What is Your Insurance Write-off?
Understanding the impact PPO plans have on a dental practice is essential. While they bring you new patients, they also periodically take away a chunk of your savings. However, there are ways to mitigate this situation and turn it around.
What is a PPO Write-off?
The difference between the actual cost of a treatment or procedure and the cost that the insurance company will cover is known as a PPO write-off. For instance, suppose your UCR (usual, customary, and reasonable) fee for a given service is $1000, and the insurance company pays you $500; your PPO write-off is $1,000 – $500 = $500. Remember that many doctors are prevented from charging their UCR fees as the PPO plan will also control the maximum fee you are allowed to charge.
What is the average PPO Write-off?
Based on conversations with practice owners across the country, we now see an average write-off of 45% – 55%. For example, a practice collecting $1,000,000 annually and is dependent has approximately 80% of PPO patients typically will write off $600,000 annually. If the practice collects $2,000,000 per year, it will write off $1,200,000. Please remember that your annual PPO write-off will depend on your average write-off percentage and what percentage of your patients are PPO Patients.
Find Your PPO Write-off
The Reducing Insurance Dependence Academy (www.rid.academy) developed a PPO calculator just for this purpose!
To find your PPO write-off, answer these three questions:
- Your total collections per year
- Average insurance write-off percentage
- Percentage of collections coming from PPO patients
You can estimate a value even if you have not yet determined the exact figure. The calculator has been optimized to provide accurate results within 1 to 2 percentage points. Once you know your annual PPO write-off, you can devise plans to reduce it over time. Knowing your numbers will help you make better business decisions.
*This calculator is confidential; none of your details will be collected or shared. Instead, we will send the results privately to you.
Bonus Tip: For a limited time, you can join the Reducing Insurance Dependance Academy, which has 1,000-plus members on a journey of reducing their dependence on PPO plans for FREE. Membership to the Academy is our gift to you.
Click here to get free membership
Your PPO Write Off is a Marketing Expense
You get new patients from your PPO. In return for that patient’s life, the PPO plan pays you a fraction of your UCR fees. That difference, the PPO adjustment, is a marketing fee. Why? You get new patients in exchange for giving up that PPO adjustment for that patient’s life.
Do I have to spend 45 to 55% of what I collect as a ‘Marketing Fee’ paid to PPO Plans? Or is there a better way?
Yes, you are correct; the PPO adjustment is a marketing fee. And yes, there is a better way.
Practices that master and dominate Organic Marketing, specifically Google SEO & Google Maps, spend less than 1.5% of collections versus the PPO practices that spend 45 to 55%. Depending on the size of the practice, some practices even spend less than 1/2 % on marketing.
Organic Marketing is everything you can do to get free new patients from Google.
I want to replace PPO Patients with Google SEO Patients. How do I know if I am doing well with Google Organic Search?
You will know if you are doing well with Google Organic (Free) Search if all of these are true.
- You get enough and more new patient calls from Google every month
- You are ranking for 100s of search terms on the first page (top 10 results) of Google every month
- You are seen on Google for free 10s of 1000s of times, possibly 100,000 times in a 30-day period
Do you want to know how you are doing with Google or How to Dominate Google?
Book a complimentary Marketing strategy meeting with Ekwa. Ekwa helps 100s of practices reduce their dependence on insurance. 95% of Ekwa’s clients stay with Ekwa year after year.
The Ekwa team will spend 6 hours researching how you are doing versus your competition on the internet. Then, they will share a report from a Google standpoint and from the point of view of helping people choose you once you rank on Google.
To dominate Google, you need to get an A+ in 6 categories. Ekwa will give you your grade in these 6 categories. Google cares about NAP consistency, LightHouse Score, Original Content, Google EAT, Quality Backlinks, and Frequent Love Letter Reviews.
If you don’t get an A in all 6 areas, your chances of dominating Google are almost zero.
In addition to sharing a report card on how you are doing, the Ekwa team will also give you a 12-month plan on what you need to do concerning google and influence.
Influence is all about applying Dr. Robert Cialdini’s 6 influence principles to get those who discover you on google to choose you. This is what makes them pick up the phone and call.
Here is the link to book a marketing strategy meeting valued at $900. Pick a time that works for you and learn where you are with dominating Google and what you need to do!
Schedule a free consultation now!
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