When patients don’t accept the treatment the dentist recommends, it’s frustrating for everyone in the practice. Not only does it hurt productivity, it means patients aren’t getting the care they need. Case acceptance is vital to a dental practice’s success, yet it’s something many offices struggle with. If your practice is among those struggling, it’s important to know fixing the problem doesn’t just ride on the dentist’s shoulders alone. It takes a team effort to improve case acceptance and grow the practice’s bottom line. Let’s look at 4 ways dental billing outsourcing can help improve case acceptance.

Opportunity to build rapport with patients

It’s important for patients to feel a connection with the dentist, but it also helps if they like and trust the staff too. One bad experience with a team member could prompt a patient to look for a new dental home, which certainly won’t help boost case acceptance numbers. Dental billing outsourcing takes the tedious tasks off of your team so they can connect with patients and build the rapport needed to increase case acceptance and patient retention. They would have time to ask patients about their families and their jobs, and always greet them with a friendly smile.

It’s important for patients to feel comfortable every time they walk into the practice, and the way the team interacts with them goes a long way toward making that happen. If they show patients they care, it helps build trust, which makes them more likely to stay loyal and accept recommended treatment.

Time to continue education

The more educated patients are about the importance of dental care and maintaining their oral health, the more likely they are to get the treatment they need. Team members can help provide that education, whether it’s through materials they give patients at the front desk or by talking to patients chairside about what’s discovered during a routine exam. Training clinical team members to ask patients about their oral health goals also will help tailor the education the practice provides. Based on their answers, the dentist can recommend treatment that aligns with patient goals, making them more likely to go forward with that treatment.

It’s not surprising that many dental teams don’t take the time to increase their education so they can pass it along to patients. They don’t take the time, because they don’t have the time. Dental billing outsourcing allows dental teams to seek out the necessary continuing education, and be intentional with educating patients on the importance of their oral health.

Focus on exceptional patient care

The more team members can do to make patients feel comfortable, the more trust patients will have in the practice — and that leads to increased case acceptance. Team members should be trained to go out of their way to put patients at ease, whether that means helping them fill out paperwork, offering them coffee or water while they wait, or assuring nervous patients they’re in great hands.

All these small gestures help foster loyalty, and loyal patients accept treatment. Does your dental team often miss these gestures because they are on hold with an insurance carrier, chasing down benefits or payments? Dental billing outsourcing means less “I’ll be with you in just a second” and more connecting and providing exceptional patient care.

Develop excellent communication

The team should be able to talk about any services the dental practice offers. If patients ask team members about the benefits of a procedure or about new technology, they should get the same answer no matter who they talk to. They’ll have a difficult time entrusting the office with their dental care if no one is on the same page, making it vital to keep messaging and educational efforts consistent. Proper training helps practices achieve that consistency.

When properly trained, team members understand the technology and services the practice offers and can confidently communicate the benefits to patients. A great way to get your entire team up to speed on the clinical benefits of a dental practice is to have monthly cross-training meetings. Dental billing outsourcing takes the tedious tasks off of your team so they can take the time to learn and grow in their knowledge of the dental practice, to the benefit of you and your patients.

Improve case acceptance to grow your practice

Lackluster case acceptance hurts a practice financially and brings the entire team down. Getting the team involved will lead to more patients saying yes to the treatment they need, which in turn boosts practice productivity and revenue. If you read through these 4 areas and thought, “my team doesn’t have time for all of this with everything on their plate,” we hear you and are here to help.

eAssist Dental Solutions is the nation’s leading platform for dental billing outsourcing and has optimized revenue cycle management and front office services for dentists and their teams. Our platform’s comprehensive suite of services affords dental practice teams the time to connect with patients and take the necessary measures to increase patient care and treatment case acceptance. How? By taking the tedious dental billing tasks — and more — off of their plate. Schedule a no-obligation consultation today to see how the eAssist platform can help your team focus on what matters: your patients.