Top 15 strategies that can help you increase the revenue of a dental clinic
Success in the dental industry requires a balance between clinical work and practice management. If dentists cannot keep up with today’s fast-paced and technology-focused environment, they can easily lose control of their practice workflow. With the dental Clinic becoming increasingly competitive, it is necessary for dentists to focus on cohesion in their practices.
Today’s dentists require greater business training, management competence, and marketing skills to remain profitable. Instead of bearing the stress of practice management, dentists should understand how implementing and aligning new solutions can make practices more profitable and provide better care for more patients.
Let’s take a look at the strategies that increase the revenue of a dental clinic:
Get Better Software Solutions to Increase revenue of a dental clinic
Many dental practices today waste hundreds of hours and dollars every year tackling daily administrative tasks that slow workflows and reduce productivity. Dentists lose time in searching through paper documents, billing patients by mail, and handling insurance claims.
Now, companies are entering the marketplace to mitigate these tedious tasks with useful solutions. For example, dentists now have access to electronic credit card and claims processing software that works alongside practice management systems. Implementing these solutions can help dental Clinic become more organized and cost-effective. Dentists can reallocate work-time toward the part of their jobs that matters most: taking care of patients.
Implement Strong Customer Support
Poor customer service can severely impact a company’s reputation. One bad experience can result in a negative review, which could reduce patient retention and generation. For instance, a recent study from Help Scout revealed that 91% of customers who were unhappy with their experience would not do business with a company again. Astron EHS can help you provide that: for more information contact[email protected]
Since acquiring a new customer is 6 to 7 times costlier than maintaining a current one, dental offices must provide experiences that will directly translate into benefits for practices. Dental practices should establish and hold team members accountable to a foundation of core expectations to ensure strong customer service is being implemented across the entire practice. These standards will prevent negative situations from arising and ensure patients receive high-quality care.
Dental practices should also be proactive in assessing their patients’ needs and implementing a customer service plan to satisfy those requests. Create benchmarks to measure the plan’s effectiveness, and make revisions as necessary by gathering feedback from team members. This will ensure patient satisfaction continues to increase, which will lead to higher retention and profitability.
Strengthen Online Marketing Practices that help to increase revenue of a dental clinic
Many practices don’t update their marketing techniques and fail to maintain a robust online presence. If dental offices limit their practice to archaic marketing techniques it can have a detrimental impact, as a study revealed that 97% of consumers search for local businesses online and 40% of consumers today say that information found on social media affects their health decisions. This makes it vital for dentists to ensure their information is reaching current and prospective patients.
Consider offering third party financing
One of the biggest reasons patients don’t pay on time or opt not to go forward with treatment is because they can’t afford it. That’s where third-party financing from a company such as CareCredit can help. You get paid right away for what you produce, while patients can pay each month to cover their billss. Another bonus? Patients might tell their family and friends about the convenient payment options your practice offers, and that could lead to an increase in new patients.
Create and communicate a financial policy
Don’t have a financial policy? Now is a great time to create one. When you do, be sure to give it to every new patient and periodically distribute it to existing patients. I also suggest you review the policy with patients before they begin significant treatment. That way, there’s no confusion about when payment is expected
When you’re putting the policy together, keep in mind that if it’s too lenient or strict it could actually hurt the practice. Remember, it’s important to give patients flexible payment options that make it easy for them to cover their bills. The policy should be standard for all patients and exeptions should be rare.
Don’t offer too many options
While you want to be flexible, you don’t want to confuse things with a large menu of payment plans. This will cause confusion and extra work and won’t do much to help you get paid on time.
Thank patients for upfront payments with a reward
Want to boost your collections rate? Make it easy for patients to pay you. One way to do that is through electronic billing. With electronic billing, patients can log into their account, see what they owe, and make a payment whenever it’s convenient for them. It also saves the front office time because they no longer have to fold, stuff, and stamp statements.
Don’t take post-dated Checks
Sure, this is convenient for patients, but it doesn’t do much to help your practice. It basically amounts to money sitting in the drawer rather than going to the bank.
Start making phone calls
It is a known fact that the landscape of healthcare is rapidly changing and it has even affected medical billing. It has become quite difficult to keep up with the latest rules and requirements, and it is evident that keeping up with these will require constant vigilance and education.
Enhance Your Dental Billing Statements
Did you know that the design of your dental billing statement contributes to patient reception of information? Enhancing the look with carefully designed tools like color and attention-grabbing boxes helps the patient to understand their financial obligation. Increased patient understanding decreases the number of resources your practice needs to clarify charges while encouraging quick payments.
Implement Multi-Channel Communications
Once you have an improved billing statement design, it’s time to expand practice-patient communications. Although some patients still prefer to receive paper medical bills, the national trend is moving towards eStatements. Providing the option to receive eStatements instead of paper appeals to all patient demographics while helping the patient excise more control over their dental experience.
Offer Multiple Payment Options
Providing patients with various ways to pay their financial obligations compliments your new multi-channel system. Options like mobile pay, IVR, online portals, QR code scans, text to pay, and traditional mail-in checks help reduce the stress of submitting payment. Integrating patient statement processes with a payment system allows for seamless patient interactions throughout the billing and collecting system.
Accept Payment Plans
While implementing various payment options assists some patients in paying their obligations, some still need extra aid. Payment plan options are becoming a staple for any costly service provider. Allowing patients to space out their payments reduces the stress and anxiety brought on by high-priced bills.
Cut Billing Cost that help Increase to revenue of a dental
The final step in improving your dental billing service is to reduce billing costs. On average, practices that handle their printing and mailing in-house spend $1.00 per statement. Contrary to popular belief, outsourcing the printing and mailing system cuts this cost significantly. A third-party vendor who owns a print shop receives bulk supply and mailing discounts, that help you to revenue of a dental then passes these savings along to customers.
