Updating Office Fees for the New Year

Do you have a protocol in your practice for how and when you increase your office fees? The insurance companies your office is contracted with will increase their fees periodically. You also need to increase your office fees for patients who are either uninsured, or for whom you are out of network with their insurance.

Some practices don’t increase their fees regularly.  I suggest that fees be increased annually. A good time to do these fee increases is at the first of every year. This ensures this process will be done on a consistent basis.

The cost of running a dental practice goes up. The cost of supplies, lab fees, and other monthly bills increase annually so it makes sense to subsequently increase your office fees.

Every January, make a note on your calendar to increase your office fees. A fair increase is 5-10%. You can increase your office fee schedule by a percentage in the Dentrix Office Manager.
If you aren’t sure how your fees compare to offices in your area, consult with your Henry Schein Field Sales Consultant. They can run a fee analysis to see how your fees compare for your area.

Once you have increased your office fees, any new treatment plans will reflect those updated fees. If a patient has had a treatment plan presented to them recently, those fees should be honored for a defined period of time—and make your patients aware of that timeframe. I would recommend honoring fees for three to six months. When printing treatment plans for patients, add a fee expiration date so that patients are aware of your office policy regarding fee increases.

Make increasing your office fees a part of your annual routine. Do it every January so that it’s done consistently.

Additional Information

• Updating Office Fees Using Automatic Fee Schedule Changes
• It's Time to Update Office Fees Again
• Setting Expiration Dates for Treatment Cases

If you have questions about this topic or others, please e-mail me at vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.

Happy Holidays!


Charlotte Skaggs, Certified Dentrix Trainer

Charlotte Skaggs is the founder of Vector Dental Consulting LLC, a practice management firm focused on taking offices to the next level. Charlotte co-owned and managed a successful dental practice with her husband for 17 years. She has a unique approach to consulting based on the perspective of a practice owner. Charlotte has been using Dentrix for almost 20 years and is a certified Dentrix trainer. Contact Charlotte at vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.

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