Latest / The Word of Mouth Podcast / Cut the Insurance Headache: A Win-Win for Patients and Dentists | WOM 022
Transcript
- Jeffrey Lunt: Welcome back to the Word of Mouth Podcast, your weekly podcast breaking down what the best dental and orthodontic practices are doing today to grow in an ever-changing landscape. I'm your host, Jeff Lunt, and today I'm joined by Dr. Mike Musso. Dr. Mike Musso owns and operates Musso Family Dentistry with his brother, Dr. Mark Musso. They took over the practice from their father when he retired and have maintained the same family values and patient-centric approach to dentistry. Musso Family Dentistry is located in Garland, Texas, and over the years, Dr. Mike has honed his craft so that he can provide top-notch dentistry no matter what case is in his chair. Dr. Mike brings a passion for helping the people who come to his practice and says the best part of his day is seeing his patient's transformation as their confidence grows with a great smile. Jeff: Welcome to the podcast, Doctor Mike. So happy to have you on today. mike: Man, I appreciate it, Jeff. I look for forward to our time together here today. Jeff: So take me back to the beginning. What initially drew you into dentistry? mike: you know, it was is before college I I was always creative. I like working with my hands. I didn't want to sit at a cubicle all day and I love the interaction of talking to people and the relationships I built through the years and it tying those two things together brought me to the point of hey, maybe I want to look at dentistry. My dad was a dentist, I saw how happy he was. the joy that it brought him, and I thought, okay, maybe I can give this a try. Jeff: Yeah, so you mentioned your dad was a dentist and you took over the practice from him. What things did your dad embody that you wanted to maintain in the practice? And then what things as you and Mark took over, did you decide to kind of move towards in terms of how Musso treats patients and and their kind of philosophy around dentistry? mike: You know, you know, Jeff, the one thing that stuck out to me, and I was brand new right out of dental school and I I I understood the dental part. I didn't understand the patient part, the relationship part. But he always instilled in me and then my brother when he came out, no matter who's sitting in the chair, you treat them all the same. You give them their time, your consideration, your professionalism and help them get to solve their problem. But build that relationship with them and build that trust with them. Everybody you treat the same in dentistry, and it it's been a wonderful philosophy for us to live by. Jeff: Yeah. So you're located in Garland, and you obviously have amazing patients. I've had the opportunity to be out, be in your practice, meet some of your patients. What do you love most about serving the the community there in Garland, Texas? mike: You know, I'm I'm gonna go back a little bit here, Jeff. So my dad built his building about two doors down from where we are currently back in nineteen seventy one. And I saw him build his practice up and treat these people. I mean, th he was the only building out here back then, and everybody grew up around him. And we passed on these generations to us, third, second, third, fourth generation of patients now. And it's it's really neat to sit down at the end of the day after you've you know, you've worked all day And you've helped these people achieve their goals, you know, whether it's getting them out of pain or redesigning their smile or you know, putting you know, getting them through sleep apnea, whatever it takes we provide here and it it's just great. And then you see the reviews and w and the thankfulness that these people have for the services that we provide. Jeff: Yeah, I it I think that that's one of the best things about dentistry is that it is a true service business and it's something that everyone needs. So you get to interact with different kinds of patients, see different cases every day. obviously your practice at Musso Family Dentistry, you guys kinda do everything. You in including sleep, including orthodontics, Kind of cradle to grave for the oral health, you you are there to take care of your patients. So Acknowledging that you guys kinda do a little bit of everything, if you could design your ideal day in the clinic, what does that look like? mike: Man, my ideal day. you know, when I come to work in the morning, you know, there's always cancellations. So the one point is I'd love to have a full schedule and be able to spend the time with the patients and then with my hygiene patients too, because we have to check hygiene patients in between our treatment time. Just a flow where everything runs smooth and you you you get in there and you take care of your patient. And they get up and they thank you and they write a wonderful review about what you've done for them. I love that aspect of it because w you want to do your best and you want to treat them all the same. And and that's kind of where I come from, and that's what my dad taught us, and my brother will say the same thing. We want to treat everybody the same and have a day where at the end of the day you walk home, yeah, you might be a little tired. But you kinda drive home and you think, Man, what a great day. I got to help out Mrs. Jones. I got, you know, Tommy out of pain. I I cleaned, you know, somebody who just never cleaned their teeth. You got their teeth cleaned after twenty years of never having their teeth cleaned. Things like that just really do it for us. Jeff: Yeah, that makes a ton of sense. Are there any services in particular that you look forward to if you are looking ahead at your schedule tomorrow? What what kind of services are you saying? Man, I'm so excited for this, or I know that at the end of the day, because I am this is my I'm do the best work at X, I I know that at the end of the day I'm gonna be going home just feeling like on cloud nine because I just was awesome today. mike: Yeah, again for me, because I don't do the orthodontics or TMJ or sleep apnea like my brother, redesigning somebody's smile, giving them that smile, they come in, their upper teeth are just decayed, heavily you know, chipped, broken. And we go in there and even just putting them in temporaries until we get their crowns or veneers back, you look at and you w and from what you had before till even the temporary phase. looks phenomenal. And then you know you're gonna have this the permanence two weeks later and you go, man, I can't wait to see the result of this. And that makes me ex ecstatic that I know what this person's gonna look like. I know where they came from and I know how we can change their smile for the better. Jeff: Yeah. I I know that you had an experience recently. We went through your old list and kind of reached out to some old patients and there was a a young woman who came in, hadn't been in for several years and needed a complete smile transformation. Maybe talk me through kind of what that was that was like. mike: Yeah, you know, it's funny, I just saw her yesterday and I thought so this was an implant denture implant retained denture that we're working on. she was 20 something, could not save any of her teeth, upper or lower. So we put her in an immediate denture, we put the implants in, and it was it was great. She looked totally different. But now I'm even more excited because I know the final stage is coming here now. three months later and it's like, I know what I can do for this young lady. And I told her, I said, look, here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna have every try-in possible, which means we're gonna have the teeth prepared beforehand, and I'm gonna let her pick and choose whatever she wants, the design, the color, whatever she wants to bring her smile back to where she's ecstatic. And she and her mom were both sitting there, and you know, it it it's kind of cool but to know that After 36 years of dentistry, I can deliver this kind of dentistry and I know what the patient wants. It's just not me dictating, here's what you're gonna get. They're involved a hundred percent. So w and that makes me happy. Jeff: Yeah, that's great. the power of a smile is truly something that I don't think a lot of people appreciate, but it helps you close more sales, it helps you land a job. it it really does. It's the gateway to kind of the face and and trust. mike: Yeah. Can I interrupt you there? Jeff: Yeah, absolutely. mike: the the fact of getting a job. She went for a job job interview like ten days later after having her temporary t teeth in place. And she was so she got the job and she was so excited and now she can't wait for the final phase. So that was really cool to see. Jeff: Yeah, yeah, it it does. And you'd the I mean you never know because it's hard to replicate that situation, but that's a job that she may not have gotten if you hadn't helped out with with repairing her smile. mike: I don't think she would have gotten that job the way she looked, and the way the teeth were. Jeff: Yeah. Yeah, it's amazing just I mean, they always say don't judge a book by its cover, but when on those first impressions they do make make a big deal, so just kind of the way it goes. mike: Yeah. I've I've always said that a smile, a genuine a good, healthy smile will open doors more so than the alternative. Jeff: Yeah. Yeah, no question. So we talked with Mark when he was on the podcast and we'd invite anyone who's viewing this podcast to go back, check that out. He had does amazing work on the sleep side of things. And we talked a lot about misconceptions that people have about airway health and and dental and oral the relationship that those things have have to sleep. one misconception that we talked about ahead of coming on. Is the misconception that a lot of patients have around insurance. So what is from your perspective, what's the kind of the biggest misconception that people have around insurance? I think at least my experience in working with dentists and then my own experience with insurance is I kind of thought dental insurance works a lot like health insurance, but they're completely separate products. mike: Yeah, you know, it it's so much it's so different, but oftentimes people think that their dental insurance would if a procedure is recommended that the insurance will cover it totally. No, it doesn't work that way. It will cover it maybe a a percentage, forty, fifty, sixty, eighty percent. and and so there's a misconception there and sometimes we'll quote this they'll cover it sixty percent. But it comes back only covered at forty percent. And that that's really hard for us to then go back to the patient and say, you know, your insurance only covered this amount. And they're going, but you told me they would cover this amount. And I I don't I don't have a you know anything to to combat that. don't have anything to a leg to stand on, so to speak, with that. Jeff: Yeah. And so what are the limitations of dental insurance? You talked about it only covering a certain percent, but I know that there's like max payments and obviously in in health insurance it works kind of the opposite where you have a minimum that you or a maximum that you can pay, but it seems like for dental insurance it's kind of a maximum that they're willing to pay. mike: Yeah. Yeah, to me sometimes it's like the insurance is only based on the actual plan terms and not what's best for the patient. to me it's like getting a little scholarship. You get a little bit of extra money. But yeah, but then we've got waiting periods, then we've got they'll downgrade fillings from a beautiful white composite filling and say, we're only gonna pay based on a silver filling. And and those are just ways that the insurance company runs. My dental practice, and I hate to say it like that. Jeff: Yeah, how often do you see insurance dictating the kind of care that a patient gets where they maybe take less care because it's covered by insurance versus what would be best for them clinically? mike: Man, we see it daily. And it's like, you know, just the example I gave there, what and sometimes they said, this tooth may not need a crown, it needs X amount of destruction or or decay. And and clinically you have to do what's best for the patient. And I I I can't my hands are tied sometimes as far as the payment or the reimbursement, but I know what's best for this patient and I know what's gonna last the longest and give them the best care. And sometimes that's not what the insurance wants to do. They you know, they just wanna get by and not pay a whole lot and so who loses? The patient, number one. Jeff: Yeah. Yeah, the patient probably is the biggest loser and then you as the dentist are kind of in next and the only real winner in that situation is the insurance company. mike: Yeah. And and and it's it's difficult. I'll be honest, Jeff. You know, we we do we you have all these programs and software to try and really hone in on what this insurance will pay, what kind of reimbursement you'll get. And it it's just never a hundred percent all of the time. And it's really difficult then to go back to the patient and say, Hey, you know, again, your insurance didn't cover this. And they're gonna say, Why? And And I don't really have an explanation as to why they won't cover it. You know, this is what you needed. You know, th they don't wanna pay for it basically sometimes. Jeff: Yeah. Yeah. So I know to combat the headaches around dental insurance, you at Musso Family Dentistry offer an in-house plan, which speaking from experience, we moved to our dentist's in-house plan and it's saved us money and we're getting better quality of care. so talk me through how does that work? What are kind of the immediate benefits if you're a patient who's dropping insurance and moving to the in-house plan? mike: Yeah. Y you know what, Jeff. the the biggest takeaway for us that we've found is the simplicity, the the not knowing, the the undetermined, you know, what the insurance will pay. If Jeff comes in and you need a crown, we know exactly what the benefits are to you. There's no questions, there's no hidden fees, there's nothing that's gonna or no waiting periods or or no deductibles, no you know, anything like that. It's just It's very simple. You're gonna get a crown, here's what the expense is. And nobody's gonna that won't ever change on a on a in house plan. Jeff: Yeah, and you might end up paying less for a crown on the in-house plant than you would through insurance because you've got premiums you've got to calculate, you've got deductibles, who knows how much they're gonna cover. so even the things where there is an associated cost, i i it seems like again, we're used to medical insurance where if I go into a doctor and I'm paying out of pocket, I'm usually gonna be paying more if I don't have insurance. But in dentistry, it's the opposite. If If you're on the in-house plan, you're probably paying less. mike: It's totally different. Yeah. And and can I touch on something, Jeff, about I you know, I I got out of dental school in nineteen ninety. I got into practice with my dad. You know, my mom was our hygienist. So it was really we're still a family practice, is what I wanna tell you guys, is that we're not we don't we're not owned by anybody but ourselves, you know, and we we run this the way we want to run it. We there's nobody dictating that except maybe the insurance companies. What I wanted to tell you guys is the whole insurance dental insurance game in the last 30 years since I've been a part of these insurance companies is the reimbursements. Back in 1994, I think when I joined, your yearly reimbursements were a thousand dollars, maybe fifteen hundred dollars. And then fast forward thirty years later today, it's still about the same. You know, the premiums have gone up. But the reimbursements have stayed the same or some in some cases actually gone down. It's it's really frustrating for us as clinicians who want to do a great job for the patient and then they they hold back money and they only allow X amount per year. I mean, over 30 years, think about it, what's gone up in those 30 years? And and the insurance is just not keeping up with the times for dentists. Jeff: Yeah. Yeah. And that's what I I was want to touch on a little bit. And I'd love to have you talk a little bit more about this, but for medical insurance, I as a patient have my yearly out-of-pocket maximum. That's the maximum I can pay for a medical procedure. And then I'm insured beyond that. For dentistry, there's always a percentage that they're not willing to cover. And the max that they're willing to pay is capped. So mike: Right. Jeff: Anything beyond that out of that maximum is stuff that I'm s I'm stuck covering. So it's like the almost the opposite of how we are conditioned to think about insurance. And so a lot of people I think end up stuck wanting insurance. They think dental insurance is great, but it's actually not the same as medical insurance, mike: Yeah. Yeah, I I sometimes now that I've been doing this for thirty-six years and been an insurance game for over thirty years, it's like a scholarship. You get a little bit of extra money if you have dental insurance to do this. And like I said again, is the the maximum yearly benefits is fifteen hundred dollars. Well think about what a crown costs, you know. If if the crown in network is eleven hundred dollars, you have a cleaning, you're almost eaten up to your maximum yearly benefits. And then any other work you need on top of that still comes out of pocket. So, you know, again, this is where I love my my in-house plans is they know exactly what they're getting and we have all kind of found financing available and they can get it done and we don't have our hands tied. Jeff: Yeah. Yeah, so if I'm a patient and I have like an employer who provides a plan for me, talk me through why I might look at the in house plan even in in on top of that. mike: You know, part of the thinking of they sell these plans of you get two free cleanings a year. Yeah, you get two free cleanings a year, but you may be well you may have gum disease. And part of that is people don't understand what gum disease is and they said, Well, just clean my teeth, I get two free cleanings. I said it you can't do that here with this. You you need, you know, maybe scalings and root planning. So the in-house programs. Yeah. The in-house programs. There is no yearly maximum. There's no deductibles. Here's what you have, Jeff. Here's how we're gonna treat it. And here's here's your expenses. And usually our in-house network plans, there's a membership fee, so you do get two cleanings a year after we've diagnosed it. We will tell you ahead of time because we also have a period. plan or a gum disease plan to help the patient out to get them to save money. So you're saving money across the board with this one membership fee. You come in twice a year for your cleanings. If you're not a regular cleaning, then we'll treat it from there and go from there. Jeff: Yeah. it's so helpful to have a dentist come on and talk about this stuff. This is something that I'll be sharing with my friends and family because I've been talking to about it for months now of like, hey, I I don't think we understand this as a society. And it sounds like it's the same here in Salt Lake as it is in Texas, and it's probably true across the rest of the US that there's just a misunderstanding about how dental insurance works and the in-house plans that a lot of these family dentists offer that it's a win-win for for you as the dentist. There's no headache of dealing with the insurance. You're getting a a you know kind of what you're gonna make. And then for the patient, they know what they're gonna pay and they don't have the headache of dealing with insurance. mike: Yeah. Yeah. I I really feel like the insurance the the patients are painted a different picture than what they're really getting. And it's not really clear and it's not thoughtful, it's not thought out. And if you can go to an in house payment plan, it it's just clear and concise and specific. So that's where we Jeff: Yeah, it for a patient who's unclear, what are some things that they should be looking for on their dental insurance? Kind of red flags or or things that they should maybe keep an eye out for, terms and conditions that that you've seen cause patients consternation. mike: Yeah yeah. waiting periods are number one. patients come in, they say, I've got this great insurance. I've got a tooth that's hurting. We do their benefits check for Well, ma'am, you got a three month waiting period. And then they go they go, I can't get it treated right now. I go, You can get it treated, but your insurance won't pay for it because they're saying you have a three month waiting period, which means you can't get anything done for three months. That's one of the big issues that I've run across. And and I feel for the patient. I And again, we're our hands are tied with these insurance companies, ours and the poor patient. the other thing I see are yearly maximums. i you know, it i it's very it's a smaller amount than what should be done for these patients. The the the reimbursements, the yearly maximums need to be raised, in my opinion. the other way deductibles, you know. We've got so much to contend with that If you're looking into dental insurance, and then look at the cost. Look at going in net in in-house program versus paying monthly or yearly for this dental insurance when how much do they cover? Not nearly as much as you think they are. Jeff: Yeah. Yeah, I know for me, we were paying about six hundred dollars a year in pre in premiums for our dental insurance. for me and my family. I moved to the in-house plan and our total cost for yearly cleanings, fluoride, x-rays, all of the stuff that's kind of that routine maintenance that is covered by our dental insurance is four hundred and eighty dollars. So we're saving a hundred and twenty dollars and we have access to better care if we need it. mike: Yeah. Yeah. Uh-huh. Yeah. Jeff: So a a hundred percent agree with you there that you just gotta look at the cost. mike: You absolutely do, Jeff. You absolut you absolutely do, Jeff. When I love stories like that because that's what we need to drive home because who wins? The patient wins in this case. Does that make sense? And you're providing a service to where it's you know what you've diagnosed and what needs to be done for that patient. And it's clear, concise, there's no no gimmicks, and you get it done for the patient. Jeff: Yeah, I'm much more likely to accept a treatment on the in house plan if it's the thing that I need because I know kind of what I'm paying and I don't have to run it by my insurance. mike: You know exactly what you're paying. There's for us in my office, this is it. You know, whereas you're right. You're absolutely right. Jeff: Awesome. Well, Dr. Mike, it has been an absolute pleasure talking insurance with you today. And this is something that I think we're we're hopeful we can get out the message. It's kind of like when we talk to Dr. Mark. The sleep apnea stuff is just a message that needs to be shared. there are a lot of people out there who are struggling with insurance with sleep apnea. And so if you're in the Garland, Texas area, please check out Musso Family Dentistry. mike: Right. Jeff: we're gonna finish with the lightning round. This is how we finish all of our interviews on the word of mouth podcast. So there is three questions. just kind of a one to two sentence answer. We'll roll through them quick and close out the episode. So the first question is: what is the number one thing you wish you could tell more people in your community about your practice? mike: we're here to help. We we care about the patient. We want to treat the patient. We again, my brother and I have been doing this for over thirty years apiece. We're not any kind of corporate dentistry. We're just a mo you know, two brothers running a dental office who truly care about the patient. Jeff: And I can attest to that having been in your been in your office. It made me wish I lived in Garland so I could come to to Musso for my dental needs. the second question is what is the most rewarding part of your day? mike: Yeah. My most rewarding, rewarding part of the day is the actual the exit of the patient when they're smiling and they're thankful. A lot of times people come into the dentist, hey, look, I know I've had a crown done now, so I I get it. It's not the most wonderful place to be in, but when you make it comforting and pain-free, and they get up, they smile, and they're grateful, that that that does it for me. Jeff: Yeah. That's another thing I don't think people understand enough is dentistry isn't as painful as it used to be. I just wanna cover that quick at the end. But a lot of really great technology and maybe we'll have you back on to talk about some of those things. but the final question for the podcast today is describe Muso family dentistry in three words. mike: No it's not. Absolutely. Professional and of course caring. And and joyful, joyful that I can provide this service. Jeff: Awesome. That is an excellent way to describe Muso. thank you so much for being on today, Dr. Mike. If people want to get in touch with you, what is the best way for them to contact Muso Family Dentistry or or talk with you? mike: Best way still the phone. Er nine seven two eight four zero eight four seven seven is the best way to get a hold of us. Jeff: Awesome. We'll link that and their website in the show notes for this podcast. Thank you for coming on today, Dr. Mike. Really appreciated you having you on. And thank you for all of you who have listened to this podcast. We'll see you in the next one.