“OrthoFi pre-certifies the insurance so when the patient walks in the door, we already know whether they have insurance and what those benefits are.”
Dr. Doug Depew, Depew Orthodontics
OrthoFi has a wealth of point-of-sale data that we use to find insightful correlations that help our customers focus on the right things to improve conversion rates and drive more growth. For example, we wanted to understand the correlation between insurance coverage and conversion rate. After looking at conversion outcomes data from over 750,000 consults and more than $2 Billion in orthodontic production, we found some numbers you might find, well, interesting.
For patients without orthodontic insurance, the new patient Treatment Recommended Conversion rate averages around 56%. For patients with insurance, that rate jumps up to 70%; a significant uptick. That might seem obvious to many of you, but digging a little deeper into the data is where we found a fascinating fact — it doesn’t matter how much orthodontic coverage they have. Whether they have $200 or $1,500 in coverage, the conversion rate was fairly stable at 70%. Patients (or their parents) just want to know that they can knock down their fee by any amount with the benefits they pay for. As long as they know they have some savings from insurance, it makes them more likely to say “yes” to treatment. It doesn’t matter how much that is.
So what does that mean for you?
The first important takeaway, is that if you are not yet accepting benefits, you should absolutely consider doing so. Even though the patient technically gets the money to help them pay, the key is that they want to feel that their coverage is LOWERING their fee.
Secondly, to maximize your growth, make sure you can verify that a prospective patient has valid coverage BEFORE their exam, even if you have to share an estimate. Not presenting the coverage because you’re afraid it may not be accurate could hurt your ability to start the patient altogether.
In most practices, getting eligibility verifications completed in a timely manner is a challenge for the front desk team and/or your coordinators. Patients often forget to download or open emailed forms ahead of time and trying to get everything confirmed in the precious minutes before the exam can be a gamble. In fact, the data also tells us that practices with a high percentage of last-minute urgent checks see lower conversion rates compared to practices who collect and verify insurance ahead of time.
That’s why OrthoFi has made significant investments to deliver a state-of-the-art patient acquisition software flow to ensure a best-in-class patient onboarding experience that gets you everything you need to maximize your same-day contract opportunities. Our mobile-friendly patient forms deliver better than 80% completion rate by enabling patients to complete their intake forms at-home or on-the-go, when and where it’s most convenient for them. OrthoFi also sends ‘Welcome’ text messages to remind patients to complete forms using mobile-friendly, browser-enabled field population that speeds up form completion and significantly improves the new patient experience. We also utilize enhanced verification technology to validate information in real-time for improved accuracy and reduced ‘Unable to Verify’ outcomes. And for patients that still don’t complete everything ahead of time, OrthoFi’s full eligibility verification services are there to take on last-minute urgent checks for your team.
Not only does OrthoFi give you and your team the security of knowing that your checks will be ready, but it frees your front office team to focus on creating a memorable new patient experience that converts. When you focus on getting new starts, insurance really does matter…for both patient and practice.