Thinking of dropping Delta, or any PPO? Do it in this order.
Terminating a contract is the last step, not the first. Out of order, a sound decision still costs you patients and leaves you a worse fee.
Five steps. Each one earns the next.
- Know the trade, carrier by carrierFor each insurance company: what it writes off, what it actually pays against your own fee, how many patients it brings, and how many of them you could lose and still be even. Most owners have never seen this written down.
- Fix your uninsured discount firstIf the discount you give uninsured patients is deeper than what some plans pay, dropping a plan moves patients onto a worse deal for you. Example: a $1,000 crown. The plan pays $700. Your uninsured discount takes it to $650. Drop the plan and each of those patients pays you $50 less. This step costs nothing and comes before any letter to a carrier.
- Give uninsured patients a reason to stayAn in-house membership plan can turn the patients who leave a network with you into monthly income, instead of a one-off visit.
- Start with the safest contract, not the biggestThe first exit exists to prove the approach works: a small patient base, a contract you can actually end, no leased-network surprises. The big contract comes later, with evidence.
- Measure 90 days, then decide the next oneHow many patients stayed, what they now pay, what changed at the desk. Each step has to earn the next.
Four mistakes to avoid
- Dropping the plan with the biggest write-off first. It is usually the one with the most patients to lose.
- Sending termination letters before the front desk knows what to say to a patient who asks.
- Forgetting leased networks: your contract may be rented to other networks you never signed with directly.
- Leaving with no plan for uninsured patients, so the ones who stay have no reason to come back for hygiene.
Where we come in
- Practice Check ($1,500): the uninsured discount checked against what plans pay, from your exported reports on most systems
- Insurance decision kit ($2,500): every carrier's numbers and the safest first move, from Open Dental claims
- Membership plan launch ($3,500): the plan uninsured patients stay for
Smiles by Goh, Henderson, NV.
A cosmetic and restorative practice on Open Dental. We built the insurance analysis carrier by carrier from the practice's own claims, checked the uninsured discount against what each plan actually paid, and built the tool that closes out insurance policies patients left long ago, one record at a time, once the office signs off.
Named with the practice's permission. Their numbers stay theirs.
If your cosmetic work already pays cash
You may be closer than you think. Cash-pay cosmetic and implant cases don't depend on a network, so the question is only about the hygiene and restorative patients each plan brings. That is exactly what the carrier-by-carrier numbers answer.
What owners ask about leaving.
How many patients will I lose?
Some may leave. Step 1 estimates it per carrier: how many of that plan's patients you could lose and still break even. That number decides which contract goes first.
Should I drop Delta Dental?
Maybe, but not first, and not without the numbers. Delta is often the plan with the most patients attached, which makes it the riskiest first move even when it writes off the most. The answer comes from your own claims, carrier by carrier.
Can you do this if I'm not on Open Dental?
Partly. On Open Dental we read every claim directly through its official API. On Dentrix, Dentrix Ascend and Eaglesoft we work from the reports your system can export, and we tell you on the first call how much of the carrier-by-carrier picture yours can show. The discount, the membership plan and the sequence work on any system.
How long does going out of network take?
Usually well over a year for the whole path, one contract at a time. Fixing the discount takes weeks and costs nothing. The carrier numbers come from the Insurance decision kit or a Practice Check.
Do you negotiate fees with insurance companies?
No. We give you the numbers and the order of moves. Fee negotiation and credentialing are separate services, and we'll tell you honestly if that is a better first step for you.
Know what each plan really costs you. Then decide.
Thirty minutes to see what your system can show and where to start. If the first step is a free one, we'll say so.
You'll talk to Antonio.Founder, and the person who reads your report. Built for US practices, working from Medellín on US hours.