My Steps to Practice Freedom

This year is my 10th anniversary of going out-of-network with all but one insurance plan. Ten short years ago, I was contracted with 15 dental insurance plans. Taking decreased fees didn’t only affect my business, it affected me personally too. Some dentists are able to juggle being in network with multiple insurances while having financial success and a happy life. I wasn’t one of those. I was getting burned out and was loosing my passion for my profession.

I was struggling to make ends meet and finally had enough. I told my wife that I wanted to go out-of-network. I knew I would have to accept whatever consequences would come, even if that meant moving to seek greener pastures. But I hoped for greener pastures, financial success and personal happiness in my own backyard.

Fast forward ten years. I’m still here and doing quite well. This past year 2021, was the highest collection year we have had in all my 18 years of practice. Collections are up over 50% from when I was in-network, we are working less hours per week than we were ten years ago as well. For the rest of this article, I want to walk you through a Cliffs Notes version of how we went out-of-network and what we are doing to continue our progress. If you find yourself in a similar circumstance to myself ten years ago, I hope that these steps will encourage you to transition to an exciting and fulfilling dental career.

Step #1. I realized that something needed to change. I realized that I wasn’t happy and I needed to do something differently. It was my fault for signing up on the insurances, I had no one else to blame other than myself for the situation. It was worth it for me to do something about it. Step #2. I hired a consultant and did what the consultant told me. Thanks to a UDA recommendation, I hired a consultant that had experience and a proven track record helping dentists go out of network. I was determined to make the leap and follow their advice. Step #3. I told my team about going out-of-network and we made a plan. I got the team onboard with what I was trying to accomplish and why. Step #4. I trained my team to be better at customer service. If we charge more, we need to have incredible customer service. I followed that up with weekly trainings and education on improving our patient interaction for better patient experiences.

Step #5. We found out how to properly end our insurance contracts. We contacted each insurance company learned the protocol to follow to properly terminate our contract. to patients so this is where we identified ‘minimum amounts’ to collect that would soften the impact on our patients. Though lower than standard fees, the ‘minimum amounts’ allowed patients to ease into paying a little out-of-pocket for their hygiene visits, while allowing us to collect a fee closer to standard levels. Step #7. We let patients know about the change. Don’t do this how we did. We sent a letter about the change, but in hindsight it would have been better to contact them personally when they were due for recall to explain our new insurance relationship and what it would mean to them financially, if anything. Sometimes the impact to them was negligible. This also created an opportunity for patients to tell us why they liked our practice and why they didn’t mind changing along with us. Step #8. We studied EOB’s religiously to determine how much more each insurance was reimbursing us as an out-of-network provider. We tracked this for each patient and noted what they would pay for copays in the future. This was the most challenging part as we didn’t want to undercharge copays which would force us to make collections calls. We ended up sending a lot of refund checks in the beginning, which patients didn’t mind at all. Step #9. We sat back and watched what happened and didn’t listen to the voices that said it couldn’t be done in Utah.

Step #10. We used the extra collections to reinvest in the practice and CE. I had passion again to continue improving our patient experience, my skills, and to grow the practice.

The results speak for themselves, I have a practice of which I am very proud. I do dentistry I feel comfortable doing at a comfortable pace I enjoy. I have a family life I love. And I have a practice that continues to grow through word-of-mouth referrals and google reviews. If there was ever a year for dentists to make a change, this is the one. With inflation at almost 7% and insurance reimbursement declining, it will only become more difficult to negotiate with insurance plans wanting to control treatment and reimbursements.

We, as dentists, undervalue our services too often. I invite you to value yourselves more. I want you to see how much you could help your patients if you better enjoyed what you do and were reimbursed what you are worth to do it. Patients will choose to afford what they value. If you 1) create a positive experience and 2) perform quality work that lasts, your patients will stay with you even when their insurance plan tells them to go elsewhere. If any of you would like help with an out-of-network transition, we at the UDA office are more than happy to help. Contact the office and ask for recommendations for consultants that can help you. I am more than happy to talk to anyone interested in hearing more of my experience. Have a successful year!