For any business in every field, an essential element to decide and build is your financial policy. Although transactions are typically simple in retail and stores, even these companies must decide and make their policies clear to get their money while avoiding customer dissatisfaction, harm to their reputation, or even lawsuits.
In your own dental office, you have the authority and power to build your financial policy, but unless your patients can easily understand it, you could lose patients and revenue. Here are the steps you’ll need to take to form this policy. It can help your practice not only get paid efficiently but also reinforce positive relationships with patients.
Define Expectations
For simple treatments, your policy can be straightforward: payment in full at the time that services are rendered. However, for multiple appointments or procedures in a treatment plan, should you collect payment upfront, as you go, or at the end? Will you want a minimum deposit to start off treatment?
Do you expect patients to pay for missed appointments? By when do they need to cancel? Do you plan to offer an in-house membership or savings plan outside of insurance billing? Will you accept third-party lending? These and many others are questions you need to consider when putting together your financial policy.
Clarify Various Payment Scenarios
Although it’s nearly impossible to imagine every potential scenario, you need to think about and plan for situations that might arise and interfere with a smooth financial process. For instance, if your patient has started treatment or has paid for at least part of it and must stop, will you refund all or part of the money? Do you want to provide an incentive or slight discount for those who pay upfront in cash? Should your office have its own insurance coordinator, or should you outsource dental insurance verification and billing to a service company?
Get Advice from Experienced Colleagues
Especially if you have just started your dental career, more experienced dentists can be a valuable resource. They can share their insights and opinions, which may help you avoid the same mistakes.
Always Have a Knowledgeable Local Lawyer Check
Obviously, your financial policy will be greatly influenced by state and local regulations. As you build your policy, make sure you’re aware of certain restraints and restrictions to ensure you’re following the law. Before putting your policy into place officially, have your practice’s law team review it and confirm that it complies with regulations for your type of healthcare business.
Train and Inform Your Team
Before you can hold patients responsible for your financial policy, your in-office team must be comfortable with it. After all, who will answer these kinds of questions? If your team doesn’t stay trained and updated on your financial policy, not only can it lead to confusion, frustration, and inaccurate billing, but it can make your team look inefficient and incompetent. Your reputation in the community is a strong asset you can’t afford to hurt with preventable mistakes or misunderstandings in billing.
Whether you’re money minded or not, creating a clear financial policy can facilitate the long-term success of your dental practice. Take time to iron out the details of this policy so that no one experiences unpleasant financial surprises.
About Dental Support Specialties
Dental Support Specialties has a team of experienced administrative professionals who rarely need additional training to work for your team. In fact, we are familiar with basically all billing software, so we can start making life easier almost immediately. We are happy to represent your practice, make collection calls, and verify insurance benefits with insurance companies. To learn how we can help you put together and reinforce your financial policy, contact us today!