Helping Patients Say YES – Utilizing Medical Benefits

The biggest obstacle in any practice is getting patients to say YES.  There are literally thousands of books, seminars, articles, videos, etc on how to overcome this.

Essentially there are three main reasons why someone doesn’t proceed with treatment.

1. Time.
2. Fear.
3. Money.

While I don’t have scientific proof, I would say that #3 money is the biggest issue patients face.

So let me ask you this.  How many of you reading are assisting patients to say YES by utilizing medical benefits?  The answer is likely less than 5%.

Medical benefits are often available to patients for certain procedures done in the dental office.

Here’s an illustrative example.

Lauren came to our office with several missing teeth.

In looking at her reconstructed pano, I noticed a plate/screw.  I asked her where and how she got that.

What Lauren told me was that she fell down a set of stairs and needed surgery.  This was the cause of her tooth loss.

Lauren’s treatment plan was for 5 implants, bone grafting, and removal of the plate/screw – all under sedation.  Honestly, this is a very costly procedure that was north of $20,000.

This was not something that was very easy for Lauren to pay out of pocket and dental insurance was neglible.

But there is a silver lining here….  This is known as TRAUMA.

Trauma typically opens up medical benefits to help pay for dental treatment as a result of this trauma.  There are certain rules and limitations that apply, of course.

We were able to assist Lauren by utilizing her medical benefits – to the tune of $6,480.

Lauren was able to complete her work and was very grateful to our practice for being able to make it more comfortable for her financially.  She has since referred many patients to our practice.

Obtaining medical benefits for patients isn’t easy, it isn’t hard, it isn’t unpredictable, and it isn’t predictable either.  It takes effort, patience, perserverance, and commitment.

In an era where the practice of dentistry is changing – it’s time for your practice to position itself as a leader as a patient advocate.

Want to learn more about medical billing?  At 3D Dentists we offer a 2 day hands-on program that is designed to get you practice up and running.