By Cirrus Dental. (www.mycirrusdental.com)
As dental industry trends change, many dentists are realizing their relationships with dental insurers are not necessarily beneficial to them or their patients. And, as they review their financial situations, some of these dentists realize that becoming an Unrestricted Provider is a great option for their practice.
An Unrestricted Provider is a dentist who is free to provide the best care possible to their patients at a fair price. One of the key benefits of being an Unrestricted Provider is that your practice is controlled by you – and not the restrictions and limitations of a PPO that may not have your patients’ best interest in mind.
Cirrus Dental understands becoming an Unrestricted Provider can be scary for many dentists. Some are afraid of upsetting their patients or losing a large part of their practice. Based on past experience, Cirrus has found most patients are understanding if you need to change your relationship with their insurance. And, once they stop accepting insurance write-offs, most dentists can lose many of their patients on PPOs and still be profitable or increase their income.
Below, Cirrus Dental outlines the steps they recommend for you to become an Unrestricted Provider. These points are meant to help you chart your path to independence.
- Analyze your practice finances to determine which PPOs are costing you the most.
- Review industry trends to identify opportunities to enhance your revenue.
- Calculate how many PPO patients you can lose and still remain profitable.
- Set a timeline for leaving the costliest PPOs.
- Discuss the upcoming changes with your staff and solicit their feedback.
- Research what the PPOs will tell patients when you leave their network.
- Create positive messaging to educate patients about why you are becoming an Unrestricted Provider.
- Set up an alternative to the PPO relationship that is beneficial for your patients.
- Create a plan to communicate the changes with your patients.
- Periodically analyze your finances to determine if there are any further changes you can make.
The team at Cirrus Dental would be glad to help you any way they can. More information is available at mycirrusdental.com/unrestricted – including access to an online course that guides you through the process.
To learn more visit www.mycirrusdental.com/unrestricted or contact us at unrestricted@mycirrusdental.com.
Cirrus Dental was started by a dentist in Massachusetts looking to reduce his reliance on insurers. Not only did he want to move away from the hassles insurance causes patients and dentists alike, but he also was concerned that steep decreases in insurance reimbursements would mean he couldn’t continue to provide the high-quality care his patients deserved and expected. After a fair bit of research and planning, the dentist partnered with an experienced healthcare IT executive and started Cirrus Dental with the goal to offer transparent, valuable and high-quality dental subscription administration at a fair price.