203: Increase Practice Revenue and Patient Trust with Smile Warranty's Comprehensive Coverage

Our tagline is for the what ifs in life. So if there's an accident or just bad luck or poor hygiene, we cover like recurrent decay so the patient can come in and get anything retreated or repaired or replaced for no cost.

Hi, I'm Emmett Scott and just like you, I've had my ups and downs in the dental industry, but times are changing. The DEO has built a map of how to succeed in one of the most challenging industries to navigate. On this show we talk to dental industry leaders, solve problems and get you the answers you need to face these challeng changing times and thrive. Welcome to DEO's Growth Secrets podcast for dental organizations. Now let's get started.

Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of DEO's Growth Seekers podcast. I'm Jake Poole, the CEO of the DEO and your guest host today, filling in for the illustrious Emma Scott. And today I'll be talking to Hilary Jorgensen of Smile Warranty. So Smile Warranty is an innovative new concept which is, it's really cool inside the deal. We have a lot of partners who come through and when they're starting to build and starting to grow with these innovative products, they come to the to find other innovative and growth minded dentists to kind of take on these products. So, Hillary, we're going to learn about Smile Warranty, which is I think something new, it's something different and it's a really cool, innovative way to grow revenue inside of your already operating four walls. You're already operating locations, which is the best kind of of revenue in my book. So Hillary, welcome and maybe you give everyone a little bit of introduction.

Yeah, thank you. Thank you very much. Like you said, I'm, I'm Hillary Jorgensen. I've been with the company for about three years. In September, it'll be a Smile Warranty. It will come up on their five year anniversary. So we're excited about the way the business is going and how things are going. I live in Boise, Idaho. The company is based out of Dallas, Texas actually. And we are actually going to have a booth at your upcoming immersion event in Dallas. So we're excited about that.

So we love that. Well, we can't wait to see you in person. Now let's talk about Smile Warranty. What exactly is it? Let's say I'm a dentist off the streets who comes up and your coffee shop, I come up to you and I say, hey, what can you tell me about Smile Warranty?

Yeah. Okay, so here's just the overall in a nutshell, what we do. So smile warranty, we offer protection plans for the. For patients for a small fee paid for by the patient. And it's per treatment. So it's. Yeah, every time they come in and need something done, they can get that covered by us. And it's a 12% fee for the patient. And so it's, it's free, zero risk for the dentist. So it's really easy for him or her. And we cover that treatment. So if there's ever any accidents or we. Our tagline is for the what ifs in life. So if there's an accident or just bad luck or poor hygiene, we cover, like recurrent decay, we cover it. And so the patient can come in and get anything retreated or repaired or replaced for 0 for. For no cost. And then we reimburse the doctor up to the full fee value. So up to his or her full fee value, not what insurance covers, but what he or she charges. So they're making money on the front end the first time they do the work. And then if they ever need to replace or repair anything, they make money on the back end that way. It just provides peace of mind. There's a lot going on in that dental office and a lot that the dentist has to worry about and think about. And costs are high. And this is one way that the dentist can be assured that they will never lose chair time. And it just really increases the value of their practice. And it also provides a lot of peace of mind for the patient. There's reasons the patient want it and reasons the doctor wants it. So we can go over those. But.

Yeah, yeah, so walk me through on the patient's side. So the patient has the choice to

get the warranty here. Right? I mean, there's a couple of ways to implement smile warranty into your practice. One is just to, like, offer it, you know, have a, Have a flyer by the front desk. And it's an option if the patient chooses to do it. We recommend. Just so that, so that it's. We recommend that the dentist implements it as their new standard of care. They cover everything for five years. And you can, you can advertise that too. You know, you. I mean, you never see a dental office that can advertise. We cover everything for five years.

So there's a warranty on all work.

That's a warranty on all the work. Of course, the patient. We're not going to. You're not going to force the patient to do it. So of course the patient can always opt out.

Right. But it Becomes a marketing piece for you as a dental office. Right. Why? To choose us over somebody else, for sure. So you recommend to make it standard with every single. What are, what are some common procedures that, where this is the most impactful or where you're seeing the most interest if you don't do every single procedure?

Oh, usually the big things. Most of our practices implemented as their new standard of care. And so it's kind of hard for me to notice which treatments they're choosing to cover. But I think that patients are, you know, if it's a small treatment, say a filling, that's a couple of hundred bucks, that warranty is going to be really cheap. So it's like, yeah, let's do it. And then if it's a big thing, yes, I want to. I, I've talked to some prosthodontists. I mean, this is small warranty and prosthodontic offices. It's like a perfect marriage because you have your patients asking for it all the time. They're, they're paying, you know, 30, $40,000 for a new smile, and they want it covered. And, and then, of course, the dentist wants it covered, too. You know, he doesn't. He or she doesn't want to have to lose chair time or pay out. I was talking to a dentist the other day at a conference. Well, not the other day, last fall at a conference. And I was just talking to him, and he said, this sounds too good to be true. And I said, well, I'm not pulling your leg. I mean, this is just what we do. We're not hiding anything. There's no, like, strings attached. This is just what we do. And, yeah, he just, he, he, he couldn't believe that this is. It was this simple and this easy to make money. So.

Okay, so let's start with the patient side. Why would the patient want to do this? And what are some of the, you know, what are some of the things you hear them saying?

Yeah, perfect. Patients are asking for it, especially on big things. I know all on fours and permanent fixed dentures are kind of a new thing. Implants, patients love it. It provides a bunch of a lot of peace of mind. A lot of times I've had dentists tell me. In fact, I'll tell you a story. I was talking to a dentist, I think, like, three days ago, just called him up to see how Smile Warranty was doing in their practice, and he told me this story that just happened just like last week, I think so, that he had this older woman who has dentures and is a patient. And she. I can't remember what happened to her denture, but I think she stepped on it or something and, and it needed to be replaced. And she doesn't make a lot of money and she, she waited for weeks to come into the dentist because she just knew she couldn't afford it and she was just, she was distraught about it and. Cause she didn't have the money for new dentures. And when she got into the office, the dentist was able to look at her chart and see that she had paid for the warranty and was able to tell this woman who. That, that she didn't have to pay for this denture. I mean, she was almost brought to tears because she was just grateful. So that was. That's kind of a neat story to tell. And. And that's one I just heard a few days ago. So it's, it's nice when things like that happen. So.

Okay, so that makes tons of sense. And it's almost like. It's almost like guaranteed work. Right. In a way. And for the patient too, it's. Yeah, it's essentially almost like an insurance policy that they're. They're kind of.

No, but yet. I mean, we're not an insurance company. Yeah.

So let us avoid that word. Essentially. Right.

Yeah.

What is the main distinction? Like, you know, because it's a one time kind of thing or one time.

The difference between a warranty and an insurance is a lot of times insurances require you to pay a little bit more when you get the treatment done.

I see, I see.

And this is. You pay one fee at the beginning and you're covered.

Okay. So if I'm a patient, are there any stipulations around it? I mean, it does seem too good to be true. Right. Because if I could throw.

Yeah, it does. As a patient, you mean. Is that what you said?

Yeah. Let's stay on the patient side. Right.

Okay. On the patient side, they have one. One stipulation and that is that they maintain their hygiene appointments, their regular hygiene appointments, which is also a benefit for the dentist too.

That's amazing. That's absolutely a win. Win.

Yeah. As long as they. And we don't. We don't stipulate what regular means. That's up to the dentist. So it could be six months, it could be a year. Another. Another great thing for the patient is that it's, it's nationwide coverage. So if, say the patient's on vacation in Hawaii and tries surfing for the first time and busts out Their, you know, crown on their front tooth, we cover that and, and the dentist that retreated it would get paid.

Yeah.

If there happens, you know, whatever.

Yeah. Is there? Yeah. Is there, is it no questions asked kind of thing? I'm trying, I'm thinking like if I'm buying a warranty and other products. Yeah. It's kind of. Is it no questions asked or they have to prove that I didn't.

Oh yeah. So we have a portal and ever every warranty is registered on that portal. And so when you need to, so when the front desk needs to file a claim, they just go on our portal, file a claim. There's a few questions asked like a, like maybe five fields they need to enter and then the last half of the half of it is photos before and after we have to cover ourselves.

So that makes sense.

Yeah. And it's my job at Smile Warranty to keep the dentists happy, so I'm going to go to bat for that person. So. Yeah, my, my job is to, to pay out claims if there is one. So.

Yeah, well, plus it's part of your business, right. I mean they don't.

Right. That's what we do.

Yeah. You got to, you know, kind of stick to what you guys are.

Yes. And that's, and that's how we keep dentists happy. So that's what we do.

Well, and patients too, right? They have dentists, so for sure. Okay, that was a great example. Any other examples that come to mind of where this is useful? I mean it seems very, very useful as a patient for almost everything.

Yeah, I, I, I, I think when, when I look at the claims filed, many of the claims are for not many. Some of the claims are for like night guards that the dog chewed on or something like that. We also cover and this is actually, I don't know why I didn't lead with this because this is one of my, my favorite aspects of Smile Warranty, especially on the patient side is we, we cover what we call next level treatment. So if a patient gets say an mod on 18 and then four years later cusp cracks or something, the tooth cracks and they need a crown. We'll take the money that that was covered for the mod, that 300, 400 bucks and apply it to the crown. So any, any next level treatment on that same tooth. Yeah. I had a dentist email me a question yesterday and said will you guys cover. Say we do a crown and a patient pays for that and then later the root fractures for whatever reason and we have to take that crown off to Do a root canal or to extract the tooth and put a new implant in. Will you replace that crown and. Yeah, we'll replace that crown. Even though that there was nothing wrong with the crown and it wasn't the patient's fault. You know, that's, that's what we do. So we, we want people to be happy and have peace of mind. So.

Yeah. Okay. So if an office is making this part of their standard, is it, does that mean that the patient doesn't. It's kind of just assumed. Or do the patients still have the choice or are they just all work?

Kind of both. So you just assume when you, when you write up a treatment plan, you add in five year warranty and kind of roll it in, but you make sure to add that five year warranty on your treatment plan. And we also have on our end, the offices will use like an iPad or something and have the patient, the front desk will register the warranty, which takes about 20 seconds. It's really fast. And then hand it to the patient. The patient signs it. That takes about another five seconds. And then the warranty is registered. But when it comes to like the treatment plan and stuff, yeah, you would just roll it in, add the five year warranty at the bottom of the treatment plan and the patient is signing it, knows it's there. They can always opt out of it. We recommend though, this is one, one good thing for dentists is because I know there's, and it doesn't happen a ton, but there are a couple of times a month at least in each practice, awkward conversations about, am I covering this or are you covering this? Like, who's responsible for this repair? Or look, I just got this filling done two years ago and now it needs to be replaced. I know, I've had that myself a couple of times. So this just kind of eliminates. It just really defines black and white. If you offer smile warranty in your practice, you never redo anything for free from then on. So if they decline the warranty, if they decline it, which is totally fine, if they decline it, then that puts the responsibility on them.

Right.

So, and this is a, an easy way for a front desk to sell it. So here's the thing. Front desk does, does everything. Once the dentist decides they want smile warranty and instructs their front desk and they get trained, the dentist never has to think about this again. Like it never, he never mentions it, nothing.

So it go right, right. Because it goes from, you know, the patient's like, well, hey, you know, there was this Implicit, you know, you should be guaranteeing your work implicitly with me. And if anything happens at all, I come back here. You know, customer's always right, and you guys just redo this for free. And all these conversations where to, where it's. As a rule, everything has a warranty. And if you decide to opt out as a patient, then, you know, things happen, you know, and it's, it's. We don't even have to talk about whose fault is yours or mine really. You know, I gave you the opportunity to, to guarantee the work, and that's what we normally do. And if you opt out, then, then really it's your responsibility.

And that's what the front desk can tell them. If they opt out, they can say, that's, that's totally fine. Just so you know. Yeah, warranty's 35 bucks. And if you need this filling replaced, it's going to cost 300 or whatever the math adds up to. And just so you know, if you opt out, you're, you're responsible for covering it. I don't know why dentistry has this thing. I mean, with so many advances in, in, in products and technology, we just assume that all dentistry is done really well. Like, dentists are good dentists. And so it's kind of interesting how in the dental world, dentists are responsible or, or assumed to be responsible for any sort of repair or replacement. Like, my son a few years ago broke his arm. He was like 5 at the time, and he needed surgery, put a rod in, like, a month later, another surgery, take the rod out. Playing. Two months later, he breaks it again. And, and of course, nobody's going to expect that surgeon to do that again, you know, for free, even.

Totally. And I even think with, like, car warranties, right, If I'm at the tire dealership and I opt out of the warranty, I know if anything happens at all, even if the product is messed up, I don't have, I mean, I had the chance to get the warranty, right, and so I'm essentially taking that risk.

Right. And that's one thing, that's one thing your patients are buying is peace of mind.

That's right.

So I know that I just bought my daughter an iPhone two weeks ago, and I declined the, the apple care. And I, I have this, like, when I did so I had this, like, pit in my stomach, you know, that's, that's, that's what happens when you, you don't have that peace of mind. You're going to have a little bit of concern. All the time.

So, okay, so on the doctor side, okay, yeah. What are, so how does it work on the doctor side? I mean, obviously there's some management that needs to happen, there's some forms, maybe financially, how does it work? How does it all work?

Okay, yeah, that's a good question. So, so they, they just go to our website, which is mysmilewarranty.com and they enroll online and a link will get sent to them and it allows them to sign the contract. And then as soon as they do that, there's also on our website is a tutorial video that we encourage the dentist and the front desk to watch. And if there's any questions, me or someone from our office will call just to finalize things. The way it works is, and we haven't talked about money yet, really, when the dentist signs up, he or she puts in his or her credit card number and so it's 12%. So let's say the warranty was $100 that the patient paid for and agreed to and signed for. As soon as that front desk submits the warranty on our portal, we take 75% of that 12. So as a finder's fee or as a thank you or as an incentive to the den dentist, we allow them to keep 25% of that 12%. And so we charge them for every warranty. Every warranty.

So it's, it's the immediate revenue stream, which.

Right. And it's, and they're not paying any overhead on that either. I mean, that's straightforward.

It's that simple, right? It's that simple.

Yeah, that's it. I mean we have, we have on our website, we have what we, what's, what's a profit calculator. And I think for a lot of your clients who make a ton and have lots of practices, our profit calculator only goes up to like one or one and a half million dollars or something. So there's a couple of sliders and you just slide your monthly gross production. Slide it to where, how much you make it a month and then your warranty acceptance rate. Like what if you think you're going to roll this in and make it your standard of care, you're probably gonna have 90, 95% acceptance rate and then up will pop a number of what, what you can expect to make on an annual basis from smile warranty. And that includes average paid out claims per office. So that's your 3% that you keep plus any claims on average.

Yeah. Right. So, so immediate, I mean immediate you know, a couple percentage points there. Plus, if you are doing redos or you're recovering your work and you're eating that, if you, if you can execute on the communication of it to the patient, now you're getting reimbursed and compensated for that just because it's a better way to kind of position it for a patient.

So.

Yeah. So this is just increasing revenue and improving your cert, you know, your, your treatment and services.

Totally, totally. In fact, I started telling a story about a conference that I went to and I went blank. I couldn't remember what I was saying, but now I remember this dentist was like whenever, and it's totally true. Whenever, whenever me or one of my associates has to redo something, I might as well write that patient a check because I'm, I'm just totally losing money because I'm redoing just overhead you have to pay. I mean there's just, it's not the treatment itself, it's everything. So yeah, it's, it's, to me it's a, it's a no brainer to sign up for smile warranty because there's no risk. It's. And even if you try it for like three months.

Yeah.

You're going to realize you love it.

So anything else on the Dodger side? So on the, on each warranty that comes through, they're going to get 25% of that warranty fee. And when the work's redone, they're obviously they can just get reimbursed from that. And then how does that work? When the work is redone or warranty is.

Yeah, they just file a claim and then we cut them a check within. Our goal is to have it to them within two weeks. So.

Okay, what else? I mean, that seems pretty simple.

It is pretty simple. Let's see, there are, it increases case acceptance rates, especially on big things. You know, patients might be a little hesitant, but if you tell them it's covered for five years, I, that, that increases case acceptance. There are, here's, here's a couple of things. So I get, I get two responses. So most of dentists, whenever I talk to dentists, most of the time they're on board. When I don't have dentists on board, I get two responses. One is I already warranty my work, which is great for your patient, but you're probably only warrantying it for maybe a year and you're losing money if you have to redo anything. So that's the answer to that one. And the other one is when they

warranty their work, are they charging extra for it?

No, they're just gonna sit and it's just kind of like what we talked, like, dentists are expected to. To redo things if it needs to be done. Right.

So which, which is cool. I mean, it's great, right? Like, that's great as a dentist, but you have an opportunity to kind of like, separate that out and actually promote that a little more and make it make way more sense to the patient versus, like, this expectation. I don't know, the way, the way that you're doing it seems to be a little more streamlined and it will. I don't know, makes sense. More sense to the patient, potentially.

Yeah. Yeah. And, yeah, it just clarifies things and keeps things. I like how you said separated, and it's just. It's just more defined and it kind of takes the dentist. It kind of takes any emotion out of anything. So it makes it a little bit patient, patient, doctor relationship a little bit better, you know?

Well, let me ask a couple more questions. Ms. A hard question, which is like, how do you guys make. How do you all make money that. Are you just banking on, obviously, that you're going to have less claims than what people are saying. You're taking on risk.

Yeah.

The company, which you should be. You should be rewarded for that. But you're just, you know. And then I'm assuming if. If there's a lot of claims coming through, obviously you got to look out for your own selves and like, hey, we got to see, like, less claims coming through your office or this isn't going to work.

Right. So we vet our dentists. I mean, well, we allow all dentists to sign up, but if they're filing more claims than average, we'll reach out to them for sure. So, yeah, the only way we make money is that 75% that we take.

Right. And then having a ton of claims, hopefully. Right.

I mean, yeah, yeah. But we also, like I said, we're. We want to be that company that people trust and that want. People want to work with and easy to work with.

So you're going to have to work with great, Good, good dentists and good, good dental offices, for sure.

Yeah.

Which, which is good because you don't have warranty if it's not really good, really good office. So that makes. That makes sense. What, so what about implementation? Because from my experience, actually, the hardest part of this is training a team and how to talk about it. Uncomfortable talking about it. That, that point of interaction with the Patient is where this is all going to kind of the success is going to be determined. So how do you, how do you help with that? How do you guys think about that?

Yeah, 100%. The hardest, the hardest part of implementing Smile warranty or the biggest hurdle, I guess I should say the biggest hurdle in implementing Smile warranty into the practice is actually getting your front desk to do it. And when they've got their routine and the way they're doing it already established, it's hard to kind of change things. But what I tell our clients is, you know, it just takes a week or two of doing this and then it'll just become your new routine and it'll just become what you do. So the way it works is when a patient accepts Smile warranty, they just, on the iPad at their office or whatever, they use whatever kind of device they use at their office. We just assume all offices use devices now. So it could even be a cell phone if they wanted it to be. They just entered fill in those three or four fields and hand it to the patient. The patient signs it done. And then. Yeah, so it only takes like an extra 30 seconds. And like I said, how we train front desk personnel to implement it is, is by saying, you know, when, when someone comes to the front desk after being in the back and they need, you know, a crown, I'll just say a crown. You can say, oh, I see, I see. Dr. So and so has recommended a crown. It's going to cost you fifteen hundred dollars and that includes a five year warranty. And then your insurance covers this much. So that leaves you with this much for this portion today. So insurance does not cover smile warranty. So you add the smile warranty fee at the end after you talk about how much your insurance is going to pay. So when you just throw it in there like, and that includes the five year warranty, that's how we recommend doing it. And then the patient signs as well. So and they get an email confirmation and they can look over, you know, the warranty agreement is on there. So that's how we recommend it. And I will say, and usually I save this for, for dentists, but I'll say it here. But it's, it's hard, it's sometimes difficult to get front desk to do something a little bit that they're not used to doing. And so what, what we recommend is incentivizing them. And most dentists, almost every dentist is like, no, I don't need to incentivize it. They're, they're good. They, they, they do whatever.

I just, I'm just laughing because I think that's probably the most relatable statement Emery said on the podcast, which is, it is hard, it is hard to get people to do new things just in general in life and.

Sure.

So. Yeah. So I think, you know, that's why I always ask you about that, because that is the hardest part. And it sounds like you guys provide some support there and also understand that that's the hardest part.

And so it is. And they're doing all the work too. So we, I have a dentist who I was talking to, and he's like, no, I don't need to incentivize. And so he, he used Smile Warranty for a couple of weeks and then, I mean, a couple of months. And then he looked at his numbers on Smile Warranty because they have a dashboard and it shows all their stats and stuff. And, and his numbers were lower than he anticipated. So he thought, well, I'm going to try incentivizing. So he incentivized his front desk. And I'm, I'm not exaggerating. Within one month, his numbers had quadrupled. So, yeah, it's just, it's, that's how it is.

It is how it is. I think, you know, some of the things we've learned is, you know, incentivized to jumpstart something is a really, really good strategy. And then also just making sure you're not. Pick a few things. Right. There's only a few new things that somebody can add to their day and pick a few things. But this one is a great one because it's an ROI too. Right. I mean, you kind of know exactly what you're getting. Amazing. Anything else? I love these kind of. Yeah. Because it's, it's again, it's squeezing the juice. We call it squeezing the juice out of what you currently have. Right. And so it's just.

Yeah.

Squeezing the juice. And it's a win, win on a patient. And the doctor sign. The only one, like you said, is, I mean, the, only, the only kind of objection would be is if you just think you should just guarantee everything in dentistry and not have patients paying for it. That's kind of an opinion that maybe some people might have and then they're, they're happy to have that. But I'll say other industries don't think like that. Right. Like, warranty are proven way to go about servicing people and products. So it makes sense.

And, and, and like I said, I mean, no dentist is going to cover something for five years anyway on their own. And it's not fair for them to have to cover something that the patient did wrong. Like they, they have recurrent decay because they don't keep their teeth clean very well. Or, you know, they, they're the one that fell off their bike or, you know, whatever it is.

Exactly. Amazing. Well, thank you so much for letting us know. Kind of what Smile Warranty does here. I have a feeling you all are going to be in a lot of places. I think this is a really referable thing. Like, once one dentist is using it, they see an uptick in revenue. Really? Then they're going to tell friends. And so this is, this is something that makes tons of sense. So.

Yeah, we think so.

So thank you so much. Excited to have you a part of the deal community, and we're going to see you in person.

Yeah, thanks a bunch. We're happy to be there.

Thank you for listening to deo's Growth Secrets podcast for dental organizations. Continue the conversation on our Facebook group and meet other dental leaders. Get questions answered and the strategies you need to succeed. Plus, we have some free resources for you right there on the Facebook page. Remember, you're not alone. Let's do this together. Join DEO's Growth Secrets Group on Facebook. And until next time, keep smiling.