Dental practices like any other business need to generate good revenue to keep running. Many dentists run successful practices but go through a lot to keep a steady cash flow into their practice.
In this article, we look at a few ways you can increase cash flow in your dental office and how to improve your cash flow collection.
Insist on payment.
When you treat your patients you must insist that they settle their payments. This might sound insensitive as you are in the business of helping people with their oral health but unfortunately, you will need to do this to make sure your practice is working at a financial profit.
There are many ways you can make sure your patients are all paid up for their procedures.
- Ensure your patient’s dental insurance is verified before you do the procedure.
- Create payment plans that a patient can commit to in order to make the bill easier for them to settle.
Inform the patient of their procedure.
In some cases, patients feel short-changed because they do not understand the amount of work going into their procedure and what it means for their oral health. Take the time to sit the patient down and explain to them how much work is going into their procedure and how much it will cost.
Make follow-ups on defaulters
This is the part most business owners dread. When a patient has gone too long without paying you must make a follow-up. This does not make you a bad person, you are simply looking to make sure you have enough in your practice to help the next person.
When making your follow-up, make sure you have all the information available, including the procedure done, the date the procedure was done, and when the date was supposed to be settled. Make sure you agree on a date on which the outstanding account can be settled and insist that this day should be adhered to.
Don’t extend credit.
Credit is a good thing to offer patients but in most cases, it works against your business and your cash flow. Offering your patients third party financing is a much better option. These companies are in a position to offer financing for the procedure done and organize repayments from the patient.
Get external support to handle your cashflow
There is a solution that helps you solve most cash flow problems. Outsourcing your billing and collections to a qualified team. This will take the load off your team. When you outsource you can now focus on your practice knowing your books are being handled by a team of dedicated professionals.
Conclusion
In order for any business to run successfully, there is a need to have a good revenue cycle. in order to achieve this, you will need to educate your patients on the importance of paying for procedures and what it means when they default.
SupportDDS is a leading Texas-based in-sourcing company that provides virtual assistants and administrative support for dental practices. Moreover, we provide both short and long-term virtual outsourcing services customized to suit your business process needs.
