End of the Year Dental Benefit Reminders

2018 is just around the corner! It’s true; the end of the year will be here before we know it.

Many of your patients are busy enjoying the remaining days of summer and may not even realize that they have unused dental benefits that will expire at the end of the year.

Take some time now before the stress of the holidays to prepare your “Use it or Lose it” reminder letters, emails, and text messages.

We’re sharing 8 Tips to help get you started on your “Use it or Lose it” Campaign.

Target Audience - All patients that have unused dental insurance benefits that expire on December 31st and patients with Flexible Spending Account or Health Savings Account dollars that expire at the end of the year. These reminders are especially helpful for your patients if they are past due/due/or due this year for their hygiene visit and/or with treatment that is yet to be started or needs to be completed.

Timing - The closer it gets to the end of the year the more difficult it becomes to get patients to schedule. Early September is a great time to send out your reminders.

Check your schedule – Before sending out your end of year reminders, be sure to know if and where you have open chair time in your schedule. Would pre-blocking some open time be helpful?

Personalization – When mailing out remaining maximum letters, be sure to customize for each patient according to their individual treatment plans.

Phone Calls – About a week after you mail out your letters, go ahead and start calling them to see if they received the letter and to schedule them an appointment.

Document – Be sure to document that a letter /email/text was sent, phone calls were made, and what type of response you received from each patient.

Social Media Platforms – Utilize your social media pages to start reminding your patients to get the most from their remaining dental benefits before the end of the year.

Sample Letter - Here is some sample scripting for your “Use it or Lose it! letters:

2018 is just around the corner! We want to remind you to take advantage of any unused dental insurance benefits. Make sure to use all available benefits to complete any outstanding treatment or for your all important preventive dental hygiene appointment. Almost all plans do not let you rollover unused dollars to the next benefit year. So, Use ‘Em or Lose ‘Em!

If you have funds set aside in a flexible spending account (FSA) or healthcare saving account (HSA), now is the time to schedule treatment so your co-payment amounts can be applied to this year’s deductions.

Call us today to schedule your appointment. We find that the holiday season is always our “busy time” and we are certain it is a very busy time for you too.

Beat the end of year rushes and get in early, our phone number is ………

We’re ready to help you smile healthier & happier in 2018!

Your goal with these reminders is to get the incomplete and unscheduled treatment plans out of the patient charts and onto the schedule long before the mad rush at the end of the year!