To Charge or Not To Charge

When asking yourself this question, “Should I charge for my oral cancer screenings, or should I not?” there are several things to consider, a few of which we cover below:

Age Of Your Patients
Most young adults/teens will not want to ask their parents to pay extra for an oral cancer screening. In their minds, they think the only way to get oral cancer is through chewing tobacco, smoking, consuming alcohol, or having oral sex, and they would never want to make their parents, or even their dentist believe they have participated in these activities. Plus, how awesome would it be if your patients could say their dentist offers FREE oral cancer screenings for a lifetime? You would practically be a hero!

Location of Your Office
Is your office located in a primarily wealthy community, which would make sense to charge, or maybe a more underserved side of town where your patients are not as fortunate? You want to make sure your patients’ well being is your top priority when it comes to oral health. After all, you are their dentist, or hygienist, and they trust you with every visit they make to your office.

Financial Situation
Maybe this has not been the most profitable year for your office, or the dental industry, and your business could use the extra revenue or you are just looking to add additional revenue to your bottom line. Why not have the best of both worlds by charging AND not charging? Two months out of the year, offer free oral cancer screenings for your patients! April is oral cancer awareness month, which would be a great opportunity to give back to the community, and your patients by offering free screenings. Also, December is a very busy time of the year, many people are buying holiday gifts or entertaining family and friends, which becomes very expensive. You could help them out by promoting free oral cancer screenings through the month of December!
Any route you choose, know you have already taken the first step to saving lives and offering more thorough oral health assessments, which was by offering the service of oral cancer screenings to your patients in the first place.
If you have any other ideas, send them to info@oralid.com, and we can share them with your colleagues!

OralID Submitted Suggestions
-By saying to each patient, “Some practices charge a $45 to $65 fee for doing an advanced oral cancer screening. Because we care about our patients and want them to remain healthy, we provide this service as a gift to each patient”, that type of marketing message goes back to work with them, so they tell many about this gift. - Linda Miles CSP, CMC...