Why Can’t Dentists Accept Business Concepts?

I was asked to write an article on how to be profitable with PPO Plans, because that is our specialty here at My Practice My Business (MPMB). It’s honestly such a loaded request, as all of you who have been through our training here at MPMB understand, that I simply didn’t know where to start at first. However, I will be so bold in my old age as to state this: those who tell you to dump PPO Plans, or even a part of them, have no business clue what they are talking about. Put in other words, those who go through our training here at MPMB on how to be profitable with PPO Plans, and even experience “real” profitability with their own fee-for-service fees as most are not, would never drop their PPO Plans they take. After our trained dental teams understand the PPO contracts and state laws, they realize that it’s not the dental insurance companies fault they’re not profitable with them, it’s their own darn fault for not understanding the latitudes they have in those contracts, and how state laws protect them from doing “free” dentistry when they should be paid for their dental services they provide to their patients.

What I want to address is what one doc said to one of our team members at our booth. When our team member asked the doc if he had heard about My Practice My Business, he said, “Oh yes, I’ve heard about MPMB, both good and bad.” Now I understand I might offend some people, truth always does. But my team member wanted to know what “bad” he has heard about our company, because he has only experienced happy clients and non-clients alike with his interactions. The “bad” the doc referred to when asked was that we teach “upselling” and he feels dentistry should not be “upsold.”

I was in hopes that he just didn’t like me. That would have been acceptable in my book. But when one of our colleagues openly admits, whether directly or indirectly, that they make business decisions that are not grounded in business, that really pisses me off. They spread that ignorance to others, and lead people into misinformative thought that costs dentists thousands of dollars in revenue each month. 

After all that Tracy and I have seen, from the good to the ugly, it all comes down to one thing in dentistry: leadership! Here's to a fantastic 2024!

Before I start, let me be clear with what I do and why it matters to you. My husband and I work with dental insurance companies, insurance commissioners, state legislators, state dental associations, and representatives of the American Dental Association to ensure that both patients and their dental providers are protected against unfair and unethical practices by dental insurance companies. Why do we do this? Because there is no private entity in the US that exists simply to protect the quality of dental care with both the dentists and the patients they serve. There's a definite need, and we're here to fill it. My Practice My Business has been around since 2006, and we intend to remain practice advocates for years to come...

Titles and profits channel, or front-line advocacy channel? It’s time for the rose-colored glasses to come off, and either hold your state and national associations accountable to reality, or stop wasting your money on annual dues. May I suggest all of us stop taking a back seat, and put some pressure, a lot of pressure, on the ADA and your state dental association executives. Tell them to stop feeding us with platitudes of topics that have little action on what we do as dentists each day, and focus on legislation that protects us from the evil designs of third-party payers, like we did here in Utah. 
Tracy and I were doing some research on the ADA, looking for some statistical data, and just happened to find a very interesting article by Dr. Mike Barr, the content of which I have echoed many times, and deserves new coverage and commentary by Tracy and I. 

A few weeks ago, I had a fellow colleague ask us to run an analysis on his practice to see how much revenue he was losing each year. We do this for offices who are interested in our Team Training here at MPMB. After showing him the hundreds of thousands of dollars our training would bring to his practice, he asked the worst question possible.

“Rob, this number is amazing. I’ve talked with other docs who have gone through your training courses, and they are extremely happy. But the question I have is this: how much of that new revenue your MPMB training brings to my practice WILL THE PATIENT HAVE TO PAY?”

In dentistry, dental team meetings can become unproductive, and ideas may not be conveyed effectively. This podcast aims to explore the reasons why individuals may choose not to speak up in meetings, the implications of this behavior, and possible solutions to overcome it.

In today’s world, meetings have become an essential aspect of organizational communication. Meetings are a platform for employees to express their opinions, ideas, and concerns about a project or task at hand. However, there are times when everyone in the meeting is thinking the same thing, but no one wants to speak out. 

Dentistry is a field that requires not only clinical expertise but also strong managerial skills to run a successful dental practice. While many dentists excel in providing quality oral healthcare, there are so many instances, that Tracy and I have witnessed first-hand, where the Doc does not actively take charge of managing their dental office. I am going to explore some reasons why dentists may not fully embrace the role of leadership and management within their practice. Listen up my friends, its time gain insights in to the challenges we face as dentists and identify potential solutions to empower your practice management endeavors.

As I was gathering my thoughts on this topic, my mind was racing in many directions as to where I should start with this one. Let me first begin by saying, contrary to what we read from our dental association leadership, it is definitely not your fault doc, by you signing up with PPO plans, that third-party payers have such low reimbursement rates. It actually has everything to do with the dental insurance market, and the perceived ideologies that dental consultants have propagated for years when it comes to how we can bill the PPO patient.

Dental insurance companies use sophisticated software to calculate the needed premiums required to pay us the reimbursement rates they set, while acquiring a 24%-32% corporate profit margin. This software, which Tracy and I have seen, and navigated intimately first hand, has unbelievable information on all of us docs, average billings we send in, and average payouts their clients have in our dental offices. Once again, nowhere in their calculations on contractual reimbursement rates does sending in our fee-for-service fees affect this process in determining what their reimbursement fees are per our contracts. Honestly people, stop lies from so many out there who teach such stupid things.

Dental leaders play an essential role in the dental industry, as they provide guidance and direction to dentists and other dental professionals. However, in recent years, some dental leaders have been answering questions that no dentist is asking, causing confusion and frustration among dental professionals. This report aims to explore why dental leaders are answering questions that no dentist is asking and the impact of this trend on the dental industry.