Episode 570: How to Unconventionally Grow Your Practice

Vanessa Vitagliano with Dental Warranty is on the podcast to talk about utilizing a warranty to provide peace of mind to your patients (and practice), especially amid these times of uncertainty. Vanessa and Kiera discuss what it’s like for both the practice and patient if Dental Warranty is utilized, the benefits the program offers, how it works with insurance plans, and a ton more.

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Transcript:

[music]

0:00:05.6 Kiera Dent: Hey everyone, welcome to the Dental A Team Podcast. I'm your host, Kiera Dent. And I have this crazy idea that maybe I could combine a doctor and a team member's perspective, because let's face it, dentistry can be a challenging profession with those two perspectives.

0:00:18.9 KD: I've been a dental assistant, treatment coordinator, scheduler, filler, office manager, regional manager, practice owner, and I have a team of traveling consultants where we have traveled to over 165 different offices, coaching teams. Yup, we don't just understand you, we are you.

0:00:34.9 KD: Our mission is to positively impact the world of dental, and I believe that this podcast is the greatest way I can help elevate teams, grow VIP experiences, reduce stress and create A teams. Welcome to the Dental A Team Podcast.

[music]

0:00:51.4 KD: Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera. And you guys, I am fricking pumped for today's podcast. This is one of my dear friends. We are legit friends. Pre-show, we were actually talking about an actual vacation her and I are gonna go on. This woman is incredible. I met her at some dental conventions. Her name is Vanessa, and she currently works with Dental Warranty, and guys, this woman is epic.

0:01:14.2 KD: Not only is she a good time, but she fricking knows her stuff. She is all about biz dev and marketing. And what I love is she's coming today onto the show to talk about ways that we can unconventionally grow our practice, help with case acceptance, keep the hygiene chairs full. So I know you guys are gonna love it. Vanessa, welcome to the show. How are you?

0:01:29.9 Vanessa Vitagliano: I am good. Thank you for having me. And yeah, I'm just as excited as you, Kiera. So a mutual excitement we both have. [chuckle]

0:01:38.9 KD: You know, Vanessa when I met her, she's just one of those people that I feel like, I bring a lot of life and energy to the table, and Vanessa tops me guys, through and through. And we just have the most fun time. Vanessa and I will be sitting at conferences just giggling and having the best time. I mean, Vanessa, I don't think I've ever had quite as big of an adventure as I did when we were in Philly just recently in May.

[chuckle]

0:02:04.1 KD: I mean, I still giggle with you, me, Susan, Danny, the whole crew. People say that people that go to conferences, dental conferences, we're kind of like the traveling circus. Vanessa, you may have even said... I don't remember who told me this, but I'm like, that is true, we all come unroll our bag of tricks, have a ton of fun, and I can't wait to see you at the next one.

0:02:20.4 KD: So that's my intro on you, Vanessa, but I know there's a lot more to you. So kind of give people your background, what you do. You are a travel junkie like me, and all things dental is your world. But I don't even know if you came from dental originally. I don't even know how you got into dental. So kinda just give us your background.

0:02:37.6 VV: Yeah, how I became a part of the circus, basically.

[chuckle]

0:02:41.9 KD: Yes, how did you join this...

0:02:42.6 VV: The traveling circus. [chuckle]

0:02:44.6 KD: Yes.

0:02:46.2 VV: Yeah, so actually, my background was I originally wanted to go to pharmacy school.

0:02:50.6 KD: Stop. That's where my husband is. Keep going.

0:02:52.5 VV: Really?

0:02:53.2 KD: Yes. [chuckle]

0:02:53.3 VV: I didn't know that. Yes, I originally wanted to go to pharmacy school and ended up graduating, getting my Bachelor's in Neuroscience but decided I didn't wanna go. I took the PCAT and everything, but just realised it wasn't something I was super passionate about. And at that time, I was going to school with people who, one of my best friends is a dentist, an ER doctor, a PT, OT, and they were all like do or die as I wanna do, and I didn't quite know what I wanted to do.

0:03:22.2 VV: And so I actually started working at a dental marketing company on the support side of things and I worked there, ended up moving into sales, and I was there for maybe about, I have to think about this now, I think it was six years? I think I was there for about six years. And then I moved on to another dental company, 'cause of course, once you start working in dental, you just get sucked in.

0:03:42.9 KD: You're stuck. It's like a very healthy cult, if you will. We have... Dentistry is wild, and you just stay in it. Once you get in, you never leave.

0:03:54.8 VV: Completely. And by the way, I'm not upset by it either. I love it. I love what I do. Yeah. And so I moved to another company for about four years, ran business development there. And I've been at Dental Warranty for a little over a year now and just absolutely love it. And yes, dentistry, it does, it just kind of sucks you in.

0:04:10.8 VV: But I think I personally love it because my background was always in the sciences and I love the sciences. And so to still be feeling connected in that regard, I absolutely love it.

0:04:22.2 KD: That's awesome. Well, Vanessa, I'm super jazzed because, one, I just adore you. So I knew today's podcast would be like one of the top of the entire day, if not the absolute top. And two, it's great so we actually pin our vacation on the calendar. Guys, we did it. We know exactly when we're doing it.

0:04:37.0 VV: It's happening. It's happening. [chuckle]

0:04:39.3 KD: And Vanessa and I were both thinking, 'cause we're going to be at an event together, which is fun, again, the traveling circus, we see each other, but both Vanessa and I were thinking, "So event clothes are different than vacation clothes, how do we ship that? Vanessa's in Chicago, I'm in Reno." Don't worry, guys, all those logistics are there.

0:04:55.5 KD: But let's talk about... That's our unconventional traveling, and let's tie that into unconventional growing your practice in an unconventional way, increasing that case acceptance, keeping that hygiene schedule full. That's why I'm super jazzed because I feel right now, guys, offices who are thinking outside the box, offices that are doing things differently, are the offices that are going to win through recession, through patients not coming in as much. You gotta be this office, which is why you listen to podcast, but don't just listen today, let's make sure we execute.

0:05:22.7 KD: So Vanessa, before we dive in to all things Dental Warranty, I like you just to share like if people wanna get in touch with Dental Warranty, how do they do it? Of course, we'll do it at the end of the show as well. But if they wanna get in touch with Dental Warranty, how is the best way for them to connect just right off the bat, and then we'll talk about all those items?

0:05:37.0 VV: Yeah, you can always find me on social media. I'm on Instagram and Facebook, name is Vanessa Vitagliano.

0:05:40.5 KD: Just recently. Just recently, Vanessa. Don't... [chuckle]

0:05:44.1 VV: Just recent... Okay, Instagram, more recently, but you know what, I've been getting more involved, but yeah, it was a big step for me. So if you're on Instagram, friend me, I'll try to remember to friend you back because I'm still getting used to it. But yes.

0:05:58.7 KD: Totally.

0:06:00.6 VV: You can find me on social media, LinkedIn as well. Otherwise, you can also give Dental Warranty a call. It is 855-559-1511, or we also can get you that little extra special discount, for those who are listening, let us know either way if you're with Dental A Team, but you can also go to go.dentalwarrantycorp/dentalateam so you can check us out there.

0:06:24.4 KD: Cool, okay. Let's talk about how we can grow our practice unconventionally, Vanessa. What are you seeing with offices? You've been doing this for a year, so let's talk about some of these different things people can do.

0:06:34.1 VV: Yes, I think you kind of mentioned it a little bit too, Kiera, of just how to get a little create at times. Dentistry has become so competitive, and for me, like I mentioned before, I've been at dentistry now for about 12 years. When I first started off, I was at dental marketing company.

0:06:51.5 VV: Back then, if you just had a website with your name on it, you're good. You were... You were just rocking it. You were so forward thinking. And it was the most basic website that had like nothing on it, and that was it. And then slowly as time went on, it was like, okay, well, now you have to have a Google listing. Okay, now you have to have like a Facebook page and Twitter. It was like Twitter was the thing that you gotta have at your practice.

0:07:17.6 KD: Right.

0:07:17.7 VV: And mobile-friendly website. And just over the years of just how much it has progressed, and now if you don't have a website you might as well not exist. If you don't have a mobile-friendly website, you might as well not exist. If you're not on social media, you might as well not exist. If you don't have SEO, pay-per-click.

0:07:35.2 VV: It's just even in the last 12 years, so much has changed, and I think with that too, it's you're always having to think forward of what is next, "How am I gonna stand out? How can I when there's X amount of dentists in my town or on my street or even in my building?" depending on where you're located.

0:07:54.3 VV: And so I think there's a lot of different ways that practices are trying to make themselves stand out. I think a lot of it really is through social media and their website, of making them stand out of, "This is what makes us different," showing their culture, trying to find that connection with patients, because it is so competitive that their patients can easily just go somewhere else. Or they ask their friends and family, "Hey, who do you recommend to go to?"

0:08:22.1 VV: Well great, now they have five options and they still have to narrow down those five options from those referrals. So how are you finding your way to stand out? And Dental Warranty is one of those ways that you can do that to make yourself stand out, and not only stand out, but offer that extra care that patients are looking for, and it makes it look like you're going the extra mile.

0:08:44.0 KD: Which I think you're right. I love that you talked about the growth model that we've been on over the last decade, and I would say guys, it exponentially got even more through COVID, and I think Vanessa you'd agree, because at that point we became a virtual digital company, people were getting bored, they're looking on social media.

0:09:02.6 KD: And so, well yes, I don't want you to feel like you've got to do all these items, 'cause I know when I first started the business, I was like, "What the heck? You want me to be on this? This this... " We just hired a new marketing girl and she's like, "Kiera, you need to be on Pinterest," and I'm like, "What do you want me to do on Pinterest?" Luckily she loves that world.

0:09:18.8 KD: But the bottom line is, I agree, and I think the ways to stand out in dentistry are not having all the funfair, not having all the pieces. You can have your own personality that's dazzling, and I mean the Skateboard Dentist, one of my favorite doctors, if you guys don't know him, anytime someone's like, "The Skateboard Dentist," of course we all know the Skateboard Dentist.

0:09:34.3 KD: But if that's not you, I think the way, the next best way is to stand out through offering what patients really care about, and that is giving them peace of mind, it's about giving them this warranty that... Guys, dentistry is an investment for a lot of people. I swim in the world of dentists, I swim in the world of dental practices, in the traveling circus is where I swim, but my husband is a pharmacist and he swims in the world of healthcare professionals. Shelby's fiance, he swims in the world of contractors. Tiffany's son swims in the world of high schoolers.

0:10:04.4 KD: These people are not your dental people, and so what do they talk about? What they talk about, Jason and I used to go to the hot tub all the time, and people whenever they found out I was in dentistry they're like, "Gosh, it's just so expensive. And then you never know if it's going to work. And then it always breaks and then they have to give you another one."

0:10:19.2 KD: My eyelash girl, goodnight. When people find out you're in dentistry, you hear about their whole mouth, it's like, I'm back in the practice. While I'm getting my eyelashes done, she's got a captive audience, eyes are shut. But she told me, she's like, "Kiera, this crown is so expensive, they just did it and now they're making me pay for it again," and I was like, "Hold up, how long ago was it done? What was the process? Is it the same practice?" And I start asking questions.

0:10:41.3 KD: I was able to save her thousands of dollars. Don't worry guys, I'm a good captive audience getting my eyelashes done. But I feel like that's how you can stand out now, is by offering this peace of mind, letting patients know. Because one, one of the biggest risks of people saying yes to treatment is they're afraid that their investment they just made is going to be wasted, and people are, especially fixed incomes. My in-laws, they're old, Jason was an accident by 18 years, so they are very... They're very seasoned. Let's say it a little nicer.

[chuckle]

0:11:11.2 KD: But Linda called me the other day, my mother-in-law, and she was like, "Kiera, I've gotta get four crowns. Do you think this is realistic?" And I literally said, "Linda, you gotta determine, how long are you gonna live? Because at your age, I don't know." And she did it, but she did it with a dentist who gave her the confidence and the peace of mind that if it happened and she had to get it replaced, as long as she abided by certain rules, she would get it taken care of.

0:11:32.2 KD: So Vanessa explain that, because I think that that's really what... What's helping offices stand out more, is that peace of mind, knowing their investments are protected and that they're going to be able to come back and get good dentistry again.

0:11:44.4 VV: Completely. You even mentioned briefly the recession, for example. There's a lot of uncertainty between recession, the pandemic, and anyone else you wanna throw in there.

[chuckle]

0:11:56.6 VV: I feel like these last two years it's different day by day of what's going on. And so people are looking just for any type of piece of mind at this point, and more than ever, really. And that's answers why even AppleCare exists, people get for their phones, for those who are like, "Yeah, you know what, sometimes I have dropped my phone and it's not been a fun day when it does happen."

0:12:18.0 VV: And so what's great about what we offer here is that it does include no fault. So for all those patients who chewed on the soft bread that they claim they chewed on...

[chuckle]

0:12:29.0 KD: Did they ever mention they've been chewing on ice and ice and ice and more ice, it just happened on this soft piece of bread.

0:12:34.3 VV: Right? Completely, completely. You hear all those stories. And so in those situations, the patient feels more confident moving forward. The practices already are having those conversations with patients. Patients are asking, "How long is this gonna last? If I move forward with this, how long is... " just like you mentioned with your mother-in-law, "but just how long is it gonna last me?"

0:12:53.7 VV: And obviously, you do the best techniques, use the best services, whatever it may be, but things just happen and it's out of the practice's control and it's out of the patient's control. And so it's a way of still keeping those patients happy and healthy, it's still keeping the practice financially healthy, because...

0:13:14.3 VV: Well, I guess I should probably backtrack here a little bit, but with the protection plans that practices offer through Dental Warranty, whenever somebody does break or fail, the patient pays nothing. And then we pay the practice for doing that retreatment. And so there's no longer the giving away free dentistry. You still can for certain situations if you're wanting to, but for those patients that have the protection plan, they are covered.

0:13:35.9 VV: And so if something has happened, those patients, number one, are more likely go back into the practice, but sometimes they just won't go back 'cause they're like, "I don't wanna know how expensive this is gonna be. I don't know if I can afford that. I don't wanna deal with that. I don't wanna," whatever.

0:13:52.1 VV: So now that patient may be suffering silently, or maybe they're embarrassed on how it happened, and so they're not more likely to come back in to get that treatment they need done. To keep the protection plan active, patients are required to come in for their routine hygiene. So in general, it's keeping those patients healthy that way and keeping the hygiene chairs full, which is gonna help with your revenue right there as well. And then... Now I just blank, Kiera. Now I...

0:14:19.5 KD: That's okay, no. I'm glad, because...

0:14:21.2 VV: I felt so good about it, Kiera. [chuckle]

0:14:23.8 KD: No, it was so good. Because we were talking about when they have these claims, when they come in, they're going to keep coming back to you, and so this is allowing your practice to actually grow and flourish. And you as the practice aren't losing money when these things happen because you have the warranty plan in place.

0:14:40.5 KD: I'm glad you actually didn't remember your train of thought 'cause I was thinking of a few questions that I guarantee you practices are thinking of. Number one, I love this idea because great, they have to come in for their routine hygiene, so guys, check, our hygiene schedule is going to be more full, it's a guarantee they have to be in there.

0:14:52.6 KD: We all know, guys, if you've heard of Kleer, Kleer does a ton of research, and Brad and I've had several podcasts and I only bring them up 'cause they do so much research, but the reality is they've literally proven that patients who come in for their regular cleanings will do, I think it's 35% to 40% more treatment than those that come in once a year.

0:15:11.2 KD: So already there guys, you've got hygiene schedule full, so we're not having hygienists sitting there. Number two, we've got more treatment being diagnosed. Number three, with a warranty plan on there, I promise you guys, I'm a TC and I'm a freaking killer TC, on a culture index, guess what? I'm a persuader. I am dang good at closing cases.

0:15:29.0 KD: But the objection I always get is, "Kiera, what if this isn't done? I don't wanna have to go through insurance," blah, blah, blah. Insurances have these stupid five-year waiting plans. There's so much junk around it that this gives them the literal risk-free motive to move forward.

0:15:45.4 KD: But I can already hear dentists, Vanessa, and I want you to answer a few questions. Question number one is, okay, is this like normal insurance claims where it takes forever for us to get paid? 'Cause I could already see that being like, "Okay, how hard is it for me to get paid?"

0:15:57.7 KD: Number two is, what's the benefit of working with you guys rather than just doing it in-house? Because my membership plan covers this, why would I want to either A, pay you guys, or have my patients sign up for the membership plan plus the warranty plan? Like that feels clunky. So one is, now I can't remember one. One was, how hard is this to claim...

[laughter]

0:16:20.8 KD: Don't worry guys, we're total professionals over here. One is like, how hard is it to get the claims paid, and second is, why should I utilise you guys rather than just doing it myself?

0:16:30.1 VV: Right. So we really wanna partner with practices. First of all, we're not an insurance company, so let's get that cleared up...

0:16:38.4 KD: You didn't like that reference. [chuckle]

0:16:41.6 VV: We are not an insurance company, we do not claim to be an insurance company at all, and so we really wanna partner with practices. Because really at the end of the day, the more you like us, the more successful we are, and so we really want our clients be happy and we want our clients' patients be happy with them. So we do not want to make them jump through hoops and make it difficult, and so we do make it pretty simple. First of all, we pay out in 30 days.

0:17:06.2 KD: Cool.

0:17:08.3 VV: What we do is when there's a claim, we just ask for basic documentation that practices already have. Basically, what's the documentation before you did the procedure, and then after the procedure, and so we know the proof of, "Hey, this was done, this is what happened, here's the situation." And so we just wanna make sure there's no malpractice going on for the most part, or that's the actual right tooth as well that was actually warrantied.

[chuckle]

0:17:33.4 KD: Don't worry, I've seen that only a few times on insurance fraud. Totally fine. Not good, guys. Don't do that. It's bad. Don't do that.

[chuckle]

0:17:41.4 VV: Yeah, so it's very simple. Like I said, we wanna make sure that you're being paid right away for that.

0:17:47.1 KD: Do you pay office fee? Do you pay what it was? Do you guys have a fee schedule? How does that work out?

0:17:54.0 VV: It's the practices, so it's based off of what the practice's UCR fee is, and that's also even how the patient is charged as well. So how it works is, our protection plans, you can charge between 10 and 15% of what your treatment cost is, and we take 10%, the rest goes to the practice. So if you wanted to create where it's a 15% protection plan, Dental Warranty takes 10, the extra 5% goes to the practice.

0:18:23.3 VV: So that's revenue that you're able to generate right away, they can utilise for team bonuses, maybe 401K, maybe a team trip, maybe offset cover costs, put more towards marketing, whatever you wanna use that money for, but it does give you the opportunity straight out of the gate if you're wanting to generate some revenue, based off of that percentage itself, you're able to.

0:18:44.1 VV: But you're also gonna generate revenue because you're not having to give away free dentistry any more. So think of all those cases that you end up discounting or giving away for free because you felt bad based on what the situation was with the patient. You know, it could be a patient that you just love and it was their fault techy, but you just feel bad and you don't wanna upset them, and they've always paid their bills, and so you like, "You know what? We'll just... We'll just charge in the lab fees." But you're still taking that hit.

0:19:14.0 VV: So this is a way of protecting yourself that way. And also you're kind of like the hero in the situation as well. We've had situations where this patient got about like $30,000 work done on her mouth and was loving life and feeling confident now and was in the Coles parking lot looking for a new outfit to match the new confidence and just hit her face on the curb.

0:19:38.2 KD: Dang.

0:19:39.8 VV: And in that situation, she went back in the practice, and that's not a fun day for anyone involved to see a patient come back in from that. But for them to... It was amazing because we're like, "Hey, don't worry about it, just sit down. We'll take care of you." So they did the retreatment, the patient had to pay nothing, she was like, "This was amazing." It really turned her day around, and the practice looks like the heroes in that situation.

0:20:03.4 VV: 'Cause last thing you wanna do is like, "Okay, well, it's gonna cost this much. And well, we can only do this now maybe, and maybe do that later, and whatever you feel comfortable with." No. It's a way they are able to really offer that like all-star service, it's turning what was a bad day into a great one.

0:20:16.5 VV: And those patients are more likely to review you, to refer like, "Hey, go to Dr. So and So. I had this situation happen and they were great. I was able to just go back in, they fixed me up, they're all so sweet, and move on with my day." It's a dental A Team.

[chuckle]

0:20:35.5 VV: Remember that you are really offering A Team service to these patients.

[music]

0:20:42.1 KD: Are you guys sick of trying to figure it out on your own? I know I am. When I'm trying to run a business, sometimes I just think, "There's got to be a better way to do this." And so for me, my answer has been to find someone who's done it and does it really, really, really well, like I'm talking the best of the best of the best.

0:21:00.9 KD: I want someone who's been in my shoes, somebody who understands what I'm going through. When I was looking for the consulting business, I found a coach who literally has run a consulting business. Well, that seemed like the perfect fit. So you guys, right now we have a few spaces open in our Platinum consulting.

0:21:18.5 KD: That is in the consulting where we actually come to your practice. We help you get systems implemented, we don't just tell what systems to implement, we actually implement them with you and for you. Guys, it is one of the best investments I've ever made is to hire a coach who understands the business I'm in, who's lived it, who's done it.

0:21:36.9 KD: And that's what we in the Dental A Team do. We literally physically fly to you. So if you're sick of trying to figure it out on your own, if you just want somebody who understands you, join our Platinum. I'd love to have you. I'd love to have our consulting team come out and see you, be in your office, be with your team, and truly help you get onto the easy path of dentistry. It doesn't have to be hard. So join us in the Platinum. We'd love to have you.

[music]

0:22:02.6 KD: Well, and I'm just thinking as a practice, as a practice owner, as a team member, those free re-dos, that's just junk. It's great and we know we need to do it, but I know on the day, I'm like, "Alright, great. We gotta do this crown, we gotta re-do it." And I don't wanna block the right amount of time, I don't wanna scrimp on it, but also it's like it's a zero dollar and I'm trying to get my production numbers and we've gotta do it, that's just part of it.

0:22:28.9 KD: Or if you had an associate, like what happens if an associate leaves? Because that happens all the time. Or you buy a practice and there's the dentist who maybe did a little bit senior citizen dentistry, and we're gonna be redoing a lot of that, does the dental warranty work there? '

0:22:43.0 KD: 'Cause I'm thinking that's a huge dental where I'd wanna protect my practice because I've seen a lot of associates come through, they burn and churn, they leave. I have a practice I'm thinking of in my mind, they were there for six months, and they are still doing re-dos because number one, do a better associate onboarding, let's start there, let's be proactive. But secondly, does the warranty help with that if the associate does leave or a selling doctor, it still is in effect?

0:23:07.3 VV: Yes. Yeah, so how it actually works is it follows the patient. So it's nationwide. So whether they go on vacation and something happens, they can see a local dentist out there to get what they need done. You get snowbird situations, you have dentists that cater to maybe military where you have families kind of going in and out.

0:23:27.7 VV: You have associates that might leave your practice. You might sell your practice, you may acquire a practice. Whatever it may be, it follows the patient wherever they go. So it makes it really easy in that regard for everyone involved. And so going back to what you kinda mentioned, Kiera earlier, that I haven't quite answered yet, is why not do this yourself.

0:23:48.1 VV: One of the reasons is that if you do it yourself, it only pertains to your practice only. And obviously, you wanna keep your patients within your own practice, but there's gonna be situations, like I said, if an associate leaves, if a patient moves, whatever it might be, they're still gonna be covered.

0:24:03.0 VV: I was actually just in St. Thomas last week for a conference and there's a practice there that love this idea because they have patients that go back to the mainland all the time. Or whatever it may be. And so well, that's perfect because if they happen to be back on the mainland, if something happens I know my patient's gonna be taken care of.

0:24:19.9 KD: For sure.

0:24:21.5 VV: And so that would be one of the reasons. And we pay you to do the free treatment, so once again too, that's something that you're just able to add that additional revenue for your practice.

0:24:29.9 KD: Sure. I'm just thinking like, guys, I can already hear some of our dentists saying like, "I don't want them to have an opportunity to go to another practice." Guys, just so you know, let me set the record straight. Unless you are doing junk dentistry and you hurt your patient, you give painful injections and their bill is always wrong, patients don't like to switch dentists.

0:24:48.7 KD: Just like they don't like to switch hair girls, they don't like to switch eyelash girls, they don't link to switch nail girls, they don't like... Like Jason hates to get a different barber 'cause his haircut doesn't look right. People don't like to switch, especially on intimate things, and their mouth is very intimate. I have zero desire to go meet someone and have them judge my mouth unless I have to.

0:25:06.5 KD: So don't worry, I don't think it will be a loss of patients. It really is helping them close more cases, you look like the hero, and then if something does happen on the road, they're taken care of, so again, you look like the hero.

0:25:17.9 VV: Right.

0:25:18.5 KD: So Vanessa, walk us through, how does this work? Like, I'm a patient, I'm in a practice, 'cause I can see is this on the patient who needs to sign up for it, is it the practice who's doing it? 'Cause if it's following me as the patient, how exactly does this work?

0:25:30.3 VV: If you got signed up with Dental Warranty, you would be a Dental Warranty practice, so your practice itself. And so this would be something that then you can incorporate into your treatments. So whether you wanna include it in the fees itself and just include that extra percentage in the total cost and say, "Hey, by the way, this implant that you're getting right now comes with a six-year protection plan." Or you can offer it as an option, as an add-on, and give them the option of accepting or not.

0:25:58.7 VV: What's great about even that second part, even if they say no, okay, cool. We all move on with our lives. They said no, but now the expectations are set upfront. That's the difference, that now they know, "Hey, if X, Y, Z happens, I'm the one who is liable for that. I'm the one who's got to pay again if I need retreatment, because they gave me the option."

0:26:19.8 VV: And so practices love that because I think that's become such big headaches, and for me, that was something that I didn't know until I moved into Dental Warranty, and Kiera, since you were in a practice, you probably known all along. But I didn't realise how much how many practices are just giving away free dentistry out of guilt, and just like those feelings, they don't wanna piss them off.

0:26:43.4 KD: In the practices I have, I make them actually track it, I make 'em put a code on there of free dentistry. So guys, if you are, if you're on the fence and thinking if you wanna do this, just make a code, not an ADA code, so a practice code, just call it "free dentistry". I don't care if you discount off the cost of what it is and only charge the lab fee, that's fine. 'Cause in your mind, it's kind of like budgeting. In my mind, I think on Amazon I have spent $200 and when I get the bill, it is loads here.

[laughter]

0:27:08.1 KD: But in my mind, guys, all of... I just bought a bag here, I bought this there, I bought a T-shirt. It was like five items. It was like 55 items. So I think for practices, just do this experiment, if nothing else from today, try this.

0:27:23.5 VV: Do the experiment.

0:27:24.5 KD: Check to see how much you're giving away. And practices on average, what I see in a solo practice is between $30,000 to $100,000 worth of free dentistry or discounted dentistry, every month. That is every month, that I see. What I do is I play a fun game. I'm like, "So here's the deal," 'cause doctors are like, "I don't really wanna stop giving away free dentistry," I'm like, "You don't have to. You do you."

0:27:44.2 KD: But what I'll say is like, "Let's just track it for a month and then we're gonna split it. Half of it's coming to me, half of it's going to you. You gave it away for free anyway, so it doesn't really matter, and I'm gonna bill that to my shoe collection, and you're gonna be Venmo-ing me this money for all of my shoe purchases for the next," depends on how much I spend on Amazon, right, guys?

[chuckle]

0:28:02.7 KD: But the bottom line is, as soon as they see that dollar amount, they never wanna Venmo me the amount. They don't realise, and it's just like I think our Amazon spending where we don't realise how much we're doing until you track it. So I'd say if nothing else at least do that, but agree there is so much given away in free dentistry, so I think this is a good... Not just revenue build, but you don't have to have the guilt either.

0:28:24.3 KD: Because you gave them the option, and now if they choose not to, they also know. And you can put that, I was thinking as you said that, I would throw that on my treatment plan. "Patient declined dental warranty, therefore, patient knows they are responsible for total 100% out of pocket cost."

0:28:38.7 KD: Guys, it's just like to me, I was like, "AppleCare is a really good way," 'cause if I decline AppleCare, I have to then pay the full amount of my phone if it breaks, but right then and there, I know as the consumer and I can make a decision and be educated, rather than being ticked off with my crown breaks or my teeth breaks, and I call you and you're like, "Now you owe the same amount." I'm like the eyelash girl and she's ready to switch dentists 'cause she's ticked off with you, 'cause she didn't know.

[chuckle]

0:29:03.3 KD: Okay, so follow that, you can sign right there. So how does that work with insurance though, Vanessa? That's been my... In the back of my mind, 'cause I'm like, "We can't do anything with insurance plans, we're in contracted rates." How does this work if a patient does have insurance?

0:29:15.2 VV: That's totally fine, because it's just based off of what your UCR is. So what the patients are paying you can still include insurance, everything like that, but the value of the actual procedure would be based off of your UCR. So even if they only end up paying $400 from maybe a $1000 procedure, that procedure is still worth $1000 in our mind.

0:29:34.8 VV: And so what we'll do is if something happens... So let's use an example like let's say a crown was $1000, and there's the protection plan on it, so the value of that crown is $1000 and if something happens, we'll pay up to that $1000, so if it's another crown, same procedure, and it's $1000, then here's your $1000.

0:29:55.3 VV: But what's neat too is it can be used towards next steps as well, so if something happens to that crown that you have protected and now it needs to be an extraction and implants, well obviously the tooth is longer in the mouth. So what happens to that $1000 is actually it could be put towards the extraction and the implant.

0:30:16.5 KD: Cool.

0:30:17.7 VV: So now it's helping those patients once again stay healthy and be more likely to move forward toward those next steps, because now they go from a crown to the implant, like, "Well an implant is gonna cost me X amount and I don't look forward to paying that." "Oh don't worry, actually. 'Cause you have that protection plan, $1000 of that actually goes towards the next steps. And then you have insurance and whatever, this is what your remaining balance is."

0:30:41.3 VV: So it really helps push patients that direction and then the patient can buy a protection plan on the implant. It makes it easy in that way too.

0:30:48.2 KD: Because I'm thinking waiting periods. So let's say that crown breaks, most insurance companies have a five-year waiting period on a crown, but the dental warranty is going to kick in, help cover it, 'cause at that point it would be total out of pocket, which is why you guys are doing UCR fees. Is that correct?

0:31:02.4 VV: Yes, yes. And so for when it comes to the parameters of what we do here, so first 90 days, we don't cover any failure, we leave that to the discretion of the practice to fix that, which they normally would anyways themselves if something happens within the first 90 days, they normally will at no cost fix it for their patients. But if an accident happens within first 90 days, we do cover that for that, 'cause that's out of the practice's control.

0:31:29.8 VV: And it is a six-year protection plan, so the patients would be covered for six years. And then we do not cover loss, that's the only other parameter, is loss. 'Cause we do work with...

0:31:40.6 KD: If they lose their denture. Those are rough. [chuckle]

0:31:43.6 KD: We can handle appliances, and need to make sure they're not hoarding them in their house, 'cause they want one for every day of the week.

[chuckle]

0:31:48.5 VV: But let me tell you, dogs like to chew appliances.

0:31:51.2 KD: Yes they do.

0:31:51.6 VV: And we have seen lots of pictures and documentation of appliances found in, let's just say some dog poop. [chuckle]

0:32:01.4 KD: I believe it.

0:32:01.5 VV: Had some proof that the dog chewed it.

[laughter]

0:32:05.1 KD: Disgusting. Okay, so six years is how long it is, and it's for the full UCR fee, so that way you guys are covered even if there are those waiting periods, which I think that that's actually a good double, especially if you're a heavy PPO practice. Even as a fee-for-service, I think it's a great win that way. Six years. I do like it's not gonna take care of if it gets lost, which I think that that's very fair, and not within the first 90 days.

0:32:27.0 KD: And then, what is the cost upfront? So is it just to tack on a 15% beyond that? Does the practice have to pay anything upfront? How does that work on cost?

0:32:37.5 VV: Right, so like I had mentioned before, for the patient it's the 10 to 15% of the UCR fee.

0:32:43.5 KD: So if my crown is $1000, it would be $1150 if I'm doing the whole 15%? If I did my math right.

0:32:49.0 VV: Correct, yes. Yup, and then $50 goes to the practice and the $100 goes to Dental Warranty.

0:32:54.8 KD: Which is pretty clever, and especially if I'm closing say 10... You think of how many treatment plans come through every day, stack that on.

0:33:03.5 VV: Oh you know it adds up. It adds up...

0:33:07.8 KD: I'm thinking like even just 10, that's 500 bucks that month, that is an easy way for bonuses for, like you said, I like the ideas that you listed off of that. And I don't feel bad 'cause I'm thinking on a crown, it's $1000, which realistically guys, most crowns are $1500 now, tack on that 15%, we're looking at, what is that? That one's hard. Let's do 1000, that's a 150.

[laughter]

0:33:24.8 KD: I think that one's like two, 250.

0:33:26.9 VV: That's okay, I can't do math in my head either. I'm a visual person.

[laughter]

0:33:30.3 KD: But reality is, to me as a patient, especially for six years, when you told me that it was six years, I think most people would happily sign up for that. Okay, so it's 15% on top of our UCR fee. That puts... And the patient pays that, so even if I'm on insurance and my out of pocket is $400, I'd pay the 400 plus the 150 that day, so 550. Okay?

0:33:50.9 VV: Correct, mm-hmm. Yes, yes. And it's all being billed through the practice. And so like I mentioned before, we really wanna make it like they were partnering with practices. So we want the practice to say, "Hey, this is our protection plan." You know, this is something that they're offering.

0:34:06.7 VV: And so with, even with those charges, like you mentioned before with the code and everything, that it's just gonna be on the treatment there and the patient's gonna pay the practice for it and then we get the money from the practice. So everything's gonna be going through the practice to make it look like it's their protection plan.

0:34:19.9 VV: And then in regards to what the practice pays, it is a one time $750 that we actually would discount anyone who's listening to this, we take 500 off. So it's only 250 and that's it. There's no monthly, no annual fees, $250. That even going off of that one example you had there, Kiera, you get two crowns and that 50% it paid for itself right there, and more.

0:34:49.1 VV: So really there's nothing to lose for the practice. These are all things you're already doing at the office. You're already having these conversations, and so it's gonna just make it easier to have these conversations with patients and market it, use this as something to stand out, kind of like we talked about earlier in the conversation, of how do you make yourself stand out.

0:35:10.8 VV: All over your website, all over social media, you're always looking for like, "What can we talk about? What can we say?" Say, "Hey, we now offer a six-year protection plan on all of our dental treatment. Hey, we have this special on implants this month. By the way, as you know, it comes with our six-year protection plan. Have any more questions? Ask us, come into the practice."

0:35:30.3 VV: It's something else you can use to make yourself stand out, create conversation, and look like you're really offering that white glove service to your patients.

0:35:35.0 KD: Totally. And I'm thinking logistically as a practice, like okay, how can I, how simple? So one it's 250, which I think that that's a no brainer guys, surely. Use Dental A Team on that, get that discount. Thank you for that.

0:35:47.7 VV: Sure.

0:35:48.9 KD: Second thing is, I would tack on that 15% and the reason I would do it is because inflation costs are like, supplies are going to go up in the future. So because my UCR is 1000 today, well, next year I'm gonna do, hopefully you guys are doing your fee raises every single year, over six years, that 5% bump every year, your crown's probably going to be that high and you're only gonna get paid that 15% that one time.

0:36:11.3 KD: So I would surely do that, just as like, and I wouldn't feel guilty about it whatsoever. And then you guys, Dental Warranty bills me basically like an invoice every month of, "Here's all the claims. Here's all the people who signed up for it. This is the total that you pay us." So I'm gonna see you guys as a line item.

0:36:29.9 KD: And I'm thinking also, logistically as a practice, front office, I'm gonna have you swipe it, that's easy, but bookkeeping-wise for owners, I would personally just have it set up and categorised so I could see how much revenue I was bringing in from the dental warranty. Honestly, you guys know I'm a profit first fan. I would have my bucket for it.

0:36:45.6 KD: And then I'd utilise that for, like you said, either marketing to grow the practice, for bonuses for the team, because at that point I know how much I'll get. And I would also easily add that code, put it on, and I would have it guys as an explosion code for all the procedures that you could tack this on. So fillings, crowns, bridges, dentures, partials. I was like ortho, probably not as much, 'cause really they're only gonna lose maybe a night guard or things like that.

0:37:11.9 KD: But night guards, retainers, all those different pieces on there. I'm guessing Dental Warranty, Vanessa, you can say yes or no. I would guess you guys probably have the verbiage of like what what's covered, not covered. So when they sign up for it, that's already there. So very simple, right?

0:37:25.1 VV: Yes, yes, completely. And we, when practices sign up with us, we do send a welcome box as well to the practice.

0:37:38.1 KD: Cool.

0:37:38.8 VV: So you'll have brochures that you can actually physically give to patients, little signs you can hang up in your office, and just even just some basic things for the practice that they can have like physically in their hands that talks about Dental Warranty. But yeah, we try to make it very simple.

0:37:49.0 VV: We have a great onboarding team here that, you know, will help the practice every step of a way of, you know, if they have a question about claim or, "Hey, like did I do this right?" They will answer all those questions. But like I said, these are all things you're already doing at the practice. And so we have a portal that will attract all these, all these warranties that you've registered, you can see the revenue that's coming from it and everything like that too.

0:38:09.7 VV: So it's something you can always just log in and actually see like how much revenue your practice has gained from Dental Warranty so far, whether it's from that little extra percentage or because we're actually paying you for the retreatment.

0:38:22.5 KD: Amen.

0:38:23.9 VV: You know, it adds up so fast where we have practices that in the time of them being a client of ours have netted like $6 million just based upon claims as well as like prep... Claims as well as the percentage. So easily, this can be a huge generator for the, the practice.

0:38:45.0 KD: Well, I'm just thinking like, okay, break this down in very simple steps. Guys, if you're on the fence, I would do what we talked about earlier. And number one, I would track how much free dentistry is actually leaving. Office managers are going to freaking love me right now because they know the doctor is always giving away free dentistry. Shelby even says the same thing about me, guys. It's just this weird owner thing.

0:39:00.2 KD: I'm like, "Shelbs, throw a discount on there." And she's like, "Kiera, one, we don't discount our fees. Two, I don't have a discount. And three, what the heck? Like you guys do a great job." And I was like, "I know, I just... I just don't want a reduction." I'm pulling my hair, guys. I'm like stressed out of my mind. So it's totally normal. Doctors, I'm not judging you. I do it too. I understand.

0:39:17.6 KD: But just track it so you can see because that dollar amount is going to show you that's the amount that you would actually be bringing back into the practice with Dental Warranty. So I think like if you're on the fence of wondering if this is a good ROI, I would spend one to three months tracking this, probably realistically you'll see the ROI in like two days.

0:39:34.7 KD: But then from there it sounds very simple and that's what I like, is very easy, I put it in. So the time effort will be, tracking it to see how much free dentistry we're giving away. Two, updating all my explosion codes to add this as a line item of every treatment plan so that I can just offer it. You could easily attach it because you'll just figure out the 10%. Yes the maintenance will be when you update your fee schedules to make sure that you update that 15%, 'cause you can either do mental math or just add it on. And then that's pretty much it.

0:40:05.0 KD: And then when there's a claim you go to Dental Warranty, they're paying you within 30 days. And maybe the fourth step, if you're really gonna get crazy, is having your bookkeeper set up to line item this and put it as your chart of accounts. But like 250 is how much it's gonna cost me. I'm going to get paid for all these re-dos, so instead of my visits being zero dollars, they're now actual UCR, so it's even better than what the insurance would be covering me.

0:40:30.4 KD: And I'm not having to wait five years so patients are getting better dentistry done. I'm closing more cases 'cause there's peace of mind on there. These patients have to come in for hygiene. Vanessa, I just feel like I stacked it so well right there that I'm like, why would you not?

0:40:44.5 VV: I'm loving it. Even I'm like, "Oh man. That sounds amazing. What is this?"

[laughter]

0:40:48.1 KD: Why would you not? And the great news is, I know Vanessa's with Dental Warranty, I had to change her name 'cause I knew her when she's with her prior business, so I literally just had to update her name, and I didn't actually know all these benefits. So this has been a genuine conversation of trying to process through it, what happens with insurance, asking questions that I know practices would ask.

0:41:07.3 KD: But as I'm telling it up, I see it as a no-brainer. Why would you not? I just think of my dentist that I used to work for giving away so many "lab only". But yeah, you could get full UCR. That's better. You guys could stay in network, get UCR fees, you don't wanna hope and pray your dentistry breaks.

0:41:24.6 VV: And you have less stress. Less stress of how to handle these situations. That's a thing too of, with everything that you guys do at Dental A Team too, of just systems and consistency, when you have all these one-off situations of, "How do we handle this situation with this patient?" A lot of times it does come down to whether you like them, did they pay, did they... Whatever it may be.

0:41:48.1 KD: "Do I like this patient?" [chuckle]

0:41:51.7 VV: We don't wanna admit it, but it's true. And so that creates time loss in the practice, it creates these weird situations that for team members, they don't know how to handle it then, because it's all these weird one-off situations of like, "Well, we handled it like this with this patient, and we didn't handle with that patient, so how should I handle it with this one, because this one, this situation... "

[chuckle]

0:42:11.7 VV: "Will it fall under this one? Or how do we... " And that takes up time of not just that individual is trying to handle it, but normally they're pulling in the doctor, the office manager, whoever it may be. So it's all that time wasted, that brain power, but then you're also playing defense, you're not wanting to piss off the patient. Despite it's nothing to do with the practice. A lot of times it's not even the practice's fault, it's because maybe they... Well I was gonna say they're a idiot, but that sounds terrible.

[laughter]

0:42:43.4 KD: It's fair, it's valid.

0:42:45.0 VV: We've heard everything of where patients have vacuumed up their retainers, dogs have chewed them, where patients were opening up a can with their tooth, and we've heard it all, and so have you at practices. And so those aren't situations to where you should be reliable for it, but for some reason, and Kiera you mentioned this before too, is sometimes patients just for some reason in dentistry have that expectation.

0:43:08.5 VV: Despite it was clearly their fault, they think it was the practice should just give it to them for free. I would never go to Apple if I didn't have AppleCare and say, "Hey, I dropped my phone on my toilet. Give me my free phone."

0:43:20.3 KD: You'd probably lie to them. [chuckle]

0:43:23.8 VV: No, I don't, but like, "I need a new phone now, and you sold me the phone." [chuckle] It just would never happen.

0:43:30.6 KD: I love it. I think it's... And as I'm listening to this more and more, I just feel like, guys, it's brilliant. Why not? You're not paying monthly. You can try it out. But I'm already seeing massive ROI of more cases closed, more patient loyalty, ways to practice that or ways to market to new patients that, "This is what we do for peace of mind."

0:43:49.7 KD: This is the way of the future, guys, I will promise you. Because when this has trickled, thank you Dental Warranty, but guys, I was already there, this will become patients expectation in the future. So I would jump on this bandwagon now because this will be what your patients expect in the future. Just like I expect Apple to fix my phone, and I'm gonna pay them for the AppleCare, but that is where society will go. So knowing that there are warranty programs out there, I will promise you this will be the way in the future.

0:44:16.5 KD: Vanessa, I love this, this is freaking rad, guys. Do it. Vanessa, I guarantee you everybody wants to sign up now. And office managers, you can even try it out 'cause it's 250 bucks, what doctor is going to say no to that? Except for my one doctor, he did text me, guys. I did a podcast and I said my cheapest... What did I say?

0:44:34.0 KD: I said, the cheapest, most frugal, most tightest doctor. And he was like, "Kiera, that was actually the most complimentary title you could have ever given. I think that that's probably me." And I was like, "It was you. You got it."

[chuckle]

0:44:46.4 KD: But I even think he would pay the 250 for this, just because of the ROI back into the practice. So Vanessa, how do people connect with you guys? Where do they go, make sure they get that Dental A Team discount? How can they get connected?

0:44:58.1 VV: Yes, so go to dentalwarrantycorp.com/dentalateam.

0:45:07.9 KD: Cool And that's just Dental A Team, not "the Dental A Team" right?

0:45:08.7 VV: Yes, just Dental A Team, yup.

0:45:11.4 KD: I'm still working on getting the domain, okay? Everybody's judging me for the last five... I get it. Just "Dental A Team", guys. But Vanessa, that was rad. I love it, I love what you guys do. I adore you as a person, but I also adore you because the companies you work for are just great companies that I love to recommend and share, and I love you being on the podcast today.

0:45:31.3 KD: I think this is a fun way for offices to really generate revenue, increase the peace of mind for patients, help keep their hygiene schedules full, and something like you said, they're already doing. And we broke it down for you guys in four easy steps, that you don't even have to do all four, you literally could start adding this value to your practice and to your patients. So Vanessa, loved having you. Thank you for being on the podcast today.

0:45:52.5 VV: Thank you for having me.

0:45:54.9 KD: Of course. Alright guys, go try it out. If nothing else, track how much free dentistry you're giving away. I would 100% do this. We get no kickbacks from it, I literally just love what this company is, and I was so excited to share it with you. So go try it out, contact Vanessa.

0:46:08.5 KD: If you guys need help, you can always email us, [email protected]. You know our consultants and our coaches help offices get this set up, teach offices and teams how to use this verbiage and how to show it, and how to put it on those treatment plans. S So if that feels daunting, don't worry guys, you know, we'll take care of you.

0:46:23.1 KD: So reach out any time, [email protected], and as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.

[music]

0:46:33.4 KD: And that wraps it up for another episode of the Dental A Team Podcast. Thank you so much for listening and we'll talk to you next time.

[music]