The Real Cost of PPOs in Dentistry
In this episode, Jordon Comstock and Dan from Elevation Association continue their deep dive into the realities of PPO dependence, fee-for-service transitions, and the changing economics of dentistry.
The conversation explores how insurance reimbursement pressures, write-offs, overhead, and poor financial tracking are quietly reducing profitability for dental practice owners across the country.
Dan shares what he’s seeing firsthand while helping practices transition toward fee-for-service models — including the operational, financial, and communication changes practices must make to succeed.
One of the biggest themes of the episode is this:
Many practices are losing far more money to write-offs than they realize because they are not properly tracking the data.
The episode also covers:
- Why dentist owner income is declining
- How insurance companies use regional fee averages against practices
- Why “zeroing out” codes hurts practices and surrounding offices
- How PPO write-offs distort financial data
- Why most practices don’t accurately track write-offs
- The operational steps required before dropping PPOs
- Why patient membership plans are critical before transitioning out of network
- The importance of bookkeeping and clean P&Ls
- How recurring revenue and membership plans create stability
- The role of overhead reduction in improving profitability
- Why preparation matters before becoming fee-for-service
Dan also shares practical insights into:
- Tracking write-offs correctly
- Building patient membership benefit plans
- Understanding reimbursement data
- Training teams to communicate differently with patients
- Setting realistic expectations during a PPO transition
Jordon Comstock - BoomCloudapps.com
Dr. Dan Nelson - Elevation Association