Empowering Business Team Members to Increase Case Acceptance

Proper guidance and support can increase their confidence in discussing patients’ financial concerns and options

Kathryn Alderman, DDS

Case acceptance plays a vital role in the success of a dental practice as well as the health of its patients. Unfortunately, there are numerous obstacles that hinder patients' acceptance of needed dental treatment. Financial limitations and negative perceptions about dental experiences are two of the most common barriers.

Compounding the issue of case acceptance is the fact that common dental conditions, such as caries and periodontal disease, are "silent" in that they do not cause pain until they reach an advanced stage. This can give patients a false sense of security and the impression that treatment for these conditions can wait because they do not require immediate attention. However, it is not uncommon to come across patients who require extensive scaling and root planing and who have multiple carious lesions that they are completely unaware of.

Dental insurance coverage poses another challenge: it limits patients' ability to undergo certain dental procedures. Oftentimes, the combination of possessing limited coverage and not being in any pain leads patients to delay crucial dental treatment, which can ultimately result in the need for more complex and costly procedures. As a result of the common barriers to case acceptance, dental treatment is often postponed until patients' conditions become painful, costly, and potentially too developed to address effectively.

Furthermore, in today's fast-paced world, patients are constantly bombarded with countless messages, making it challenging for them to truly absorb information about the importance of dental health.

Addressing Barriers to Case Acceptance

Focusing on mentoring and empowering the practice's business (ie, front desk) team is vital to address these challenges and increase case acceptance. Typically, business team members hear common objections when interacting with patients, and case acceptance largely depends on the confidence level of the individuals in those positions and their ability to address patients' barriers. You can develop business coordinators who confidently present payment options and effectively address patient concerns by providing them with appropriate guidance and support.

Mentoring About Common Dental Diseases

Provide comprehensive training on the most prevalent dental diseases and problems treated at your practice. Help your business coordinators understand the impact of these conditions on the overall health and well-being of patients. This knowledge will enable them to effectively communicate the connection between oral health and general health to patients so that they understand the importance of timely treatment.

Familiarization With Life-Changing Cosmetic Procedures

Equip your team with in-depth knowledge about the advanced dental procedures that are offered at your practice. To supplement that, share before-and-after images and inspiring patient stories that highlight the transformative effects of these treatments. This understanding will empower your business coordinators to convey the benefits and life-changing outcomes to prospective patients.

Education about the Limitations of Dental Insurance

Offer guidance on how dental insurance works and its limitations in covering extensive dental treatments. By understanding the intricacies of insurance coverage, your business coordinators can assist patients in navigating their insurance plans and exploring alternative financing options when necessary.

Instruction to Emphasize Timely Payment

Instill in your team the significance of collecting payments on the day of service. Setting key performance indicators to keep uncollected amounts below 4% of the total monthly collection helps to ensure financial stability for the practice. To achieve this, provide your business coordinators with effective communication strategies that they can use to address patients' payment expectations. When your team possesses the necessary confidence and skills to discuss finances openly and professionally, patients are more likely to accept treatments, which leads to increased case acceptance and higher revenue for the practice.

Parameters to Standardize Financial Presentations

Mentor your business coordinators on how to conduct thorough and informative financial presentations with new patients. By standardizing the content of these presentations, you can help to ensure that even new team members present financial expectations and options correctly to increase case acceptance. Standardizing presentations will also help business coordinators more quickly develop the skills needed to communicate treatment costs, insurance coverage details, and available payment options.

Direction to Consistently Offer Payment Options

It is essential to emphasize the importance of consistently offering all payment options to all patients. Regarding the options themselves, by offering a wide range, you create the most accommodating environment to help patients overcome the barriers of paying for treatment. For example, offering a pay-over-time financing solution (eg, Sunbit) can create a seamless and user-friendly experience for patients and team members that makes paying for treatment flexible and effortless. When offering such financing platforms as payment options, your business coordinators should undergo additional training to ensure that they have the knowledge and skills to effectively present them to patients.

By integrating a pay-over-time financing solution at our practices, we optimized the payment process, increasing patient satisfaction and improving case acceptance. This financial solution simplifies managing finances for patients and empowers business coordinators to confidently discuss financial matters and present patients with a convenient and flexible payment option.

Knowledge to Handle Financial Questions Effectively

Build your business team's confidence in addressing financial inquiries by providing them with a library of common financial questions. Regularly review these together and offer guidance on effective responses. Introduce your business coordinators to a specific formula or approach that focuses on addressing these questions by presenting the value and positive aspects of the treatment options.

Set for Success

Implementing these seven strategies to help business team members confidently present payment options and effectively address patient concerns can be helpful for any practice seeking to increase case acceptance and improve profitability. By mentoring and supporting your business coordinators and providing them with the tools that they need to excel, you can empower them to set your practice up for success. Prioritizing these aspects can pave the way to a sustained high case acceptance rate and lead to a more prosperous and thriving practice.

About the Author

Kathryn Alderman, DDS, is the CEO and founder of Nebraska Family Dentistry, a multilocation group practice, and Progressive Dental Mentor, an agency that supports dental practices.