at the dental practice where where was manager.

The Orange County Register reports that Kessler signed dental insurance payments over to her personal bank accounts over the course of about three years. Investigators initially said she may have used the money to pay for an RV, boats and trips, and to cover her personal bills.

She was sentenced to two years in jail, plus an additional two more years of community supervision.

According to a 2010 Association of Certified Fraud Examiners report almost one-fourth of all embezzlement cases report losses of at least $1 million with smaller businesses being the most susceptible to fraud.

The average embezzlement scheme lasts for 18 months before detection.

The U.S Chamber of Commerce estimates that employee embezzlement costs American companies $20 billion to $40 billion a year. A long-term employee is 15 times more likely than a stranger to steal from a company.

Some of the best ways to prevent dental office embezzlement is by implementing a segregation of duties, keeping petty cash to a minimum and requiring dual signatures on checks.

Has your dental practice ever been the victim of employee embezzlement? What happened, and how did you handle it?

For more on the Orange County Register story see: Dental worker guilty of stealing more than $100,000

Filed Under: Dental Embezzlement, The Wealthy Dentist Tagged With: dental embezzlement, dental insurance, Dental News, dental practice, dental practice embezzlement, dental practice management, dentist, dentists, embezzlement

Dental Insurance Determines Who Will See a Dentist

December 19, 2011 By Catherine Hughes 2 Comments

Dental Insurance Determines Who Will See a Dentist Dental insurance status is a major determinant of who will seek dental treatment, according to a Facts and Findings report by Rutgers’ Center for State Health Policy.

The report complied data from the CSHP’s 2001 and 2009 New Jersey Family Health surveys on children ages 3 to 18 who received no dental services within a year.

The study found that children with employer-sponsored or privately purchased dental insurance were much more likely to receive dental care than children without dental insurance or even those covered by publicly insured programs like by Medicaid/NJ Family Care.

According to Rudgers University news, the report also pointed to well-care doctor visits as an important indicator of the likelihood of a child receiving dental care, possibly because of efforts to increase dental referrals in managed care plans and the expansion of dental care in federally qualified health centers.

“The odds were three times as great for children who did not have a well-child doctor visit in the past year to not receive dental care as those who visited a doctor,” said José Nova, research project coordinator and lead author of the study. He noted that care for under-served children could be improved with expanded health coverage under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Reuters estimates that 45 million Americans do not have dental insurance.

Filed Under: Dental Editorials Tagged With: dental insurance, dental insurance plans, dentist, dentistry, dentists, economy, insurance

Dental Marketing: 69% of Dentists Do Not Target Dental Insurance Patients

November 1, 2011 By Catherine Hughes Leave a Comment

69% of Dentists Do Not Target Dental Insurance Patients A Center for Disease Control and Prevention report found a primary indicator of access to dental care in the United States is dental insurance. Previous studies have shown that persons with private dental insurance have more dental visits in the previous year than persons without private dental insurance.

The Wealthy Dentist conducted a survey asking dentists if they actively target new insurance patients as part of their dental marketing.

69% of the dentists who responded do not target new dental insurance patients, while 31% do target them.

Location was not a factor in this survey.

Here’s what the dentists had to say about targeting dental insurance patients -

“How do you target new insurance patients?” (North Carolina dentist)

“We choose to remain fee-for-service even in this economy.” (New York dentist)

“We belong to few networks. We do advertise that we take and file most insurance coverage. It makes no difference in our treatment plans.” (Texas dentist)

“We did not participate in any dental insurance plans until very recently, but had too many patients calling to say that, although they didn’t want to leave the practice, they were forced to, as they couldn’t afford to pay the difference for “out of network” any longer. In Illinois, thanks in part to higher taxes on individuals and much higher taxes on businesses, the economy is as bad (or worse) than ever. Even the CHICAGO Mercantile Exchange is talking about leaving Illinois!” (Illinois dentist)

“Yes. If they are in a difficult contracted insurance benefit company and are a business owner or an executive who can make decisions on plans, we encourage them to look at other plans that are less expensive for the employer, better benefits for the patient and better reimbursement for the provider. If they are employees, we strongly encourage them to discuss changing to another plan that benefits the employee, the employer and the Dr. There are many benefits that work so much better. Why should an employer and employee contribute their monies to a insurance benefit that is primarily interested in taking money out of the middle rather than benefit the employer and the employees?” (Minnesota dentist)