Our Top 5 Tips For Improving Your Dental Practice’s Cash Flow

Improving cash flow at your dental practice is always a good thing. Increased cash flow means you’ll have more cash on hand to cover your costs, pay your employees, and even expand your business by investing in new dental technology or additional practice locations. But how can you increase cash flow at your dental practice? In this blog from Tooth & Coin, we’ll take a look at our top five tips that you can implement to boost cash flow.

1. Have A Clear Payment Policy For Patients

A clear payment policy means that patients know when they have to pay, and what will happen if they don’t. For example, your policy could require patients to pay within 30 days of treatment, or pay a certain penalty or interest if they don’t pay on time. 

This information should always be included on every bill. This ensures that patients know what’s expected of them and how long they have to pay, and what their options are for paying for their treatment.

2. Do Your Best To Calculate Treatment Costs Accurately

It can be hard to provide a truly accurate estimate for a patient’s treatment, but you should always do your best to provide a reasonable cost estimate based on the information you have about the patient, their treatment, their insurance, and other such details. 

Transparency and accurate prices help patients understand how much they’ll pay and choose treatments that fit their budget. An itemized estimate also helps them get a greater understanding of what costs go into their treatment, and where their money is going.

3. Provide Financing Options For Your Patients

There are lots of financing companies that work with dental offices, like CareConnect. These companies allow customers to finance their dental work and pay for it over time in monthly installments, rather than paying for their entire treatment up-front.

The best part about working with a financing provider is that you will get paid right away. Your patients will have to repay the financing provider, not you. This means that you have a lower risk of “bad debt” from customers who may not be able to pay their bills on time.

4. Make Sure You’re Getting Proper Compensation From Insurers

Most dentists get a significant portion of their income from dental insurers, so you should make sure that you hire a dental billing specialist with plenty of expertise in dental insurance billing, and stay on top of claim submissions to ensure timely payment.

Your team should also do your best to review each patient’s insurance information, such as their deductible, out-of-pocket maximum, covered treatments, and other such details. This ensures that you’ll have an understanding of how their insurance will affect their treatment costs.

5. Accept A Wide Variety Of Payment Methods From Patients

If you accept a wide variety of payments at your office including cash, credit cards, and checks, it will be easier for you to get paid on time. This allows most patients to pay for part of their cost on the day that they're seen, which enhances cash flow.

You should also think about implementing an online bill payment system, in addition to sending paper bills by the mail. Online bill payments make it easier for patients to pay for their treatment, and have a shorter turnaround time compared to paper bills.

Does Your Practice Need Help Managing Cash Flow? Contact Tooth & Coin Today!

At Tooth & Coin, we’re experts in dental finance. We specialize in tax preparation, accounting, profit advisory, and so much more. If you’re looking to put your office on better financial footing and enhance your cash flow, we can help. Give us a call at (877) 265-2121, or schedule a consultation with Jonathan VanHorn online to learn more.