What is Direct Dental Care?
Third party dental insurance really hasn’t changed much in twenty years which is opening the door for new solutions like direct dental care. While the traditional, employer-sponsored insurance model came on the scene as a way to keep healthcare costs affordable, it’s dwindled down to problems and headaches that we’re all too familiar with.
- Long office waits to see the dentist
- Rising deductibles
- Waiting periods
- Co-pays
- Confusing coverage limitations
- Surprise bills in the mail after your visit
Unfortunately, the insurance model only pays dentists for work done on patients… and this awkward structure comes with even more problems:
- Dentists pushing aggressive, rather than minimal treatment
- Schedules crammed full of patients
- Disincentives to focus on preventative care
- Dentists who can’t be reached when patients need them
- Inflated costs
- Incentives to push services and aggressive treatments
- Strain on the dentist-patient relationship.
So… if the dental insurance model is broken, if it confuses patients and families, and if it nudges dentists toward aggressive treatment that’s often not needed instead of total, preventive oral care, why does everyone stay on it?
Probably because they’re not aware of the alternative—a system of direct, monthly pricing that saves costs, doesn’t smudge the numbers, and brings patients into partnership with their dentists for preventative oral care.
Now, if only this alternative had a name…
How about Direct Dental Care?
Direct Dental Care, (DDC) is an innovative model that’s exactly what the name implies—direct, membership based dental care without hidden costs, surprise bills, or third party interference. In DDC, employers and patients directly pay their dentist / practice for a set of defined dental care services to maintain their optimal oral health.
It’s a superior, win-win scenario for a system that’s broken for patients, dentists, and dental practices.
Through an affordable membership fee, patients have access to modern dental care, creating an experience that far surpasses the current, confusing “fee-for-service” model. In fact, when patients contract directly with a dentist / practice, the need for third-party insurance coverage disappears entirely.
Membership and Price Transparency
What makes this model the solution? Far superior to the current approach? Let’s count the ways.
First, insurance limitations, unpredictable costs, and lack of price transparency are no longer roadblocks for patients wanting to receive optimal dental care. Providers have more time to give because they are not financially driven by production and even patient turnover.
Second, patients and their health outcomes become central to treatment, which results in a more trusting and therapeutic relationship. Modern patient-provider communication through technology, longer face-to-face time, and opportunities to promote honest preventative care define DDC.
Imagine a dental visit where all recommended treatment is covered by your membership fee. You will know that your provider isn’t pushing treatment you don’t need because there’s no longer a fee-for-service incentive. In the DDC model, prevention and trust, along with the patient’s optimal oral health, are central.
Patients Empowered by Direct Dental Care
Finally, with the thicket of third party billing, fee-for-service, and fluctuating costs cleared away, the Direct Dental Care model empowers patients. High-functioning, optimal oral care begins with patient choice. In DDC, patients have extraordinary access to the dentist of their choice… often for as little as $75 a month in a flat membership fee. Patient choice incentivizes dentists to build enduring and trusting relationships with their patients, while focusing on preventative oral care that saves their patient time, money—and teeth—in the long run.
The direct model means dentists are accountable first and foremost to their patients; not to third party providers. It also means they no longer have financial incentives to push aggressive treatment or ‘upsell’ services that sometimes aren’t even needed.
For Better Outcomes, Join the Club
In short, everyone wins. For patients, Direct Dental Care means superior health outcomes, not to mention better access to dentists and comprehensive care. For dentists, happier, more trusting patients mean a focus on preventative oral health, without meddling and interference from third parties.
While the traditional model won’t change anytime soon, more and more people across the country—both patients, dentists and even other healthcare professionals—are opting for membership.
Isn’t it time you opted in to Direct Dental Care and became a member? If better access to your dentist, preventative treatment that saves you money, and flat monthly fees that start at $75 sound good to you, then drop a line.
Sign up and become a member of Rising Dental Club today.