Memberships, chances are you know what they are and its pretty likely you even have one to two. OR you’re like me and live and die on membership plans. (Shout out to Shipt for handling all the grocery shopping lately!!) Maybe you do have a monthly subscription plan, but you’ve never really thought about it as a membership plan… Let’s dive into that.
Netflix, Amazon Prime and Costco are all great examples of membership plans. You, the consumer, pay a monthly or annual fee for access to the products. And you may not realize it but if you have a Netflix account, you are a Netflix member. You have access to all their content and can binge whatever you want, whenever you want. Same thing with Amazon Prime, you pay a monthly or annual fee and you receive perks or special deals that non-Amazon Prime members do not.
Dental membership plans work the same way.
The patient pays a monthly or annual fee to be a part of the plan and receives standard preventative care as well as discounts on various restorative treatments.
In general, plans are customizable to each practice but there are only so many preventative care options, right? Often plans are broken down by age or level of care; adult, child and perio. An adult plan might look something like this; the patient pays a monthly fee, for this example we will use $30 per month. For $30 a month they receive two annual cleanings, two exams, all routine x-rays, one emergency exam with x-ray and 15% off all restorative treatments.
That’s all well and good right?!
But why implement a membership plan in your practice?
“Since these plans aren’t insurance, both doctors and patients can avoid the limitations and overall frustrations of dealing with insurance companies. It’s typically a win-win for both sides. Patients can pay only for the dental treatments they need. Meanwhile, doctors can grow their practices by expanding their fee-for-service patient base and case acceptance. Additionally, dealing in pre-negotiated flat fees means that both sides know the charges up front. This makes the payment process easier and more streamlined for everyone involved.”
Dentaleconomics.com
Let’s be VERY specific and direct. Dental membership plans build recurring revenue, increase treatment acceptance and grow patient loyalty.
Sounds pretty good right? We think so!! That’s why we offer a software program to easily manage in-house membership plans for our clients. We are ready to help you too, Let’s Plan Forward.
