Summary

Practices must always view collecting money critical to the ongoing success of the business, AND as excellent customer service. When patients owe money to the practice, they are no longer happy. They become more disgruntled when collection attempts are made, and they may never return. To avoid this, practices must collect money on time and effectively communicate collection policies with excellent scripting.

By implementing these strategies, most dental practices will witness a gratifying increase in income and cash flow without necessarily adding more patients or producing more dentistry. Extra effort may be required initially to clear a backlog of overdue accounts, but the practice will then bring in more revenue in exchange for a relatively small amount of effort.

Most offices have the semblance of a good collection system. The opportunity exists for it to become great. Upgrading your collections system and procedures will improve overall practice performance, reduce stress for the entire dental team and provide patients with excellent customer service.