By Landon Lemoine 
If you’re a motivated dentist looking to separate your practice from mundane and outdated work brought by traditional insurance, incorporating in-office plans into your practice could well be the way to accomplish this — as well as bring in new patients and increase your income.
Even better, their subscription-based model not only benefits the practice, but also its patients. Here’s how.
How Patients Benefit
Provides the Uninsured Financial Options
Roughly one-third of the adult population has no dental insurance. According to the American Dental Association, almost two-thirds of uninsured patients have no plans to go to the dentist in the next 12 months.[1] Unemployment brought on by the pandemic greatly increased the number of people who have no coverage.
Without coverage, the idea of paying upfront for the needed work can be financially daunting, and in some cases, impossible. Membership plans equip practices with tools to provide financial options to their patients that enable to pay for and receive the care they need.
Patients needing expensive treatment can sign up for a monthly or yearly payment plan that allows practices to break up the cost of treatment for the patient into manageable monthly amounts. This is a better alternative to credit agencies with high interest rates or insurance companies with lofty coverage.
More Cost-effective than Traditional Insurance
More Americans are leaving traditional dental insurance behind and are looking for more cost-effective alternatives. In-office plans can help your practice keep these patients and keep them away from phony discount cards and inadequate insurance plans.
Because in-office plans are easily customizable, they can provide a better, more personalized treatment plan for a patient. Patients can avoid paying for coverage they may never use, because these plans enable them to pay a manageable monthly cost for the services they need.
How Practices Benefit
Creates Recurring Revenue
Converting uninsured cash patients to an in-office plan generates more recurring revenue for a practice and can bring uninsured patients in the door more often. In-office plan members also are far more likely to show up for their second visit, knowing they’re getting the care they need without taking on a large and immediate financial risk.
Creates the Ability to Work with Local Businesses
In-office plans allow practices to go beyond working with individual patients by enabling them to work with local small businesses. While practices can increase their patient base by working with these businesses, they’ll also be helping by enabling them to provide true benefits for their employees without the cost and hassle of working with a traditional insurance plan.
Decreases Admin Work
As a practice increases its in-office plan membership, the practice’s admin work will decrease. This is because the more individual and uninsured patients purchase the in-office plans, the less pre-authorizations and claims it will need to deal with.
In short, in-office plans provide a real benefit to a practice’s existing patients, can drive new ones in the door, and help free dental offices from haggling and battling with traditional insurance companies.
[1]https://www.ada.org/~/media/ADA/Science%20and%20Research/HPI/Files/HPIBrief_1114_1.ashx
The FDA knows the frustration its members have with third-party payers. That’s why we’ve partnered with Bento to support adoption of a dental benefits administration technology that allows dentists and patients to remove artificial barriers to care and reduce administrative costs while improving oral health. Bento is a modern alternative to traditional dental insurance by enabling employers, groups and individuals access to comprehensive dental coverage through an advanced AI-based digital platform. Unlike traditional insurance companies, Bento works directly with dentists and provides solutions for practices, patients and employers. When creating in-office plans powered by Bento’s tech-enabled platform, dentists have complete control from plan design, pricing, and Bento even provides the tools needed to start selling plans to patients. Creating a plan powered by Bento is completely free, only takes minutes and FDA members receive a discount on administration. Visit floridadental.org/bento for more information.
Beyond the Bite 