The Practice Support Team provides coaching, resources, and analysis for our valued Burkhart clients. It’s Burkhart’s way of saying “thank you” while meeting our mission to provide an exceptional client experience.
Our most frequent requests continue to focus on clinical staffing shortages, insurance reimbursement challenges, and practice overhead.
Q: I am considering dropping at least one insurance contract this year. What are my next steps?
A: Dropping a contract is a strategic decision and should be planned carefully. Key next steps include:
- Review financial impact. Evaluate production, collections, and Annual Patient Value for the plan to confirm whether it is sustainable for your practice to drop it.
- Understand your contracts. Identify whether it is a direct contract, part of a leased network, or may be picked up under a new lease, as this can affect your drop steps.
- Confirm termination requirements. Contact the carrier’s provider relations department to verify notice periods, required paperwork, and the effective drop date.
- Align your team. Hold a team meeting so everyone understands the rationale and can confidently support conversations to encourage patients to remain with the practice.
- Prepare patient communication. Develop clear scripting to explain out-of-network benefits, reassure patients, and emphasize the value of care you provide.
- Track results. Monitor patient retention after the change to evaluate the impact to guide future drop decisions.
Practice Support resources are available to help with PPO Impact Analysis, team alignment, and patient communication throughout this process.
Q: How can I manage rising overhead costs—including staff wages, benefits, and equipment expenses—while maintaining profitability?
A: Managing higher overhead requires attention to both expenses and revenue. It is key to the Dr’s understanding. Start by comparing your overhead to healthy benchmarks to identify the biggest cost drivers, particularly staffing. Ensure schedules and systems are aligned with patient demand to maximize productivity. This may require implementing more efficient scheduling protocols.
On the revenue side, regularly review your fee position to keep pace with inflation and rising costs, and focus on improving systems that drive case acceptance, collections, and Annual Patient Value. When considering equipment or technology purchases, prioritize improvements in efficiency or reduced labor strain, rather than adding fixed expenses. Practice Support analyses can help identify targeted opportunities to protect profitability.
Q: Given the current staffing shortages, how can I effectively recruit and retain qualified staff?
A: In a tight labor market, practices that succeed are proactive and intentional. Define what makes your practice a great place to work—culture, flexibility, growth opportunities, and appreciation—and communicate that consistently in your recruiting. Retention is equally important, and practices that invest in strong communication, recognition, and team development are more likely to keep their top performers.
The Practice Support Team can help by providing guidance on job ad wording, job descriptions, and interview questions, helping you attract candidates who are the right fit from the start.
At the Practice Support Team, it is our pleasure to serve you and help your practice succeed. We are there when you need us and just an email away PracticeSupportTeam@burkhartdental.com
Your success is our success. Please reach out to us anytime.
Learn more, visit the Practice Support Team page, email us at PracticeSupportTeam@BurkhartDental.com, or call 1.800.665.5323.
Category: Practice Consulting
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