That ruffled some feathers. Last week, me bringing up the evil doers of insurance, playing tricks and not giving many treats to the Dentists (or the Patients, for that matter).
Like stealing candy from kids on Halloween, insurance companies rob patients of benefits and doctors of money necessary to do good, make right, and be healthy.
But, you know what’s worse than all of those big dumb insurance companies that dentists blame so much of their woes and worries on…it’s the way we condition and train our patients to think, act, buy, and engage with our practice.
Some do good, very very few do great, but most think they are at the mercy of the patients…not having money, waiting until next year, doing just the minimum, whatever insurance pays for.
It doesn’t matter if you are in or out of network, usually we have done a really great job of making dentistry not that important in the patients’ minds when it comes to actually putting their money where their mouth is.
Don’t you just love that. C’mon, that’s funny, and exactly what we are talking about. “Put your money where your mouth is…”
Why.
Because it is the entry way into your body and is what determines pretty much every other aspect of your health. If you start unhealthy up there, you are darn sure going to be unhealthy everywhere else.
You want your patients to believe in putting their money where their mouth is. Besides there is no other part of someone’s body that is going to be seen more than this one. It just makes sense.
And yet, we go out of our way to be bashful, easy, convenient for patients.
Let me tell you something: if patients already believed their oral health was important they would have gone somewhere else or come to you a long time ago.
They are under-educated about this (or plain misinformed).
If not YOU, Your Practice, Your Team – then who is going to stand up for what’s right and tell them the truth?
It’s really a simple concept.
Do you want just ‘a lot of patients’ or do you want ‘a LOT of DENTISTRY’. Last time I checked you get paid on dentistry, not on patients. And you know the best part of this whole thing, your patients get healthy by ‘a lot of dentistry’ too, not just on number of visits, check-ups, hygiene appointments or anything else.
I promised you the three biggest self-sabotaging things we do with patients that shoot ourselves in the foot, rob patients of their health and steal money right out from under your nose.
That’s right, exactly the same as the insurance companies. You are no better than them if you are not practicing comprehensive care and limiting yourself to nothing more than an urgent acute based dental clinic (which may be for some people we usually call it corporate dentistry – the enemy in other words).
To an extent, they can be beneficial. They are wonderful for the patients who you do not serve, those patients who need this type of healthcare. Truth is, if everyone would just stick to their own patients it would work out just fine. The right patients for you aren’t for them and vice versa.
Bad news, you can’t control what they do and you aren’t going to stop them.
Good news, you can control what you do and you have all the leverage in the world if you will avoid doing these three things.
You will differentiate yourself from corporate dentistry and you will empower your patients to move from insurance-minded cost-of-care to optimal benefit driven complete health care.
Which do you want to be?
Your environment, language, culture, team, experience, process, and every other part of your patients’ interaction (verbal, non verbal, tangible, intangible, physical, visual), all play a part in this and all affect the mindset of the patient.
So…are you ready?
#1 – we never give ourselves a chance at helping patients because we start talking about insurance way too early. You weed out patients with money thinking that they are just patients with insurance…there are ways around this. Of course you might have to know their insurance depending on your practice model but your engagement should be getting to know the patient not their insurance.
Remember this and I say it all the time (and people think I’m a genius, which is certainly true, but this is very common sense)… If a patient has insurance it means 2 things, one: they or someone they live with has a job, and two: that means they have income…they are a great patient possibility.
#2 – we make everything about money, we do, not the patient – because we do not properly guide the visit. Now there are dozens of ways we sabotage ourselves and our patients health by letting money get in the way and I’ve created an entire presentation about selling high-fee large comprehensive cases and getting around money issues …you can access a replay through this publication only right here…
The Ultimate High Fee Case Accelerator >>>
…so I’m not going to take up time talking about it, I have given so many tips…but the most important one is: listen to how many times your team brings up money or does not properly handle it when patients bring it up. There is a time and a place but it’s not at the beginning and it’s not inside of the treatment room. This practice is about health not money (isn’t that what every dentist says), well then, how about we practice what we preach.
#3 – and this is the big one…we step-by-step patients through dentistry instead of educating them and presenting comprehensive treatment plans in a specific way. We surprise them when they come back in and then we think it’s a fun game to keep surprising them and we make an excuse that we are doing it this way so you can maximize your insurance or we can wait until next year or whatever.
Guess what, we do this so often, not everyone but many people do and if you don’t or if you think you are a 7 or 8, I guarantee you, you have team members that are well below 5’s.
The entire point is this: educate your patients – take time to build real relationship – create patients for life not patients for the moment – not patients who come when they have to but come because they want to.
And there in lies the secret switch of moving from insurance minded patients…to health focused patients. In network or out of network, it doesn’t matter, it’s all about what’s inside of your patients’ minds and whether they see you as a commodity of necessity or a provider of choice.
Together we can raise the perception of dentists and the importance of dentistry and make a difference in people’s lives. I’m honored to be a part of this great industry with you…let’s have the good guys and girls stick together…we will not give in or falter to people or companies or governments or organizations that work to make every dentist or practice seem like one in the same because they are not.
You deserve to utilize your skills and do the dentistry you love; and you deserve to be paid what you are worth and have a thriving prosper practice that has unlimited potential. Because that is the way it’s suppose to be.
Just like your patients deserve what’s best for them without restrictions or obstacles, the right to choose their dentist, their outcomes and their benefits because every patient matters and every visit counts.
Now, will someone please give me a Hell Yeah!
Next week I’m going to do something for you that I have never done, I’m going to share with you my most advanced psychological patient buying triggers that allow you to move patients from skeptics to believer to investor in their health and in your dental services. It’s going to be amazing. And I’d suggestion you not miss it. Plus I’ve got another big announcement to make too…just for smart dentists like you.
Last week I gave you an opportunity you should have taken advantage of…many dentists did. If you would like for me to personally guide you in the elimination or mitigation of your in-network insurance dependent production and help you with a strategy, one that will be customized and support specifically your goals and objectives, then I will do it, complimentary, as part of my custom profit blueprint package.
You can go here and request your time and we’ll put something together so you can take action before the end of the year and start keeping more of the dollars you are doing dentistry for in the first place and better serve your patients.
Schedule Your Custom Profit Blueprint >>>
And when you do this, I’m going to include a brand new copy of my most recent and hot off the press book called Dental Super Powers – it will blow your mind.
