Last week Ms. McCluskey from the Boston Globe contacted
us about speaking on record about the changes Delta Dental is making to dental
care. We were happy to speak with her because Delta Dental’s change from a
non-profit to for-profit will directly interfere with patient care.
Our number one priority is our patients. We would be nothing
without our patients and are thankful for them every day. We are excited for
every new patient call and question how we could have done things differently
when a patient leaves the practice. We endeavor to always treat our patients
with respect. Our practice has been building relationships with patients for
more than 40 years. Over that time, dentistry has changed dramatically but the
one constant is how we treat you, our patients.
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Our goal is to make our office a warm, inviting place. We are
not a medical office where you are greeted by an unfriendly face behind a glass
enclosure. When a patient walks through our front door we great you by name and
with a smile. We start every day with a team meeting where we go through our
schedule discussing the individual needs of each patient. We pride ourselves in
our timeliness but, in the event we must run a few minutes late, we give you a
gift card to Dunkin Donuts. We reserve one hour for every continuing care
cleaning appointment, and many of you have been seeing the same hygienist for
20 years. We happily answer any and all questions. If you call with an
emergency, we see you that day. We personally answer emergency calls after
hours and on the weekend. If you need treatment, our office manager, who has
been with us for over 35 years, will help you navigate your insurance and
present financing options. We are constantly taking continuing education
classes and investing in new technology. We are proud of our office and thecomprehensive care we provide.
All of that may seem soapy but it is the truth. We care deeply
for our patients, and we are confident that if you asked them they would agree
(we are proud of our Google reviews). We are not alone in how we treat our
patients and provide care. There are hundreds of offices in Massachusetts who
treat patients with the same care and compassion we do. Delta Dental is trying
to take that away. They want to paint dentists as greedy because then it takes
the focus away from them. Our focus is patient care; Delta’s is making money.
So why are Delta’s intended changes bad for patients? If
patients have lower premiums and Delta and patients pay less for dentistry, it
seems like a win-win. Unfortunately, something has to give. It is easy to say
that dentists should take less profit. However, when the cut in Delta
reimbursements almost equals our profit, then that is saying that we should be
working for basically free. We use the best materials, use the highest quality
American labs, and pay our experienced team well, all for the direct benefit of
our patients. As reimbursement levels
come down, an office has to look at costs, and trim where it does not affect
the quality of the final service. For example, there has just come on the market
a nasal spray anesthetic that completely anesthetizes the upper six front teeth
without using a needle. This eliminates the need for an otherwise uncomfortable
injection. However, the cost of each application is $40 while a traditional
needle injection is $1-2. Since patient care is not affected (although comfort
will be), we will continue to buy the traditional needle anesthetic. We will
always maintain buying the best possible filling materials, cements, etc. We
have too much integrity to compromise our dentistry (please see my blog from
December goo.gl/lcEkYP ),
but it would be impossible for us to stay in business and not change some part
of how we do things. Cost saving will be
found in all the other areas. I hope
people can look at how Delta is backing dentists into a corner.
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Delta Dental was started by dentists who recognized the need to
increase oral care. For many years they were good partners to dentists,
employers, and patients. They provided employers with several options (Premier,
PPO, etc.) so that their employees could have a choice in their dental care.
Delta, as a non-profit, was regulated by the Division of Insurance which
benefits patients and dentists. They have now changed their structure to a
for-profit in order to no longer be regulated by the Division of Insurance.
Delta’s goal is to no longer market and sell the better dental plans. This is
for Delta's profit alone. The executive at Delta Dental who is charge of this
effort, Erick Paul, came to our office and told us Delta was doing this because
they are looking to increase profit and increase their market share. When we
asked how we are to run our office with a 20-30% decrease in revenue, his
comment was that Delta will drive more "steerage" to us. That is the
difference between small dental practices and Delta Dental. Patients are
steerage for them, while to us patients are part of our dental family.
Delta Dental knows dentists are loyal to their patients and the
ultimatums given to dentists who do not sign their contract are not in your,
our patient’s, best interests. Delta Dental tells us if we go out of network
they will send letters to all our patients with any Delta Dental policy
recommending they seek care elsewhere. They will no longer directly pay us for
services; the patient would have to pay up front for any treatment and then be
reimbursed
for a small portion by Delta Dental in 2-3 weeks. This is a large
financial strain for many of our patients, and Delta Dental is counting on
that. We currently file insurance claims for all our patients and address claims
issues. If we leave the Delta Dental network we will only be allowed to file
the claims and will never know to help fix issues – it would be up to the patients.
It is important to note that ALL of our patients’ insurance companies (all out-of-network
with exception of one) directly pay dentists (assignment of benefits) and allow
dentists to be in the constant loop helping patients with their insurance
claims and predeterminations.
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Many dental offices have a 30-50% Delta Dental patient base. Delta
Dental is using dentists’ fears of losing patients to pressure us into a contract
which benefits mainly Delta Dental. This is not good for dentistry or the
consumer; this is good for Delta Dental. The CEO of NON-PROFIT Delta
Dental made $6,810,994 in 2014, and that same year Delta Dental paid out only
62% of the premiums collected (Obamacare states that insurance companies should
pay out 80% of premiums). If Delta Dental cared about dental care they would
continue to market and sell Premier, PPO, and other plans in order to provide
employers and employees with options. Employers also need to take a good hard
look at the plans they are providing to their employees. The fact that annual
maximums of $1,000-1,500 have remained stagnant for 30-40 years is
incomprehensible. Every person out there needs to contact his or her human
resources department and let them know about the changes Delta is proposing to
make and how it is going to affect his or her care.
Delta Dental needs to put patients first, just as we have for the past 40 years.
