{"id":688,"date":"2015-08-31T18:10:49","date_gmt":"2015-08-31T18:10:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogadvancedpracticemanagement.webaloo.com\/?p=688"},"modified":"2015-08-31T18:11:18","modified_gmt":"2015-08-31T18:11:18","slug":"balancing-ppo-participation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.advancedpracticemanagement.com\/blog\/balancing-ppo-participation\/","title":{"rendered":"Balancing PPO Participation"},"content":{"rendered":"

For many practices, PPO participation is their biggest \u201cexpense\u201d after staff wages (or even greater than wages in some cases). Historically, practice collection percentages have been 95%+ (of gross production). Now it\u2019s not uncommon to see collection percentages of 70%-80%…and sometimes less.<\/p>\n

Most dentists join a PPO in the hopes of gaining and retaining patients. No dentist likes to lose patients and when you do lose a patient because you\u2019re \u201cnot on their network\u201d, it can be a powerful inducement to sign up for the PPO.<\/p>\n

Once you are participating with a PPO, it\u2019s easy to feel there is no other choice. But, please note the data below. Most PPO\u2019s have participation of 45%-60% of offices in this particular survey. Granted, that\u2019s the majority of offices. But for any of the individual PPO\u2019s noted, 40% – 55% of offices aren\u2019t participating. So for every plan you feel you must have, keep in mind there are a lot of Doctors that are surviving without having it.<\/p>\n

And, if you aren\u2019t participating in any PPO\u2019s but your practice is foundering, maybe some participation would be worthwhile.<\/p>\n

Insurance companies have the upper hand but things don\u2019t have to all go their way! You do have power. Don\u2019t assume that you have to be participating as much as you are. For most practices, a reasonable mix of PPO\u2019s is what makes most sense. As practices mature and succeed, they are likely able to cut back on PPO participation. And, if you\u2019re mostly busy, it doesn\u2019t make sense to work at deep discounts.<\/p>\n

Decisions regarding PPO participation involve serious risks and rewards. Too often Doctors will sign up with a PPO too quickly, or when they decide to leave PPO\u2019s, leave them too recklessly. Every office must carefully consider its PPO participation. Smart moves here can add more to your bottom line than practically any other thing you can do. These stats are from a survey of 59 East Coast offices\u2019* PPO participation:<\/p>\n

PPO % of Offices Participating:<\/h3>\n