Fee-for-Service? The Real Question Is Whether to Sign Anything at All.
You’ve protected your fees by staying out of network. Then something shifts — growth plateaus, a new competitor that takes every PPO opens nearby, or you add an associate or partner whose schedule you need to fill. Practice Quotient helps fee-for-service practices decide whether to join networks — and if so, which one to three — strategically, and on the best possible terms.
It’s Usually a Growth Question — Not a Write-Off Problem
Nothing is being written off to insurance today, so there’s nothing to “recover.” What brings fee-for-service practices to PQ is almost always a change in their unique goals and circumstances:
- Growth has plateaued or started to slip — new-patient flow isn’t what it used to be.
- A new competitor that takes every PPO has opened nearby and is pulling insured patients out of your area.
- You’ve brought on an associate or partner and need to keep a second schedule full.
Joining networks can bring that volume back — but joining the wrong ones, or too many, quietly erodes the fee integrity you spent years protecting. Getting that trade-off right is the entire game, and it’s where practices most often go wrong on their own.
Selective Network Entry, on Your Terms
Identify the Right One to Three
We evaluate which carriers actually drive new-patient volume in your market — and which would simply discount your fees for patients you’d have seen anyway. The goal is targeted participation, not blanket enrollment.
Enter Before You Sign, Not After
Your leverage is highest before you join a network. As former carrier insiders, we work your starting fee schedule up front — so you enter at a defensible rate instead of accepting the default and trying to fix it later.
Protect Fee Integrity Everywhere Else
Staying out of the networks that don’t earn their discount is part of the strategy. We help you capture the volume you need without becoming a full PPO practice.
Sometimes the Answer Is “Stay Fee-for-Service”
If the analysis shows network participation won’t serve your goals, we’ll say so plainly. We’d rather give you an honest answer than sign you to a contract you don’t need.
An Insider’s Read on Which Networks Are Worth It
The only PPO negotiation firm endorsed by AAOMS for a decade — founded by someone who built dental networks and set fee schedules from inside the carriers. For a fee-for-service practice weighing its first network decision, that inside perspective is the difference between entering strategically and entering blind.
Weighing Your First Network Decision?
Whether the right move is one carefully chosen contract or none at all, the first step is a conversation about your market and your goals.
Start With a Conversation