Use It or Lose It: Maximising Dental Benefits

With the end of the year rapidly approaching, you can help your patients make the most of their private dental insurance benefits and keep them smiling their best smiles for the holidays.

Since most private dental insurance plans run on a calendar year, this is a great time to remind your patients about outstanding treatment they might need. Typically, their 2020 benefit dollars will not roll over into 2021. Patients could be letting valuable benefits go to waste if they have incomplete treatment plans.

This is the perfect opportunity for you to help your patients protect their dental health and you can do this with only a few simple tasks from your staff. Here’s what you can do:

Send a Friendly Reminder

An easy way to remind patients about unfinished treatment is to have your financial team print a report. Then draft a friendly reminder letter to be sent to patients who haven’t completed treatment diagnosed in 2020.

You might also send your letter via email or through your monthly newsletter if you have one.

Don’t forget to include your end of year benefits reminder on your practice Facebook or Instagram page and in your November and December blog posts.

Consider Making Phone Calls

If your treatment coordinator follows up with patients after treatment has been diagnosed, this is the ideal time to include a few reminder calls about end-of-year benefits.

Have your treatment coordinator reach out to those patients you haven’t heard from in a few weeks and explain that 2020 dental insurance benefits are coming to a close.

Phone calls provide an excellent opportunity for your patients to ask any questions they have about their treatment plan and get their appointment booked right away.

Finish 2020 Strong

2020 has had its ups and downs, and the end of the year is approaching. You can finish the year strong by effectively serving your patients with a few friendly reminders that will help them save money and protect their smiles.