Making the Most of End of Year

Autumn is upon us, and the end of the year is right behind. As we move forward through Halloween and into Thanksgiving and the coming holiday season, many of us are looking forward to festive times with friends and family, seasonal activities, and perhaps some snow this winter. With all of this on our minds, it’s easy to let more mundane things slip, like dental care. More than just an opportunity to remind your patients about maintaining oral health over the holidays, this is a chance to ensure that the folks under your care get the most out of their health insurance and that they complete any needed exams, cleanings, or procedures before the end of the year.

The fact is that patients across the US waste millions in dental coverage every year by not scheduling procedures before their dental insurance benefits reset with the new year. The National Association of Dental Plans estimates only around 2.8% of patients with PPO dental plans maxed out their dental coverage every year. This results in thousands of dollars in coverage lost per patient and millions lost across the nation annually. It also means a more complicated billing and payment situation for your practice, as you navigate the complexities of your various patients’ insurance requirements. Thus unused dental benefits represent a costly and avoidable problem–so how do we best avoid it?

Part of the answer is patient education via effective marketing and patient communication. By developing and maintaining ready, up-to-date contact with your patients you can help ensure that they know how to best make use of their insurance benefits at this time of the year. It can be as simple as reaching out and reminding them, or a more regular series of reminders sent out over the course of a few weeks. There are some great ways to do this, depending on your needs and the demographics of your patients:

• Social media can be a powerful tool for many different aspects of your practice, including helping your patients make the most of their insurance benefits before end-of-year strikes. A series of well-timed and well-presented social media messages over the course of weeks or a month can help your patients understand how to get the most for their money by scheduling a till-now delayed procedure or exam.
• Mailers still work for many patients, particularly older folks. They need to be targeted effectively but sending out some postcards or fliers can help your patients remember to make that needed appointment.
• Splitting the difference between social media and mailers, now’s a great time to make use of your email list. You’ll have a bit more space in a reminder email to explain to your patients that they need to make an appointment ASAP to get the care they need under this year’s insurance.

So when’s the best time to start with these reminders? Sooner is better than later, so that your office can avoid the dreaded end of year rush as a flood of patients all seek last-minute appointments at once. This can be time-consuming and tricky to execute–and that’s where DentaMarketing comes in. Our proven approaches married with our cutting-edge innovation allow us to get your message to the right audience in a cost-effective way. Whether you’re trying to manage the end of the year rush or build a new practice into a powerhouse, we’re here for you, so get in touch today.