Is it fair to blame the economy? Depends on why you\u2019re asking. But the question of when your dental practice should raise its fees seems appropriate.<\/p>\n
Inflation, the COVID-19 pandemic, salaries, team benefits, supply costs, and an increase in supply demand (e.g. PPE) all factor into the discussion.<\/p>\n
Still, the question lingers: what about dental fee increases?<\/p>\n
When was the last time you raised your fees? Not to be too confrontational but your answer reflects consistency or it reveals procrastination (perhaps out of fear).<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easy to understand procrastination. A fee increase can prompt fear that your patients will seek a \u201ccheaper\u201d provider.<\/p>\n
But here\u2019s a fee increase confidence booster:<\/p>\n
\u201dWhile this seems like a good way to encourage patient loyalty, keeping your fees the same year after year might actually have the opposite effect. Think about it. If you never raise your fees, how can you afford to invest in the latest technology or make upgrades to your practice? Keeping your fees steady holds back your practice, and that ultimately hurts the overall patient experience. When patients don\u2019t have a positive experience, that\u2019s when they start looking for a new dental home.\u201d [1]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n Granted, patients might think otherwise. Although the ROI could tip a fee increase in your favor.<\/p>\n There are other reasons to increase fees. Some, of course, are necessities given the above-mentioned economic conditions.<\/p>\n Either way, you can proceed with a needed fee increase knowing that ultimately your patients will benefit.<\/p>\n Again, you might not have considered that a fee increase has a positive impact on your patient. Remember, we\u2019re taking a big picture perspective.<\/p>\n It\u2019s about the patient experience that a fresh financial surge can have on your care standards. Patient data also factors in\u2014and that\u2019s the general consensus surrounding fee increase timing (apart from the economy).<\/p>\n First, you\u2019re all about patient health. So, any use of the term \u201ccompetition\u201d isn\u2019t intended to create animosity.<\/p>\n It does pay to know what other area or regional providers are charging for treatment. Being on the low end of the fee scale might appear to keep you busy.<\/p>\n But not so fast\u2026<\/p>\n Low fees can actually skew patient perspective. Dental promotions advertising rock-bottom fees for services often triggers the value-shoppers\u2014those looking for a good \u201cdeal\u201d rather than a quality dentist.<\/p>\n Patient loyalty can equate to a higher-quality patient. It\u2019s desirable to be competitive on something other than price.<\/p>\n True, some services require higher fees for good reason. The issue of consistency has more to do with an all-over-the-map fee scope that doesn\u2019t reflect the service or its patient benefit.<\/p>\n A gradual increase is better than a drastic one. Wisdom applies.<\/p>\n \u201cEven if you find your fees are way out of whack you can\u2019t jump from 40% of market to 80% overnight without turning off a lot of patients. Gradually increase 10-20% over a 2-3 year period to mitigate any negative perceptions.\u201d [2]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n Delaying a fee increase could be what\u2019s kept you from a positive revenue cycle in your dental practice. Your financial status determines your ability to scale your services and provide new and\/or improved treatment solutions.<\/p>\n Remember that being profitable is good business. Some circumstances call for flexibility (and a dose of generosity). But overall it\u2019s essential to keep your fee schedule aligned with the practice growth initiatives that best serve your patients.<\/p>\n Your dental practice success relies on the bigger financial picture – monitoring operational costs, making wise investments, and adjusting your fees on a consistent basis.<\/p>\n Give some attention to these relevant financial resources:<\/p>\n Keep the Operating Costs of Your Private Dental Practice Healthy<\/a><\/p>\n Re-Boot Your Momentum with a Dental Practice Cash-Flow Strategy<\/a><\/p>\n The ROI-Boosting Revenue Cycle Management Module of Your Dental Practice Management Software<\/a><\/p>\n The financial management capabilities of your software platform help keep an eye on your fees, maximize your working capital, and analyze those metrics that improve your bottom-line.<\/p>\n You might find the cloud solution like Denticon to be a more efficient report gathering platform<\/a> to monitor and drive your overall dental practice or dental organization\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n Aside from its financial management capacity, the Denticon platform also provides:<\/p>\n It makes sense to look below the surface and see the massive potential of upgrading to a cloud-based dental practice management solution with a more advanced operational cost monitoring capability.<\/p>\n Thinking about or ready to update your dental practice management software? Contact us<\/a> or request a demo<\/a> of the Denticon platform to see the benefits yourself!<\/p>\n [1]<\/sup><\/a> https:\/\/www.dentistryiq.com\/practice-management\/fees\/article\/16366282\/is-it-time-to-raise-the-fees-in-your-dental-practice-how-to-tell<\/a><\/p>\n [2]<\/sup><\/a> https:\/\/www.cainwatters.com\/digitalblogs\/how-to-raise-fees-increase-profitability-and-keep-patients\/<\/a><\/p>\n [3]<\/sup><\/a> https:\/\/www.dentistryiq.com\/practice-management\/fees\/article\/16366282\/is-it-time-to-raise-the-fees-in-your-dental-practice-how-to-tell<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Is it fair to blame the economy? Depends on why you\u2019re asking. But the question of when your dental practice should raise its fees seems appropriate. Inflation, the COVID-19 pandemic,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6379,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[307,146],"tags":[724,725,273,726,427,27,109,13,727,113,728,729,698,429,180,730,68,89,731,732,395,733,734],"class_list":["post-6378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-patients","category-practice-management","tag-better","tag-bottom-line","tag-care","tag-cash-flow","tag-competition","tag-dental-practice","tag-dentist","tag-dentistry","tag-economy","tag-experience","tag-fees","tag-how","tag-increase","tag-invest","tag-loyalty","tag-market","tag-patients","tag-practice","tag-raise","tag-rate","tag-revenue","tag-schedule","tag-when"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.planetdds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.planetdds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.planetdds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.planetdds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.planetdds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.planetdds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.planetdds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.planetdds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.planetdds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.planetdds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}How to know when a fee increase is an advantage to you and your patients<\/h2>\n
Watch the competition<\/h3>\n
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Stay consistent across your services<\/h3>\n
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Meet your financial goals<\/h3>\n
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Financials and cost monitoring at-your-fingertips<\/h2>\n
Consider a cloud-based solution and accurately monitor and measure your dental practice financials<\/h3>\n
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