Lack of insurance does not mean affordable dental care is out of your patients’ reach
Have you ever considered that much of what we believe may simply be conditioned knowledge and might not be 100% true?
For example, do you believe that insurance is the only way to survive as a dentist? Do you know that this isn’t true? Along the same lines, thousands of Americans believe they cannot afford dental care without insurance or “benefits,” or that dentists don’t want them as patients because they lack dental insurance.
Why is this? Why do so many uninsured people believe they can’t afford the cost of routine dentistry? The answer is as frustrating as it is unsurprising. Medical insurance and the media have conditioned us into thinking that having insurance is the only way to receive healthcare—and that includes dentistry.
Recognizing Patients Don’t Understand How Dental Insurance Works
Part of this is due to the cost of medical care. In the medical world, insurance is comprehensive and catastrophic, and it inarguably does make receiving treatment affordable. The cost of all but the most routine medical care can be outrageous if you don’t have insurance. That’s certainly a problem, but it really gets to be a thorn in our side when you consider how it’s insidiously shaping the way consumers view dental insurance. You and I know that dental insurance doesn’t work the same way as medical insurance, but most patients don’t realize that. In their minds, insurance equals affordability.
The silver lining is that finding those patients who don’t have the insurance mindset. Because they’re not captives of the insurance companies, these patients present a huge opportunity to provide needed care to a population with a pent up demand for dentistry, while increasing your case acceptance and practice revenue as a result. All you have to do is find a way to communicate to patients without insurance that you welcome them with open arms and that you offer options within your practice that can make dental care affordable – even without insurance.
Attracting the Uninsured Population
QDP has created a way to fill that niche. Our QDP program enables you to create a savings program for your practice, providing patients in your community with an enormous perceived value without you having to discount your fees to an insurance company. QDP enables you to attract fee-for-service patients who simply need a reason to believe that they can afford dental care.
We already know that when we reach more patients, we keep people healthier. We are creating healthier communities. And adding programs, like QDP, that offer value for your patients is a great way to reach people. In letting your patients know that they don’t need costly insurance to receive affordable dental care, you tell them that dentistry is important for everyone—not just patients with dental insurance.