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MailAugust 2019--Patient Prism has partnered with dental industry experts to provide easy, effective phrasing to use for hundreds of questions patients ask. One of the most frequently asked is “How much will my insurance cover?” In this one-minute video, dental insurance expert Teresa Duncan provides guidance your team can immediately implement.
One of the most frequent questions that your dental team will be asked is “How much will my insurance cover?” That’s a loaded question. As much as we think insurance is going to cover a certain amount, sometimes there are clauses, frequency limitations, or waiting periods that apply. Unless you are very familiar with a plan, you will want check with the insurance company.
There is a best way to answer this question, and your team can practice this to optimize patient conversion and not set yourself up for patient disappointment later.
I recommend saying, “I believe it'll be x amount. I’m good at making estimates; however, that is just an estimate. What I'd like to do is research it for you and make sure that is as close as we can estimate it. I can call the insurance company or send in a pretreatment estimate and be able to give you a firmer estimate later. In the meantime, let’s go ahead and get you scheduled.”
I’ve recorded a series of tips for how to handle dental insurance issues that arise in nearly every dental practice. For example, I answer questions about managing a patient’s disappointment when insurance reimbursement is lower than expected, what to do when a patient has more than one plan, what to say when you are not in network with the patient’s plan, and what to say on a callback to the patient. You’ll find these tips in Patient Prism Academy.
Because insurance conversations with patients are often difficult, I devote much of my life to helping dental teams make these conversations easier by setting appropriate expectations and understanding the psychology of the patient-insurance relationship. The goal is to pre-empt problems and at the same time make the patient comfortable with moving ahead with treatment. You may want to read my book Moving Your Patients to Yes: Easy Insurance Conversations.
Additional Patient Prism Resources
The Patient Prism blog and the Patient Prism Academy video library feature hundreds of dental industry experts presenting recommendations and examples for leading and growing your dental practice, multi-location group, or DSO. We have multiple video series providing insurance advice -- ranging from how to handle patient questions and concerns… to considerations before going in-network… to insurance credentialling… to insurance billing. We invite you to schedule a Patient Prism demo at a date and time that is convenient for you. See how our call coaching platform rapidly provides feedback and trains administrative teams in the art of insurance communication.
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