Michael Davis, DMD, a dentist at Smiles of Santa Fe (N.M.), was recently faced with a decision amid rising costs in the dental industry.
He recently spoke with Becker's about how increased costs have affected his practice.
Editor's note: This response was lightly edited for length and clarity.
Question: How are costs increasing at your practice?
Dr. Michael Davis: The major factor has been a tight labor supply and rising costs of labor. Contributory expenses have been elevated, including rent, supplies, equipment repair, maintenance, etc.
Since insurance fee schedules remain static or virtually stagnant, the answer was easy. Drop participation in PPO plans, or stay on the PPO plans and aggressively upsell non-covered services. I selected the former option.
Work is simpler and the patient base continues to improve. Profitability was enhanced. No one needs work like a tele-marketer, to hustle sales of unnecessary treatments. This may not be true for all demographics.