Planning for Healthier Practices & Patients
Plan for Health’s Oral Wellness Membership program ensures predictable cashfl w for practices struggling to maintain profi tability in the face of declining insurance reimbursements while increasing patient loyalty and providing better control of the patient experience
For years now, dentists across the country have had a front-row seat to a show they don’t want to watch. The plot: how insurance reimbursements have steadily declined year after year. Marching along right next to those declining reimbursements is your reduced offi ce income. Added to that is the economic fallout from the pandemic. One solution that’s proven to be an antidote to this dilemma is a membership plan for independent dental practices.
Plan for Health, powered by TruBlu Dental Management, Inc., offers dentists a customized membership plan in an online platform that allows practices complete control over their individual program, while reducing the uncertainty of an unpredictable income. It is the largest platform for technology-oriented independent dentists in the country and gives practices a consistent, reliable source of income over the course of a year.
“We will work with each practice to create a customized membership plan,” explained Natalie McCarty, Director of Plan for Health's Oral Wellness Membership Program, “and we will offer suggestions based on our successes with similar practices, while building a framework that will become your own individualized membership plan.”
Customized for Each Practice
Here’s how it works: Preventive services that patients normally receive over the course of a calendar year are bundled into a membership plan. This plan typically includes periodic exams, hygiene services (such as prophy or perio maintenance), annual x-rays, fluoride, oral cancer screenings, and similar services offered by each practice. Plans also include restorative services, such as crowns andfi llings. The membership plans are priced strategically based on the practice’s usual and customary rate (UCR) fees and suggested savings.
Additionally, patients receive special savings off treatments or services that fall outside of the traditional bundle, such as teeth whitening or straightening plans. Patients prepay and may enroll in the membership plan at any time. There are no patient deductibles, nor are there any annual patient maximums.
“Each plan is different, because we customize it to your practice,” McCarty added. “It’s an individualized program that focuses on the services used most frequently by your patients.”
“It's a very individualized program designed to make the most of the services used most frequently by your patients.”
- Natalie McCarty, Director, Plan for Health
Robust Support Program
Plan for Health provides full support services—from initial setup/login to the intricacies of patient enrollment. Trained support coaches ensure the plan blends seamlessly with your practice management system. A robust marketing plan includes email, print, and digital media campaigns, suggestions for patient communication tailored specifi cally to each practice, and a practice-specific website landing page. Plan for Health shows each practice how to use the software to track data about individual patient visits, as well as how to reconcile enrollments. All plans comply with individual state regulations, and Plan for Health ensures that legally sound patient/practice agreements are applied.
Online Portal
Once the online portal is up and running, the program tracks patients enrolled in the plan, as well as enrollment in any specifi c plans, such as a Child Plan or Periodontal Health Plan. The portal tracks membership dollars, renewal dates, and patient visit information.
“Our Plan for Health administrators will design a program that fi ts your practice— its vision, patient base, and specific needs," McCarty explained.
With Plan for Health, patients have access to affordable dental care with the provider they’ve always relied on, and they can elect to have additional services at a discounted rate.
“The pandemic caused many people to lose dental coverage, and some can’t afford their insurance,” McCarty explained. “Many are independent contractors with no insurance at all. You will fi nd that this program is particularly benefi cial to those patients, and many practices have an increase in that patient population.
Endless Growth Opportunities
While practices will benefit from a steady membership income, the customized care plans ensure a healthier patient population and practice team members who know they are making a positive difference in patients' lives.
“The growth opportunities are endless,” McCarty points out. “We consistently see more new patients being referred over and patients coming in more often, which results in an exponential increase in production. You will see more patients more consistently," she added.
