When operating a dental practice, there are many critical financial decisions that must be made, many of which are related to pricing strategies. Increasing patient fees may be a topic that’s rarely discussed openly within the industry, but it’s one that dental professionals must navigate if their practices are to be profitable and successful.
Raising patient fees might be a necessity, but it’s important that all dental practitioners recognise and understand the implications of doing so. Seeking professional help from dental practice accounting is a great way of ensuring this, and can help a practice go from operating at a loss, or barely breaking even, to positively thriving.
Should your dental practice consider raising its fees?
There are few businesses not affected by the rising cost of living, and from utilities and health insurance, to investing in new technologies, the need for adjusting patient fees can help your dental practice stay financially healthy and competitive.
Ensuring fee increases are fair
No dentist wants to increase their prices in a way that isn’t fair to patients, but to invest in the latest technology, equipment and qualified staff to give patients the very best experience possible and remain competitive in the industry, adjusting patient fees as appropriate, is likely impossible to avoid.
Retaining patients after fees have been increased
It’s not unusual for a dentist to worry about losing patients when they increase their fees, but this fear can often be mitigated by viewing those patients as ones who don’t really fit your practice’s business model anyway.
By setting up a higher fee model, you can attract those patients who are willing and able to pay for quality services and expertise.
Taking a strategic approach and implementing them
Instead of introducing bigger price hikes infrequently, standard practice is to make smaller, but regular adjustments to fees. Maintaining financial stability may become easier when these smaller adjustments are aligned with trends in inflation, and you may find your patients less likely to be disgruntled and leave the practice.
To follow on from this strategy, it’s essential that fees are reviewed using a standard procedure, and whether this is done so on an annual or semi-annual basis, having this process calendarized can help ensure consistency.
The impact of a modest fee increase on your practice
While a fee increase of 5% might cause a small number of patients to leave the practice, the streamlined patient loads and proper allocation of resources to high quality improvements, can help you boost your revenue and attract new, higher quality patients.
Failing to make any adjustments to your pricing schedule as a dentist can quickly cause your practice to be unprofitable, and hamper your efforts to provide patients with a high quality of care and treatment. If you’re a dental practice owner who hasn’t increased your prices in more than a year, dental office bookkeeping could help you review them in a strategic manner. Accounting for changes to cost-of-living, inflation and keeping prices in line with industry standards, can help you grow your practice while providing your patients with enhanced services that they’ll appreciate.
