Challenge:
Pam Draper, Vice President of Operations at Partnerships for Dentists (P4D), oversees practice operational efficiency across 46 locations in 15 states. By replacing legacy paper statements with Pearly’s billing automation, P4D transformed the patient A/R collection process with acquisitions and existing locations, reduced the administrative burden on front-office teams, and created a more seamless financial experience for patients.
When P4D partners with a new practice, they would often inherit the practice’s existing processes, including how patient balances are managed and collected. In some cases, patient billing had not been a consistent priority, resulting in significant patient A/R that needed to be addressed.
- Front-Office Turnover & Workload: Turnover at the front desk created inconsistencies in collection processes. It also put the responsibility on team members to make collection calls and have uncomfortable conversations with patients about outstanding balances. This dynamic resulted in taking time away from thepatient experience and endless hours on manual collection calls.
- Unexpected Patient Balances: Unanticipated patient balances, resulting from insurance downgrades, missing tooth clauses, or policy maximums, created awkward interactions and friction at the front desk.
- Administrative Costs: Traditional statements also came with unnecessary expenses, including printing, toner, postage, and the staff time required to manage the process.
- Inherited Billing Backlogs: Some acquired practices had gone as long as 12 months without consistently sending patient statements, allowing patient balances to accumulate.
Solution:
Since implementing Pearly, P4D saw noticeable improvement in patient A/R collection, particularly within the first 90 days of acquiring a practice. The automated process has helped the organization work through inherited balances, reduce the administrative costs associated with traditional statements, and take some of the collection burden off the front-office team, allowing them to spend more time focused on patient care.
Impact:
P4D has worked with Pearly for several years, and throughout their partnership they have eliminated statement backlogs, reduced operating overhead, and improved patient retention across its enterprise. P4D also noted that acquisitions were transforming their A/R collection performance only 90 days after partnering. Once insurance has processed the claim, any remaining patient balance would be worked the very next day. This timed out with when the patient received their EOB.
For their patients, paying the remaining balance is frictionless and convenient. These changes have allowed their partner offices to spend less time having uncomfortable conversations about past-due balances and more time focused on what matters most–excelling in patient care.
This case study draws from the conversation held in the Becker’s Dental webinar: The Multi-Location A/R Framework: Grow Revenue, Not You Front Office – Watch the full session on-demand here.
