It’s been over two years since the pandemic took hold in the US, and many of us haven’t fully recovered. It’s no secret that practices across the country have been struggling with staffing shortages—mine included. It’s hard to get everything done smoothly when you don’t have enough hands on deck. To make matters worse, many Covid regulations have been lifted, but dentists are still seeing less patients in their chairs.

How could this be?

The sad truth is, many patients have lost access to insurance through their employers. We’re living in the age of the “gig economy,” and this means less patients can afford treatment. In fact, as much as 80% of the uninsured population goes without routine dental care! This is bad news for patients’ health, as well as the stability of your practice.

Luckily, the folks at DentalHQ have a solution to help more patients access dental care and take some weight off your staff’s shoulders. This week, I spoke with Eric Dawe, the Vice President of Business Development at DentalHQ. But before I dive into everything Eric shared with me, let’s talk a bit about how DentalHQ started.

DentalHQ began when its founder, Dr. Brett Wells, attended a seminar by Dr. Charles Blair all about in-house membership plans. Immediately, Brett knew he wanted to implement this within his own practice. However, as his plan grew, he ran into trouble—it became harder and harder to administrate. One of the most tedious struggles Brett and his team ran into had to do with making renewal phone calls. When the team called patients to renew their plans, almost every patient agreed they would at their next visit. Unfortunately, this visit could take as long as 8-9 months to arrive—if ever—when it comes to uninsured patients. So, DentalHQ began as a way to automate collection of payments.

Today, DentalHQ is about much more. The company is always evolving to help make dentists’ jobs easier and help more patients access treatment.

For one, practice owners who use DentalHQ have a much easier time getting patients to return closer to the 6-month mark. This is because membership plans create a big shift in patient mentality. Typically, patients are willing to accept the treatment we tell them they need to stay healthy, but they never sit back in our chairs for financial reasons.

However, patients enrolled in a membership plan are incentivized to get the most value out of what they’ve paid for. If you’re anything like me, you know how it feels to pay for a gym membership and reach the end of the year before realizing you’ve hardly used it! That’s when you start working out before the renewal period arrives. The same goes for enrolled patients—their treatment is already covered, so they’re more likely to take advantage and accept your care.

With more patients in the door, your team could use a breather, and that’s exactly what DentalHQ delivers. By delegating tasks to the software, you free your team from taking on another role’s worth of work. This leaves your staff with more time and energy to do what they do best—helping patients get the treatment they deserve. The software notifies your team when a new patient enrolls with your plan. When this patient has an appointment, Eric says the next steps for your staff are simple: “It’s just like checking an insurance benefit… all your team does: check the dashboard, make sure they’re active, that’s it.”

I can’t emphasize enough how easy it is to use the platform. Heck, my 12-year-old daughter could probably come in and set up the templates DentalHQ provides for your practice’s website! That’s right: DentalHQ offers convenient, customizable templates you can use to inform prospects about your membership plan. From here, future patients can access details on all that your plan offers, as well as instructions on how to join.

To top this off, you’ll never have to worry about collecting payments, real-time reporting, monthly reporting, or taking care of direct deposit ever again. The software does all this for you and more.

“More?” you may be asking. You heard me! DentalHQ is proud to offer a unique, game-changing feature called “Business and Community Connect.” The team designed this feature to help extend your practice’s reach toward small businesses and groups in the area.

“Think about any group,” Eric says, “people in apartments, living communities, youth sports clubs—these are all groups that have tons of uninsured patients. Why not reach out to them? And why not let us do that for you?”

Dental practices are far from the only businesses who’ve been hit by staffing shortages. As a result, some businesses may not be financially stable enough to offer their employees dental benefits through insurance.

This is where you can step in and strike a deal. Business owners can subsidize any amount they want—they chip in some, and their employees can chip in $5-$15 or so to join your membership plan. This makes dental care even more accessible and gets more local patients into your office.

The DentalHQ team never fails to impress. Eric emphasizes that  “when we help you with the plans, we’re talking start to finish.” The team helps you configure the rates for your plan—in the process, they ensure you receive full fees for hygienic treatments.

Patients may choose between a monthly or annual enrollment option, but most patients choose the latter. The platform can also calculate discounts on family plans for you, as well as any other costs and discounts to help you stay within your budget.

The team has all hands on deck to help your practice, but Eric emphasizes that “even though we’re helping you administrate this plan, it is your plan.” When patients enroll, they’re not joining a DentalHQ network—it’s really your office plan, and these guys act as a white label.

If you’re still not convinced, you can trust the satisfaction of a few thousand practices currently using the platform. Some customers turn to the company after giving in-house membership a shot on their own; once they team up with DentalHQ, Eric says they never go back.

That’s because as your practice continues to grow, you’ll become less and less efficient at running your membership plan by yourself. With more patients comes more responsibility—in this case, this means more money left on the table. Take it from the lesson Brett learned himself—you’ll want the software on your side. You can’t keep up with the competition if you’re scrawling in an old accounting book and writing on charts. As Eric says, “everything is digital—this is just the next innovation, the new tech to run an in-house plan.”

And the innovation doesn’t end here. You can rely on DentalHQ to be a cut above the rest. As a company created and run by a dentist, DentalHQ has a full understanding of the needs of all different practices, and he knows one thing for sure: the industry is always evolving. DentalHQ intends not only to keep up, but to lead the way. The company plans to release multiple new upgrades starting this September that will keep the platform on the road to perfection.

On that note, Eric says “membership plans are a foundation, but we have a long way to go. We’ve got our secret sauce list.”

You don’t have to break the bank to give your practice an edge on the rest, either. DentalHQ’s services come at a cost that typically falls 40-60% lower than the competition—and that’s before the Nifty Thrifty deal!  There is no set-up cost, no monthly commitment, and no fine print tying your office or your patients to DentalHQ.

In fact, DentalHQ is so passionate about proving their worth that they only get paid as your practice grows. The team wants to earn your business every month, which gives you freedom you can’t get with other companies who want to lock in contracts. Man, what a novel concept in this day and age!

If you want to set your practice on the path to success, take advantage of the Nifty deal. Members of the community get another 15% off!

Remember, your patients have been hit just as hard as your practice may have been these last couple years. A membership plan is a great way to retain patients who may be in too much economic distress to seek care otherwise. You can connect with the team at DentalHQ.com, or DentalHQ.com/niftythrifty. Here, you can schedule a quick demo or talk one-on-one about your practice’s specific needs.

From there, you can complete a 15 minute onboarding followed by team training. Eric wants you to know you’ll be walked through the whole process—“we’re gonna continually help you grow your plan.”

Learn about: 
Why does the DentalHQ team consider Dr. Brett Wells’s office to be their “laboratory?”
Who inspired Dr. Brett Wells to incorporate in-house membership plans into his practices?
Hint: many members of the community may be familiar with him!
How does DentalHQ go the extra mile to help you market your business?
How does DentalHQ simplify and reduce your team’s responsibilities?
What do clients such as Dr. White and Dr. Ford have to say about their experience with DentalHQ?
How has Dr. Ford learned that membership plans lead to higher collections?
Who endorses DentalHQ?
Hint; a number of state associations!
How did DentalHQ work to perfect the formula to connect your practice with local businesses?
What are DentalHQ’s “per-member” management fees?
How can your membership plan pay for itself?
And more!

 

NIFTY DEAL:
15% off DentalHQ Services!

Get the Deal here:

https://www.dentalhq.com/

 

 

 

 

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