If you're an office manager or sitting at the front desk right now, I don't need to tell you what this time of year feels like. The phones don't stop. Patients are calling asking what their new insurance covers, what changed, what it's going to cost them now. Half the time they're just as confused as you are trying to explain it to them.
I sat in that seat for a long time. I know what it's like to have a patient standing at the counter, insurance card in hand, asking you to basically read their plan back to them because their insurance company didn't. And I know how easy it is, in the middle of all that, for your membership plan to just... not come up. Not because it's not a great option. Because you're buried, and it's one more thing.
Here's what I want you to know: open enrollment isn't just insurance season. It's your season. And it doesn't have to be one more thing you're carrying - it can actually make the rest of the season easier.
You already have the easier answer. You just have to say it out loud.
Think about what you're explaining to patients right now. Deductibles. Waiting periods. Annual maximums. Whether something's in-network or just flat out not covered, or maybe why a procedure was denied. Then you're also trying to maximize their benefits before the end of the year, using their entire maximum on treatment they need, and figuring out what they can do next year before hitting their max. That's A LOT, and half of it isn't even good news for the patient.
Now think about your membership plan. No deductible. No waiting period. No annual max. A price they can understand in one sentence.
You're not competing with insurance here - you're the relief valve. When a patient is sitting there frustrated because their new plan barely covers what they need, that's the exact moment to say, “Here's something that's actually simple.” You don't need a pitch. You just need to say the plan out loud before insurance finishes confusing them.
You're not selling. Skip the sales voice. Just say it like you mean it.
I know “sales” isn't why we got into this industry, and I promise this isn't about turning the front desk into a sales floor. It's about confidence, not scripts, and getting your patients the care they need with fewer barriers in the way.
Every person a patient talks to - front desk, hygiene, treatment coordination - should be able to explain the plan the same simple way, without stumbling. Patients pick up on hesitation fast. If your team sounds unsure, the patient stays unsure. If your team sounds sure, the patient relaxes a little.
Lead with what it means for them, not the fine print. “This means you're not waiting six months for that crown to be covered” lands a lot better than reciting terms.
And this is where Clerri Bridge earns its keep, especially during open enrollment. You’re not just telling a patient your plan is worth a look - you’re showing them what last year actually cost them. Pull up their Treatment Savings Summary and you can point to real numbers: missed savings from last year, savings on treatment they’ve already had scheduled, and - this is the one that tends to get someone’s attention - savings sitting untouched on unscheduled treatment. “You missed out on $290 in savings last year, and there’s $511 sitting on treatment you haven’t scheduled yet” is a completely different conversation than “our plan has good value.” One’s a script. The other’s a receipt.
And yes, now's also the time to look at your pricing
I know pricing conversations aren't the fun part, but hear me out on the timing, because this is the piece a lot of practices miss.
January 1 brings new fee schedules, and that's exactly when patients notice pricing changes - theirs and yours. If you update your membership plan pricing now, ahead of the new year, you get ahead of that moment instead of scrambling to explain it later. Nobody wants to be fielding “wait, why did this go up” calls in the first week of January.
Think of it like you think about your reimbursement rates - you wouldn't let those sit unreviewed for years. Your membership plan pricing deserves that same attention. Every 12 to 18 months, with smaller adjustments along the way instead of one big jump patients feel all at once.
And the process is a lot less painful than it sounds. Send over your fee schedule, and Smart Plan Pricing will model out the right updates for your practice - recommendations, not mandates, so you're still the one calling the shots. When it's time to tell patients, we help with that too: messaging 45 days out and again 7 days out, so patients have a real chance to lock in the current rate if that matters to them, and nobody feels blindsided.
You've got more leverage this season than it feels like
I know it doesn't always feel like it when you're three calls deep and the waiting room is full, but this time of year hands you an opening most of the year doesn't. Patients are already thinking about their options. You just have to be the one who puts a simple, better option in front of them before the default wins by silence.
Update the pricing now. Get everyone on your team saying the same thing, the same way. And give yourself one less thing to carry alone this fall.
Let's talk it through - for real, not a lecture
I'm getting into all of this - how to actually say this stuff out loud with confidence, and why now's the time to touch your pricing - in a live conversation on Tuesday, September 29 at 2:00 PM Eastern.
It's not a webinar where you sit there watching slides. It's me and someone who sees what's happening across accounts every day, going back and forth like we're comparing notes - because that's basically what it is. 30 minutes, real questions, nothing you have to sit through.
Can't make it live? Register anyway and we'll send you the replay.
