How can I get my Dental Practice off of PPO's?

Many see the PPO as a necessary evil to keep their dental practice alive in this day and age. I happen to believe that you don't have to allow your practice to be dominated by PPO's if you do a few simple things to decrease their impact on your practice.  Now I am not suggesting that everyone should get off the PPO, but if you want to decrease their impact on your practice, here are some tips on how to accomplish this.

1.  How good is your case acceptance? Most practices I see have about a 55% case acceptance rate with the help of insurance. If you were to simply dump the PPO without making some improvements in this area, you are asking for trouble. Improvement here is a must before you can even consider making changes to how many PPO's you have in your practice.

2.  How do you currently acquire new patients? Do they only come to you because you are on various insurance lists? If so, you will obviously have to make some changes here. How else can you attract new patients, preferably cash paying ones? There are lots of answers here and Groupon is not the answer!

I thought this article on Social Media might be helpful to all Dental Offices.    ~Darren Kaberna 

How to Run a Successful Social Media Sweepstakes

1. Adeel Vanthaliwala
   Published November 4, 2013 
   

Do you need a guide to ensure that you don’t miss the crucial elements of a successful sweepstakes promotion?Are you planning to run a social media sweepstakes to make your business stand out this holiday season?

Social Media is the biggest trends in today's Dental Marketing! One of the hottest resources in social media is Facebook. Facebook is an excellent social networking platform. By platform I mean that it allows you to connect with your dental patients as well as family, friends, team members, other dental practices, as well as businesses. Let's begin by creating a Facebook Page for your dental office. It is important to select more than one administrator when creating your Facebook Page. By having more than one administrator it will allow more than one perspective.

Once you have created your Facebook Page keep these 3 underlying components in mind. Each component is important in forming a balance that is attainable in reaching your overall goal. The first is to keep the posts entertaining. When updating the page...add some dental specific humor or entertaining news related to the topic at hand. Second, continue to educate on your Facebook Page. Third, offer promotional tactics that will allow a return. An example is an in office special or referral incentive that your dental practice might be offering at this time. By utilizing these areas you will allow proper balance and measurement of tracking. There are various ways to keep your audience intrigued. Brainstorm with your dental team and patients when deciding on topics to be posted. Be certain that your content is timely, relevant, and more importantly FUN!

This article is provided by SBA.gov to help all dental office owners understand the impact on their businesses.


Key Provisions Under the Affordable Care Act for Employers with Fewer Than 25 Employees

Implementation of the Affordable Care Act occurs in stages, with many of the reforms and requirements taking effect in 2013 and 2014. Some of the provisions that may impact employers with fewer than 25 employees include:

Small Business Health Care Tax Credits

The small business Health Care Tax Credit helps small businesses afford the cost of health care coverage for their employees and is specifically targeted for those businesses with low- and moderate-income workers. The credit is designed to encourage small employers to offer health insurance coverage for the first time or maintain coverage they already have. Since 2010, businesses that have fewer than 25 full-time equivalent employees, pay average annual wages below $50,000, and that contribute 50% or more toward employees' self-only health insurance premiums may qualify for a small business tax credit of up to 35% to help offset the costs of insurance. In 2014, this tax credit goes up to 50% and is available to qualified small businesses that participate in the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP). Eligible small employers can claim the current credit through 2013, and the enhanced credit can be claimed for any two consecutive taxable years beginning in 2014 through the SHOP.