It’s that time of year again . . . time to send out a reminder to our patients letting them know how much money they still have available of their insurance maximum so they can take advantage of their benefits before they lose them at the end of the year. (I know, I know, not all insurance companies renew at the end of December, but you can use this same technique for those unique plans that renew at other times during the year.)

An example:

Dear:

Did you know that each year insurance companies make millions of dollars off patients who forego necessary and preventive dental care? Many individuals who are paying for dental insurance do not realize that their plans provide coverage up to a certain dollar amount annually. Consequently, some patients are not scheduling the dental treatment they need, deserve, and have insurance to cover. Thus, the insurance revenues allocated to pay dental claims on many patients are never used, and, unfortunately, those dollars cannot be carried over year-to-year. The bottom line: what the patient does not use they lose.

Clearly, it pays in many ways to schedule the preventive care or other dental treatment that you need. We are here to help you secure the insurance coverage available to you on every dental procedure you schedule. Our computer estimates that you still have $ xxxxx in unused dental benefits. Give us a call today, and together let's make sure you are in excellent dental health. As a special incentive for you to take charge of your dental care, we are offering a ____% reduction on dental treatment completed by January 1, 2010. Give (name of appointment scheduler) a call at 555-5555. I look forward to seeing you again and sharing some of the many innovative means we now have available to provide you with superior dental health care.

Sincerely,

Dr. Best Dentist in USA

P.S. Find out about additional interest free financing options for dental care. Check with (name of your office manager) in my office for all the details.

To round out the effort, the office follows up with an email and a text message to alert the patient that the practice is sending information about their dental insurance coverage and to please watch their mailboxes for details. Or, if you would like to save on postage, send the letter via email and alert patients with a text message.Patients appreciate the fact that their dental office would take the time to inform them of this unused benefit. They don’t like wasting money any more than you do.