“It doesn't do any good to negotiate the highest fee schedule in the world if they can't put patients in your chairs,” explains Patrick O’Rourke, Founding Partner of Practice Quotient. When it comes to dentistry, parsing through dental insurance, adjustments, and reimbursements can be challenging. With his specialization in network analysis, negotiation, and strategic guidance, Patrick joins host Jon today to discuss making PPOs profitable.

Generally, PPOs are outsourced marketing costs, which are not free even if you’re not writing the check. And currently, 85% of the market are people with PPOs, so they can go out of network, which may lead them to your office. It’s great to get new clients, but if you’re in a contract with only 45 cents on the dollar, you could run out of the cash flow that keeps your business running. Patrick encourages practices to fully understand that relationship to ensure they don’t become victims of their own success. With many strategies to keep in mind, Patrick understands how to secure the balance you need for your business to flourish.

Every dental office needs to understand their reimbursements, how much discounting they need to do, and how to not lose money. You may think the secret to success is getting as many clients as possible, but you also want to treat people without losing out financially. Getting together the right strategy will help expand your practice and remind you that the insurance industry and provider community are symbiotic business relationships.

Quotes

• “The insurance industry and the provider community have a symbiotic relationship, and it should be viewed as business partners.” (16:51-17:00 | Patrick)

• “It doesn't do any good to negotiate the highest fee schedule in the world if they can't put patients in your chairs.” (23:58-24:05 | Patrick)

• “My advice out there to everybody in listener land is to choose your business partners wisely.” (29:49-29:56 | Patrick)

• “If you're on a crappy contract, and it's paying you 45 cents on the dollar, and you're losing money, that's bad.” (50:48-50:56 | Patrick)

• “I feel like if you're not being treated fairly by a business partner, you need to take some action, but you need to articulate that to them.” (1:07:53-1:08:00 | Patrick)

Links

Connect with Patrick O’Rourke:

Website: www.practicequotient.com

Connect with Jon Harris on Facebook:

https://www.fortunemgmt.com

https://www.facebook.com/jon.harris.39545

https://www.facebook.com/fortunemgmtmidsouth

https://www.facebook.com/fortunemgmtgeorgia

Follow Jon on Instagram:

@jonharris_

@21stcenturydentistry

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