Tag Archives: dentistry

The Dentistry Uncensored Podcast with Dr. Howard Farran

5 Mar

I recently had the opportunity to join Dr. Howard Farran for a recording of the “Dentistry Uncensored” podcast at his studio in Phoenix, AZ. We spoke of all things concerning cash flow in the dental and oral surgery practice.

Howard Farran, DDS, MBA, the founder and owner of Dentaltown.com and Dentaltown magazine, has practiced dentistry at Today’s Dental in the Phoenix metro area for more than 30 years. In 2017, Incisal Edge magazine ranked him among the 32 most influential people in dentistry.

You can watch the podcast video by clicking here

Or listen to the audio podcast by clicking here

If you are have difficulties or questions about your practice’s cash flow, or would be interested in learning how your cash flow can be improved, contact me for a no-cost, no-obligation Cash Flow Checkup.

Contact Me Directly

Call me at 770-224-8504 or 888-780-1333
Email me by clicking here
Visit my website by clicking here
Visit my Youtube channel by clicking here

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Top 10 Reasons Why Dentists Should Carry Their Own Dental Coverage

8 Jun

CFS DENTAL OFFICE

If you have a dental practice, you should seriously consider setting up your own self-administered dental plan.  Here’s why:

  • Dental insurance covers less and costs more every year for patients
  • Dental insurance pays the dental office less and less every year
  • You can customize a dental coverage plan to meet the specific needs of your practice
  • Patients and staff always know how much is covered and what remains
  • Far easier to administer than conventional insurance plans
  • Makes dental care more affordable to the patient, resulting in more treatment plan acceptance
  • Provides treatment to patient immediately
  • The dentist earns a greater portion of service than paid by insurance companies
  • Patients will stay in the practice longer
  • Patients will get treatment they would otherwise neglect.

The purpose of the Private Dental Plan program is to help the patient receive immediate and personalized service through a dental service plan and allow the dentist to keep more money for their services.  This self-administered dental service plan allows dental offices to offer access to dental coverage for those who would not normally be able to afford it.

Through my new affiliation with Dental Practice Services, Inc., I am now able to assist practices in getting set up with such a plan.  Please contact me for more information about how your practice can benefit from a personalized self-administered dental plan.

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Cash Flow For The Medical Practice

25 Feb

I was a guest on the Top Docs Radio Program on Business Radio X, talking about Cash Flow For the Medical Practice with host, CW Hall.  Here is what he wrote about the interview:

LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW BY CLICKING HERE

I sat down with David Wiener, aka “Mr. Cash Flow” on this week’s episode.  I connected with David first on LinkedIn a few weeks ago.  After learning more about the various ways he is able to help a medical or dental practice recapture revenue that is currently being lost, I knew I needed to have him on the show.

David spent numerous years as a practice manager for a doctor’s office, so he knows very well the challenges these practices face trying to maximize the revenue they get to keep for the care they provide.  With patient out-of-pocket obligations significantly on the rise, physicians are experiencing a corresponding increase in the number of patient balance bills they must collect upon to be paid for their services.

David provides access to a service that for only $12 per claim (instead of a typical % of the amount to be collected), that dramatically increases the success rate for bills collected to over 80% in the first 30-45 days from date of bill.

We also talked about other ways Cash Flow Strategies, Inc., is able to help their medical and dental practice clients drop more revenue to the bottom line.  One such way is to enroll their staff into a wellness program as provided for by the ACA.  Businesses that do so can save as much as $500 per employee per year on the Federal income tax they must pay for each of them.  Additionally, as employees take advantage of these wellness benefits, they tend toward better levels of health, decreasing the company’s expenditure for health benefits.

David also talked about a company he’s partnered with that can help a business change all the lights within the building to LED lights, saving enormous amounts of money on utility bills.  They offer a plan through which the business can pay for the lights over time, with the payments + new utility bills amounting to less than previous utility bills were, providing savings from the first month.

There are several other ways David is likely able to reduce amounts being spent by the business, such as procurement costs for necessary supplies through a competitive group purchasing organization and others.  It is clear that any medical or dental practice can benefit from taking a few minutes to talk with David to determine just how much additional revenue they can capture—all without having to work longer or harder.

For more information on how this might help your practice, call David at 888-780-1333 or email him at david.wiener@cashflowstrategies.us

 

 

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Is It Time To Dismount?

5 May

My father was a wise man. He used to tell me, “If you find out that your horse has died, it is a good idea to dismount.”

I’ve found, in my experience, that many medical and dental practices are riding a dead horse, and it is definitely time to dismount.

How many things in your practice are being done the same way they were 20 years ago? 10 years? 5 years? If you are like most practices, your answer will be “nothing!” But, if you think about it, the one thing that is being done the same way it has been for a long time is the way you collect money from patients and insurance companies that owe you money.

Sending a monthly statement, and calling (when you get the time to do so) does not work any more to motivate your slow pay and delinquent patients to pay your bill. Calling, waiting on hold, and nagging insurance companies doesn’t get you paid on time either. And do you have any idea how much having employees on hold that long will cost you in a month?

Over the years, we have determined that there are four distinct types of patient payers. Each one requires a different approach to motivate them to pay you, and it is a mistake to treat all of them the same. It is hard, if not impossible, for you to determine which is which quickly and inexpensively in-house.

We have also found a much more economical and effective way to motivate the insurance companies who are dragging their feet, making excuses, and ignoring your calls to get you paid faster.

Transworld Systems can help you update and automate your A/R processes for both insurance and patients. The cost will normally be less than what you are paying now to do what you do in-house, and the results will be MUCH better than riding a “dead horse.”

Contact David Wiener at 888-780-1333 or email me at david.wiener@transworldsystems.com

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Medical and Dental Practices: Is insurance follow-up eating up your staff time?

11 Feb

Insurance companies have a vested interest in paying your practice as slowly as possible. They will delay, deny, and “on-hold” you to death just to keep your money a few days longer and earn interest on that money.

 

Living “on-hold” with insurance companies seems to be a way of life for some of your office staff, as clerks search forever for claim information. Sitting and waiting while they look up claims is costing you big time, not just in employee salaries, but also in lost productive time.

 

What if there was a highly effective, inexpensive way to motivate insurance companies to contact you regarding those claims? What if you didn’t have to waste the time of your employees “on-hold?” What if you could get an answer or your money more quickly?

 

Transworld Systems, a sponsored program with the AMA, a Preferred Vendor with the MGMA, and the largest collector of medical debt in the US, has a unique Insurance Resolution service that you can use to make these things a reality. For a low flat fee per claim, you can have them contact the insurance companies for you. When the insurance companies are contacted by a third party such as Transworld Systems, they will treat the inquiry with much higher priority than they will when they are contacted by your practice or a hospital. When receiving a third party inquiry, they are required to escalate the inquiry to a supervisor, and then have the supervisor contact your practice to resolve the claim.

It’s quick, it’s inexpensive, and it’s easy. And best of all, you can have your “on-hold” person spend their time on something less frustrating and more profitable for your practice.

It is just one of a whole suite of services that Transworld Systems can provide for your practice to help you get paid faster by both patients and insurance companies. Contact me for a free 30 minute demonstration of their services and a no-obligation analysis of your Accounts Receivable. Call me at 888-780-1333, or email me at davidhwiener@gmail.com.

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10 daily practice statistics every dentist should review – DentistryIQ

24 Aug

Here is a great article to get you thinking about “the business of dentistry.”  In the financial area, it is vital that co-pays be collected at all times, and that patients be motivated to pay more, sooner, on their responsibility.

I’d be happy to show you some new ways to get that done, while actually building your relationships with patients rather than tearing them down.

10 daily practice statistics every dentist should review – DentistryIQ.

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HIPAA: How to protect yourself and your practice | Medical Economics

13 Aug

HIPAA compliance is getting more complicated, and more essential.  Is your A/R management or collection agency doing anything to protect you from violations of HIPAA, FDCPA, HITECH, and TCPA?  If not, you may be liable for drastic penalties.

HIPAA: How to protect yourself and your practice | Medical Economics.

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Protect Your Office from Embezzlement

20 Jun

Dental office manager sent to prison for embezzlement – DentistryIQ.

Wile we don’t read articles like this one every day, the fact is that practices are being embezzled all the time.  By the time the crime has been identified, it is often too late to recover, and a great deal of money has been lost and the practice hurt terribly.

One of the little-mentioned ways of protecting your office against embezzlement is to use a 3rd party partner to work with your practice A/R.  The earlier you can get a partner involved, the less opportunity there is to hide embezzlement from the office.

Let me show you how to quickly and easily protect your practice from this terrible situation.  It is easier and less costly than you would believe.  Respond to me via the form below and I will call to set up a brief consultation via telephone.  There is no charge, and no obligation.  I’m just glad I can help.

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The most common lies dentists tell themselves – DentistryIQ

15 Jun

The most common lies dentists tell themselves – DentistryIQ.

This is a good article, and I recommend that all my dental clients and friends read it and take it to heart.  There is one lie that dentists often tell themselves that I would like to add to the list:

PATIENTS WILL PAY THEIR BILL EVENTUALLY AS LONG AS I DON’T MAKE  THEM MAD BY ASKING FOR IT TOO AGGRESSIVELY

This is just not true.  Patients who owe you money may be waiting to see how serious you are about collecting the money, or they may not be planning to pay you at all.

Systematic, regular follow-up early in the process (not just a monthly statement) is required for those who either forget to pay or are too disorganized to get your bill paid on time.

Third party impact is necessary for those who don’t believe that you are serious about collecting their money.

Professional collectors are necessary for those few who are “professional debtors.”

Even if you could do some of this in-office, it is not time-effective or cost-effective.  I would like to show you a way to accomplish all of this less expensively than the way you are doing it now, and giving your staff time to do things that actually grow the practice.

Request a brief consultation, via phone, using the form below.  Quite lying to yourself!

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Flourishing in Changing Times: A dental office should have solid systems in place – DentistryIQ

13 Jun

Flourishing in Changing Times: A dental office should have solid systems in place – DentistryIQ.

I totally agree with the idea behind this article.

As the world changes around us, and reality demands efficiency and effectiveness in every area of a practice. solid, workable systems are mandatory.

From my perspective, one of the most critical systems to have in place has to do with your revenue cycle.  Getting paid quickly by insurance companies and patients is vital to a practice’s success in the new economy.  Having systems in place to make that happen, and systems in place for what to do when they don’t are challenging, at best, for a practice to accomplish on their own.

New options have become available and affordable for even small practices to utilize technology and new tools that enable them to do very systematic follow-up on insurance claims, without having to spend staff time waiting on hold for insurance clerks to find claims, and to follow-up on patient balances.  These tools will not only enable the practice to get more of their money faster than ever before, but also free up staff time to work on more productive and profitable activities.

I offer practices a free, no-obligation look at these tools to determine if they make sense (and profits) for their practice.  Isn’t it worth an investment of 22 minutes to find out how much more profit your practice could be making right now?

Respond to me with the form below and request a brief, telephone meeting.

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