Challenges between dental practices and insurers is leading to increased burnout in the industry, according to Kai Weng, DDS.
Dr. Weng, of Dental Designs of Maryland in White Marsh, recently spoke with Becker's about the changes dental practices can make to reduce burnout among staff.
Editor's note: This response was lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: How is burnout affecting the dental industry?
Dr. Kai Weng: Dental industry burnout is a direct result of the increased cost of running a dental business in the post-Covid climate and the inadequate insurance reimbursement that has failed to not only keep up with inflation but has, in many cases, not increased meaningfully for over a decade. This leads practices to stack ever more patients in their schedule, contributing to lower quality of care, lower-quality interpersonal relationships with their patients and a higher volume of work for team members. When a dental team does not see a light at the end of the tunnel, does not feel that they are positively contributing to people's oral health and no solutions are being provided to improve the workplace culture and environment by the leadership, burnout sets in.
The only meaningful way to address burnout is to have a plan to alleviate the root cause. For most dental offices, this means changing their relationship with insurance. The increased administrative burden of jumping through hoops to get claims paid, the 50%+ write-offs and the limitations put on the quality of care you can provide is hitting a tipping point for most dentists. By moving out of network, one can be reimbursed properly for their work, lower their volume and spend more face time with their patients, and provide better benefits, pay and environment for their team. Although this will not be possible for all practices to do based on the quality of the dentist/office as well as geographic factors, I firmly believe that strong leadership and planning and a determined focus on training to provide an exceptional patient experience will allow the majority of private practices to make this transition successfully.