The Situation
A potential client was at a crossroads in his dental practice. Although his practice was successful and had generally grown year-to-year, he was concerned that it was leveling off and not meeting its full potential. Additionally, he was at a point in his career where he had to decide whether to sell his 8 operatory practice, try to find a partner, or continue hiring associates while trying to self-manage the practice for as long as possible before ultimately selling. He was looking for a plan.
He approached a number of both practice management and dental marketing consultants. He felt that the management consultants were more or less all the same, extremely expensive and only offering packaged training solutions with which he was either uncomfortable, or was unconvinced would meet his goals. The marketing consultants were generally lower-priced, but seemed to only be scratching the surface of what would bring measurable improvements to his bottom line. This is when he approached OnwardDental.
Highlights
- Established The Practice Identity And A Plan For Each Operatory
A strategy was developed for how to most effectively market the practice, which procedures to specifically emphasize (oral surgery and Invisalign), and where to invest capital in both the short-term and long-term. - Optimized PPO Participation And Practice Fee Schedule
We evaluated the office fee schedule using 3rd party data sources. OnwardDental also performed financial modeling to determine if the practice should drop or add any PPO plans. After analyzing what procedure codes were the most frequently performed at the office, OnwardDental optimized PPO contracting. - Increased The Overall Volume of Patients
3.1) Improved hygiene recare through better follow-ups.
3.2) Leveraged cloud-based technology to enhance team collaboration and systemize improved tracking and better follow-up on treatment plans.
3.3) Developed a system to ensure that patient referrals were properly acknowledged.
3.4) Automatically surveyed patients in order to ensure that the patient experience was being controlled.
3.5) Improving the practice’s internet presence through reputation management, review solicitation, a better website, optimization of Google Places and SEO strategies.
3.6) Leveraged Facebook Ads and Google Adwords in a strategic and targeted fashion.
3.7) Effectively implemented certain internal promotions in a timely way.
3.8) Tracked web traffic and new patient sources to ensure the best use of the marketing budget. - Improved Procedure-Specific Marketing
Oral Surgery and Invisalign were two procedures of specific emphasis during the planning phase of the engagement. OnwardDental helped the practice increase its dental implant procedures by 800% while also becoming an Invisalign Preferred Provider. - Reduced Unnecessary Expenses
We are proud to say we have helped the dental practice save thousands of dollars on unnecessary operational and marketing expenses.
Results
- Added a 9th operatory
- Improved overall PPO reimbursement by 5%
- Achieved the status of Invisalign Preferred Provider
- Achieved first page ranking for Baltimore Dental Implants and increased dental implant procedures by 800% year over year
- Went from 16 google reviews to 86 reviews with a 4.9 star rating
- Average monthly new patients increased from 60 to 85
- Overall 65% increase in annual collections
Legal Disclaimer
This case study is a singular snapshot of how OnwardDental worked with this particular client. It is not an indication of future programs or service offerings. OnwardDental is not warranting, guaranteeing, or projecting future outcomes for other clients. OnwardDental cannot be responsible for the overall success of your dental practice.
