Why It’s the Financial Superpower You Didn’t Know You Had
Imagine your dental practice as a yacht — sleek, powerful, and cruising the open sea of profitability. Now imagine that same practice chained to a dock… weighed down by PPO contracts… eating snacks from Costco like it’s on life support. That’s what happens in most dental offices when fee‑for‑service isn’t part of the strategy.
This isn’t fluff. This is real cash flow, real numbers, and real attitude. Let’s unpack what a fee for service dental office is, why dentists are flocking to this model like seagulls to fries, and how it can put hundreds of thousands of dollars back in your pocket — without selling your soul to insurance corporations.
What the Heck Is a Fee for Service Dental Office? (Not Insurance, Not PPO Soup)
A fee for service dental office is exactly what it sounds like: a dental practice that charges patients directly for services rendered, without hiding behind insurance reimbursement schedules or PPO discount contracts.
No more chasing phantom dollars through rejected claims. No more invisible tax you didn’t know you were paying. No more spending 20 minutes on hold to find out why your crown got cut by 40%.
In the words of Jordon Comstock: “Insurance reduces what you’re paid — but doesn’t reduce the cost of running your practice.” Right on.
Why PPOs Are the Silent Profit Killer (That Dental Intel Told You About)
Let’s talk numbers.
Traditional PPO write‑offs — the discounts your practice agrees to take to be “in‑network” — typically eat 25–45% of your gross production. That’s not small potatoes. That’s a huge chunk of cash that never even reaches your bank account.
With compounding losses over a 30‑year career?
You’re looking at $16–$17 million in lost income just from insurance write‑offs and operational drag.
No joke. That’s what the transcript said (and we’re quoting it because it’s too real).
Fee‑for‑Service Saves Cash Flow Because… You Get Paid When You Do the Work
Here’s a brutal reality:
Insurance delays cash flow — which kills practices softly with a thousand cuts.
Delayed predeterminations. Follow‑up calls. resubmissions. Waiting for claims. Waiting for verification. Waiting for Netscape to stop spinning. None of that is free.
But with a fee‑for‑service model? You charge, you get paid — or you don’t do the work. Instant clarity. Instant cash flow. And yes — that’s what keeps you sleeping at night.
It’s like going from selling fishing boats on credit to selling jet skis for cash. Everyone wants a jet ski.
If You Think Cash Patients Are the Best… You’re Half Right
A lot of practice owners idolize cash patients — and they’re not wrong.
But here’s the twist from the transcript data:
| Patient Type | Treatment Acceptance | Avg Revenue per Year |
|---|---|---|
| Cash | ~24% | ~$900 |
| PPO | ~32% | ~$950 |
| Membership | ~40% | ~$2,350 |
Boom. Membership patients say yes more and spend more. That’s the loyalty curve in action:
• Transactional patients follow coverage
• Loyal patients follow value
And guess what? Fee‑for‑service paired with a membership plan = loyal value‑driven patients.
Fee‑for‑Service Dental Office: The ROI You Didn’t Know You Could Get
When a dental office runs fee‑for‑service:
✔ They keep margins tighter
✔ Cash flow improves
✔ They reduce administrative drag
✔ They build predictable recurring revenue
✔ They become less dependent on insurance
Want proof?
Here’s textbook success from practices using this model:
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A small practice: 401 members = $15K/month recurring
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Another practice hitting ~1,000 members = ~$50K/month
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One practice over 2,400 members = $1M+ annual recurring revenue
That’s revenue that comes in whether or not a patient gets drilled on Monday.
How Fee‑for‑Service Turns Patients into True Customers
You want loyalty? You don’t get loyalty by being a vending machine for PPO benefits.
You get loyalty by delivering value:
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Predictable pricing
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Clear benefits
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No red tape
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Better patient education
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Better patient experience
As Jordon said: loyal patients follow value; transactional patients follow coverage.
That means fee‑for‑service practices attract the type of patients who actually want dentistry, not just a free cleaning from Delta.
Fee‑for‑Service + Membership = Cash Flow Supercharge
The real magic isn’t fee‑for‑service alone. It’s fee‑for‑service plus a patient membership program that:
🔥 Creates predictable recurring revenue
🔥 Boosts treatment acceptance
🔥 Turns one‑time visits into lifelong patients
🔥 Buffers feast and famine months (“Sucktember” we’re looking at you)
This combo turns a practice into a value engine — not a claims processing house.
But What About Marketing and Scaling? (Glad You Asked)
This model isn’t just a financial shift — it requires a strategy:
✔ Educate EVERY patient — not just new ones
✔ Track membership revenue separately
✔ Use systems (don’t manage with sticky notes!)
✔ Consider B2B outreach (yes, to local businesses too)
✔ Don’t just stop at $50 members — build to hundreds
Top practices are doing this monthly recurring revenue thing at scale — not by accident, but on purpose.
Why Fee‑for‑Service Will Future‑Proof Your Practice
In dentistry today:
➡ Cash isn’t king
➡ Cash Flow IS king
➡ PPO domination is weakening
➡ Membership + fee‑for‑service = stability
➡ Systems + data = growth
Insurance companies collect money, compound it, invest it — and set healthcare rules. That’s not healthcare — that’s business strategy.
Dentists? You want healthcare outcomes and profit stability.
Fee‑for‑service finally lets you own that.
How to Find the Right Data in Dental Intel (and Stop Guessing)
Let’s be real: most dentists feel like they’re writing off too much… but they don’t actually know how much. They’re operating on gut feelings instead of hard data — which is like trying to drill a molar with a butter knife.
Enter Dental Intel. Zach Patterson (data ninja, spreadsheet slayer, and all-around practice whisperer) laid out exactly how to get clarity.
Here’s the breakdown:
Step 1: Use the Scorecard Report (Your PPO Profit Decoder)
Dental Intel’s Scorecard Report is where the truth lives.
This feature gives you:
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Production by insurance carrier
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Collections from each carrier
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Total write-offs
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Multi-year trends (yes, trends!)
You can finally see:
➡ Which PPOs are actually profitable
➡ Which ones are bleeding you dry
➡ How much you actually collect vs. what you produce
This is where you calculate your invisible tax.
💡 Pro Tip: You don’t need to be a CPA. Zach and the Dental Intel team can help you set this up in like 10 minutes flat. Schedule a time with Zach!
Step 2: Track Treatment Delays & Insurance Impact
Want to know how many patients ghost because of a pre-auth delay? Or how long it takes you to get paid?
Start tracking:
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Appointments delayed due to insurance pre-approvals
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Resubmitted or denied claims
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Time spent by your team on the phone (just kidding — you can’t track sanity loss in Excel)
But seriously — all of these data points show up in admin overhead. That’s the cost nobody budgets for, but everyone pays.
Step 3: Segment Your Patients by Plan Type
Inside Dental Intel, you can filter and segment patients:
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By carrier
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By plan type
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By production per patient
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By collections per visit
This helps you figure out:
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Which patients are valuable
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Which ones are just eating snacks in the waiting room
(And yes, Zach confirmed: some patients really do eat the free cookies before their cleaning. Monsters.)
Step 4: Save and Automate Reports
Once you build these reports? Save them.
Dental Intel will keep them live and auto-updated so you’re not rebuilding every time. Set it once, check in monthly, and start making data-driven decisions like a real CEO.
No more guesswork. No more hunches. Just clarity, margin, and strategy.
How BoomCloud Helps You Build a Recurring Revenue Machine (Not Just a Side Hustle)
Let’s kill a myth: dental membership plans aren’t just some “nice-to-have” for uninsured patients. When done right, it’s a full-blown recurring revenue system — one that can make your practice $10K… $50K… even $84K a month before you ever touch a handpiece.
That’s not theory. That’s BoomCloud in action.
Jordon Comstock built BoomCloud to solve the biggest financial headache in dentistry: relying on insurance and getting paid in peanuts. BoomCloud gives practices the software, systems, and strategy to:
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Design customizable membership plans
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Automate monthly/yearly billing
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Track MRR (monthly recurring revenue) like a SaaS boss
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Onboard team members and patients with plug-and-play tools
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Integrate marketing to grow it (and gamify it with rewards)
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Print reports that make your CPA cry happy tears
BoomCloud Case Study: Wood River Dental ($50K+/month MRR)
This Idaho-based practice launched their plan after a BoomCloud webinar and scaled from zero to 1,000+ members, generating over $50,000/month in recurring revenue.
Think about it — that’s $600,000/year, coming in whether or not patients show up that week.
Their secret?
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They marketed to existing patients
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Used BoomCloud automation to eliminate manual billing
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Focused on long-term loyalty, not one-time visits
BoomCloud Case Study: Pine City Dental ($178K/year)
In just a few months, Pine City Dental signed up 401 members using BoomCloud and began generating just under $15K/month, or $178K/year, in pure membership revenue.
They didn’t wait for new patients — they activated the ones already sitting in their chairs.
BoomCloud Case Study: Alamo Ranch Dental (Texas Heat, Fast Results)
After just 30 days, this Texas practice brought in 149 paying members with their new BoomCloud-powered plan.
They used:
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Targeted patient communication
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Front desk scripts
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Smart pricing strategy
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BoomCloud’s built-in dashboard and automation
The result? Immediate cash flow — without needing 6 months of runway.
BoomCloud Case Study: Ala Moana Dental (Hawaii, Discount-Only Model)
This Hawaii-based practice focused on discount-only membership plans and scaled past 1,000 members, generating consistent revenue. They tapped into both local businesses and cash patients — all without getting tangled in insurance contracts.
BoomCloud helped them:
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Run employer-sponsored plans
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Automate renewals
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Track plan growth and attrition rates
Million Dollar Case Study: 2,400+ Members, $84K/month MRR
Yes, this happened. A practice used BoomCloud to scale their plan to over 2,400 active members, generating $1M+ in annual recurring revenue.
Their stack?
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Strong marketing funnel
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Business-to-business outreach
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Scalable pricing tiers
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BoomCloud’s AI-based plan builder + analytics
This wasn’t a side gig. This was a core revenue stream that helped them go full fee-for-service confidently.
BoomCloud isn’t just software. It’s your exit strategy from PPOs. It’s your subscription model in healthcare. It’s your insurance alternative with cash flow clarity.
Final Thought: Run the Practice You Deserve
If your practice feels like a hamster wheel — insurance claims, delayed pay, denied payments — that’s not just annoying… it’s expensive.
A fee‑for‑service dental office sets you free from invisible write‑offs and hidden administrative taxes.
It lets you focus on what you signed up to do:
Take care of patients, create value, and build a business that pays you back.
As Jordon would say:
Stop being busy. Start being profitable.
