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While the Dental Market Has Significantly Increased, Dentists' Earnings Stagnate
Dave Monahan
Sometimes, it takes an outsider to bring perspective to a market. I am not a dentist or a dental consultant and I know very little about the clinical side of dentistry. What I am is a data nerd, a strategic thinker and a disrupter who hates intermediaries, bureaucracy, inefficiency and waste. I am deeply passionate about consumer access to affordable health care and the right of health care providers to remain independent while earning a living. I perfected my job at Microsoft, then I built and sold a wearable technology company to a major medical diagnostic company. I then focused my attention on the dental industry and spent a year looking for it
What I discovered bothered me. The dental industry is broken, and those who suffer the most are dentists, men and women who are committed to improving dental health and expanding access to dental care for all Americans [19659005]. have spoken with who does not know that the cost of operating a practice continues to increase. The payroll has gone up, the rent has gone up, the equipment costs have gone up and so on. Yet reimbursement through the main channel of payment in dentistry, dental insurance, stagnated or decreased. This is the finding of the state of the dental market this year: Outlook 2018, published by the American Dental Association (ADA) Health Policy Institute (HPI).
The ADA HPI study found that (1) while the dental market has grown respectable 70% since 1997, the profits of general dentists have remained stable; (2) from 2011 to 2016 submitted fees to insurers rose in 36 states, while reimbursement rates fell in a staggering 46 of them; and (3) the fees paid to dentists by dental plans are well below market costs. 1 Even more worrying from the consumer's point of view, nearly 70% of insureds, total co-insurance, co-insurance and premiums exceed the market value of their dental care. 1 This means that patients pay more money and premiums than are worth their dental care. Basically, the ADA HPI study found that dental insurance does not work for dentists or patients.
On another side of the coin, there are 97 million Americans without dental benefits. About one-third of them, or 38 million people, visit the dentist at least once a year. However, they are 50% to 70% less compliant than insured patients. 1 Many people assume that low compliance is due to fear of dental procedures. In reality, it is the fear of costs. Let's face it: Pricing in the dental industry and in the overall healthcare industry is not transparent. Initial prices are hard to find. Our research at Kleer revealed that consumers are not familiar with dental prices and consistently overestimate the costs of dental procedures from 100% to 400%. So, they assume that they can not afford the dental care they want. In a world where consumers are now turning to the Internet to find the right price for a car or a home, lack of transparency and fear of cost are keeping uninsured people out of their seats.
Overcome and calm this fear the greatest financial opportunity to build your practice and your income. Research shows that 89% of the uninsured are interested in buying a dental plan. 1 They understand the value of dental care and the impact that they have on their overall health. But they want a simple, transparent and affordable plan. Think about it. The uninsured are a huge market that understands the value of dentistry and the impact it has on their overall health and well-being, and they want more dental care. In short, they get it.
So, the equation is simple. Dentists need to improve their income and profitability and break their dependence on insurers. And patients want simple, affordable and comprehensive dental plans.
This is where membership plans come in. Membership plans are dental plans offered directly by dentists to their patients. Membership plans eliminate the costs and hassles of an intermediary, allow patients to obtain the affordable dental care they desire and create a permanent "sticky" relationship between your patients and your practice. The "club" effect of membership plans increases patient visits and compliance with treatment, while the transparency of membership plans eliminates the cost of dental care and builds trust and loyalty among these patients.
the kind that comes with no additional cost of acquisition. Our research at Kleer shows that patients enrolled in the membership plan accept 55% more treatment than uninsured patients and generate 54% more income because of the guaranteed subscription and the same benefits. acceptance of treatment.
It is doubtful that patients in the past would have been open to dentistry by subscription. Fortunately, the behavior of your patients has been conditioned by a range of products and services provided to consumers at a predetermined monthly rate. They are now open to monthly recurring payment models à la carte, at Netflix. This is a good thing because this model creates real long-term value for your practice. Recurring revenues provide predictability, eliminate risk and equalize cash flow. According to John Warrillow's The Automatic Customer investors and buyers pay between 200% and 400% more for subscription-based businesses than transactional firms. 2
All that is good news for dentists, especially in the current context, while operating expenses continue to increase and that the reimbursement of the cost of the work is increasing. insurance stagnates or decreases. So, Dickens' phrase about it is both the best and the worst of things, at least for dentistry. But there is a solution. Membership plans provide an attractive avenue for affordable dental care for patients and increased income and profits for dentists. 
Author's note: Kleer is an advanced cloud-based platform that allows dentists to easily design and manage their own membership. and offer it directly to their patients. Kleer is turnkey and free to implement. To learn more about our innovative platform, call us at 1-844-Yo-Kleer
References
1. State of the US Dental Market: Outlook 2018. Website of the American Dental Association. https://www.ada.org/en/science-research/health-policy-institute/publications/webinars/state-of-the-us-dental-care-market-outlook-2018
. Posted in November 2017.
2. Warrillow J. The Automatic Client: Creating a Subscription Company in Any Industry . New York, NY: portfolio; 2015.
Dave Monahan CEO of Kleer, is passionate about creating technology companies that improve people's lives. Since its pilot launch in September 2017, Kleer has increased its participation in subscription dental care tenfold. Under his leadership, Kleer has quadrupled the number of dentists on his platform. Previously, he was President and CEO of FitLinxx, a leader in the wearable market.
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