465: How to Set Your Fees Correctly - Christina Byrne - a podcast by ACT Dental

How to Set Your Fees Correctly

Episode #465 with Christina Byrne

You have control over your fees. But are you setting them the right way? If you're not sure, today’s guest will help you find out. Kirk Behrendt brings back Christina Byrne, ACT’s Director of Operations, to share where dentists go wrong in setting fees, how to get team support, and ways to respond to patients’ concerns. And remember, never apologize for the prices you set! If you're ready to confidently set your fees, listen to Episode 465 of The Best Practices Show!

Main Takeaways:

You and your team need to understand the value of your dentistry.

Communicate that value to patients with verbal skills.

Don't raise your fees in a reactionary way.

Compare your fees to other practices.

Never apologize for your fees.

Quotes:

“The inherent problem [with fee structures] is that we don't look at what it actually costs to provide that service to the patient, and we’re just picking a fee out of the air because it sounds good or looks good or we don't want the patient to complain about it. But we don't take into account all that is involved in that procedure.” (3:11—3:32)

“One day, the doctor might be sitting there, and the lab bill crosses his or her desk, and they're like, ‘Oh my gosh, the lab fee is so high! Let's raise our crown fee.’ That's such a reactionary way to do it and not really thinking about what's involved.” (5:46—6:04)

“Most of our doctors are doing high-end work. And you have to consider, ‘Am I spending time talking to specialists? Am I in the lab myself, in my own lab, in my office, articulating the models and doing all of this?’ So, all of that plays into it. And yes, the lab fee does too. But it shouldn't be a reaction to the lab fee. That shouldn't even be a part of it. That, you should have already thought of before and incorporated into the fee, and the time that's involved, all the materials, everything that you're doing, and also looking at what is appropriate in your area.” (6:08—6:48)

“Even if you tell me 50% of your practice is PPO, that still gives you 50% opportunity to get your full fee from the other patients who aren’t.” (7:42—7:51)

“If you think about your schedule, you have your highest-compensated team members doing the work for pennies, basically. I'm talking about your hygiene team. And oftentimes, what happens — even if you're completely fee-for-service, I will find this too — is that doctors are hesitant to raise their hygiene fees because they are fees that people see often. So, they are considered what we would say inflexible fees, where you don't want to raise them every other month, and you don't want to raise them by $20 or $30 for every exam, prophy, and bitewings. But you should do something to get them incrementally up to at least the 60th to 70th percentile because you're losing on that procedure.” (9:10—10:01)

“[An inflexible fee] means that you want to be careful about how you're increasing that fee because it is a fee that a patient sees every six months. So, you don't want to raise it every six months. Some fees, you can do that to get yourself up to a higher level. And you also have to be careful about how much you raise it. Because let's say your hygiene fees, you raise each one of them by $20. That could be a $60 to $80 increase for the patient, and we have to be mindful of that. We have to think about, ‘What is that going to look like to the patient?’ So, I'm all for doing those inflexible fees incrementally. And again, that's your exam, it’s your prophy, it’s your bitewings, it’s your fluoride, the things that patients see on an every-six-months basis or so.” (10:12—11:01)

“Your flexible fees, that's where you have room to really make some tangible differences and really increase the potential impact to your practice. So, if my crown fee is

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