As the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, the economic downturn of 2007-2009 devastated the US economy and led to the global recession of 2009. As a result of the crisis, unemployment rose, financial institutions collapsed, and consumer confidence plummeted. The economic downturn also adversely affected the US dental industry, resulting in lower patient visits, practice collections, and net income.
In June, the FOMC projected the US economy would slow but avoid a recession by 2022. Reducing inflation and price stability will support growth over the medium term and protect real incomes. However, the economics of dentistry during a recession can suffer.
When facing financial hardship, patients may delay dental treatment until or unless their situation worsens. The decline in patient visits can adversely affect the revenue of practices. This is where dental membership plans can be helpful.
Here’s how a dental membership plan can benefit patients:
- One of the most significant benefits of dental membership plans is that even people with no dental insurance are eligible for it. It enables patients to feel comfortable with their dentists and also strengthens the personal bond between providers and patients, improving patient retention.
- It allows dental practitioners to gauge the financial concerns of their clients when it comes to dental care. Accordingly, dental service providers can create different plans, packages, and dental memberships, meaning consumers have plenty of choices.
- Patients can be assured that the dental practitioners understand their financial concerns. The plans and packages with value-additions and discounts make treatment accessible. Regardless of their problems, patients will know their dental practitioners will find a solution.
PlanSplit allows you to offer dental plans, packages, and membership for new and existing consumers with value-adds and discounts tailored to their needs during such economic doldrums.
Here are a few ways PlanSplit can assist dental practices in stabilizing their business and improving client retention, compliance, loyalty, and revenue:
Consolidate Patient Loyalty:
Membership and plans can significantly contribute to monthly recurring revenue generation for dental practices by cementing a bond of trust between them and their patients. PlanSplit assists its clients in increasing client compliance, loyalty, and revenue by offering subscription and membership management services. Dental practitioners and other health service providers can create and sell usage-based plans, packages, subscriptions, and memberships. In turn, consumers display loyalty to their services and continue with the service plan.
Saves Time and Resource:
The dentist’s level of attention and time devoted to the patient influences a patient’s decision to stay with a particular practice. By reducing staff workload, PlanSplit enables service providers to spend more time and energy on their primary job, taking care of clients and patients. Additionally, the savings generated through reduced staff workload and payroll management costs allow for discounts and value-adds for dental practitioners. By offering value-added or discounted service plans, dental practitioners can reduce the barriers to patient compliance. Consequentially, patient retention improves, and so does the new patient acquisition.
Generate Monthly Recurring Revenue:
A monthly recurring revenue plan lets you know how much revenue you’ll collect from your membership patients upfront. If paying upfront is difficult, consumers can enjoy monthly split billing for usage-based services over a plan period. It maximizes revenue while reducing payment complexity for dental care practitioners. Monthly recurring payment plans can provide their practice with a steady revenue stream. The smoother the payment collection process, the greater the recurring revenue.
Automate the Monthly Billing Process:
It eliminates manual errors by automating the entire process of signing up and billing for usage-based plans and packages. Both human support and automation are used to handle billing and subscription management. PlanSplit offers an automated monthly recurring billing option that allows providers to collect monthly fees for usage-based service plans, packages, memberships, or subscriptions.
No Separate Merchant Account Required:
In contrast to in-house usage management, PlanSplit eliminates the need to manage separate merchant accounts and payment gateways. The new platform is an intermediary between any practice and its clients regarding sign-up, payments, collections, and cancellation issues. The automation features of this billing software enable dental practitioners to simplify the process of creating custom plans, packages, and membership. This web application allows health practitioners to apply usage and reflect it in their practice software.
Health practitioners can carry out several tasks following plan selection, including patient sign-ups, payment collection, plan adjustments, renewals, and cancellation. The provider can lower plans by a considerable amount, and the total amount is split billed into monthly installments. Payments are automatically deducted monthly from the consumer’s account. As for cancellations and changes, the platform also facilitates the necessary process. Plans can be adjusted to different levels of service as per requirements. It also acts as a marketplace, allowing Florida wellness dental plan providers and customers to get the most out of their plans.
Bottom Line:
Use-based plans and membership can significantly reduce the recession economy for dental practitioners or other health care services. Not only do they help gain new customers, but they also help scale up business for providers and practices with low growth.