Dental insurance is a pain to deal with in every office. Patients are always frustrated, your staff is worn out by the thought of working with insurance companies, and it seems to give your practice a bad customer experience.
Insurance companies have slow payouts, reject claims, and control what you can and can’t do for your patients. They dictate your prices and make you write off your services while they are making a profit. This doesn’t make sense from a business standpoint.
Many dental offices are growing tired of working with third-party providers and are bringing everything in-house through in-house membership programs.
What Is An In-House Membership Program?
An in-house membership program can benefit your office drastically by providing benefits and discounts to your patients such as free cleanings, free x-rays, or free emergency visits. (Visit apexfamilydental.com to see a great example of a membership program.)
Most programs consist of your patients paying a monthly or yearly subscription to get access to the benefits you offer, much like a Costco or an Amazon Prime membership, but for your dental practice.
Say each family pays an average of $95 a month for your membership program, and your office is able to get around 350 families to sign up. That means your office will generate $33,250 of recurring revenue each month. This revenue is guaranteed to be collected and predictable.
By implementing this type of program and seeing this amount of revenue generated, do you think you will be less stressed by running your practice? Can you cover your payroll with this amount? Can you focus on growth? You can even take time off and still have predictable revenues coming in each month.
The Value Of Recurring Revenue
Recurring revenue will increase the value of your practice. By predictably and automatically generating revenue each month, your practice will be attractive to potential buyers because it is less risky and more stable. Companies that are less risky to run and maintain are the ones that can sell at a premium price.
If you are managing your dental practice and implementing recurring revenue streams and can show potential buyers the exact amount of future revenue, you are building a valuable business. An in-house membership program can help your office increase the value of your practice so when you decide to sell it, you can sell it at a premium.
Building Patient Loyalty
Patient loyalty can be a huge concern for most dental practices because most people are controlled by preferred provider organizations (PPOs). When these patients lose their insurance or their company switches insurance providers, they will switch dentists. Most patients also have access to the dentist down the street and can switch when they feel like it.
By offering a membership program for your practice, you will increase the loyalty of your patients. For example, the Amazon Prime membership program gives Amazon customers certain benefits like free shipping, free video streaming, and more.
According to Morningstar research, Amazon realized that its average customer spent an average of $500 per year, while its average Prime member spent $1,200 per year. This is incredible and proves that membership programs increase customer loyalty.
Manage and Grow Your In-House Membership Program
You’re probably thinking that managing this type of program is a lot of work. It is. But with the right software tools, you and your staff can create plans, add members, automate recurring payments, and track the growth of your membership in addition to adding more revenue and patients. These days, running a program like this right from your office is simple.
After you have put together your program, you will have to market it to your patients. The benefit of running a dental practice is that your patients come to your office every day. Ask them if they are happy with their insurance or if they even have insurance. Then, offer them your in-house membership plan.
Another great way to grow an in-house membership program is to approach businesses in your local area and see if they would be interested in providing your dental plan to their staff. This is a great way to grow your in-house membership program quickly.
And, direct marketing, Facebook ads, and Google search ads all can be effective ways to grow your program.
Conclusion
If you want to reduce your dependency on insurance companies and increase your bottom line with recurring revenue, then start building your in-house membership program today. It is never to late to start.
If you have any questions or are curious about starting an in-house membership program, visit boomcloudapps.com to learn more about this strategy for your practice.
Jordon Comstock is the founder of BoomCloud Apps, a software company that allows dental offices to accept payments via their websites and create in-house membership programs. He also owns RocketFire, which provides dental offices with a small team of Web designers for an affordable subscription. He can be reached at 801-753-8586 or rocketfiremedia@gmail.com.
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