How to Deliver Dental Solutions that Stand Out for Small Business
Dental benefits are a highly visible part of an employer’s benefits program. Seven in ten employees consider their dental coverage to be a must-have benefit.¹ And with each visit to the dentist, they’re evaluating the value of the plan, the savings, and the provider network.
Choosing the right dental plan and provider can help drive employee satisfaction, retention, and recruitment for small businesses. What makes dental benefits stand out for employees? Recommend plans that include three key elements.
1. Flexibility
A company’s dental benefits must address both business objectives and budget parameters, as well as employee needs and expectations. Flexibility is essential. Look for carriers with dental expertise and plan solutions based on the latest clinical research and market trends. In addition to enabling you to design and recommend plans that fit each clients’ specifications, you’ll have the options you need to optimize the coverage to meet diverse employee needs. For employees, flexibility – such as the choice of visiting dentists in or out of network – can be a crucial satisfaction driver.
With more than 55 years of experience working with thousands of small businesses, MetLife offers a comprehensive range of options so that you’re able to design solutions to fit a variety of needs and price points.
2. Network strength – and savings²
When evaluating provider networks, the number of dentists is the first thing most clients – and employees – consider. Make sure the evaluation looks beyond the network’s size to also understand the network discounts and potential cost savings.
By highlighting the in-network discount amounts and network utilization rates, you can help clients measure a dental network’s strength and value. Utilization percentages tell you how often the discounts are used, which can help to drive down plan costs and out-of-pocket costs.
With a PPO network that includes 521,000+ dentist access points nationwide,³ MetLife’s dental plans include network discounts that average 30 to 45 percent below community average charges.⁴ MetLife’s high in-network utilization is 6.5% higher than the industry average⁵, indicating that MetLife offers more savings for dentists that employees prefer.
In addition, MetLife’s network providers are held to the network’s discounted fee schedule. That means there are no unexpected costs for plan participants, even if they exceed the annual maximum benefit and frequency and age limitations.⁶
3. Provider quality
Another key factor to employee satisfaction is the quality of providers in the network. A carrier’s approach to vetting, ongoing education, and monitoring of network providers is an essential component of a stable, reliable network that provides employees with appropriate and consistent care.
To gauge provider network quality, review the carrier’s rejection rate for dentists applying to join the network. Then, evaluate the network’s voluntary turnover rate to gain an understanding of its overall stability.
MetLife’s vetting process includes extensive reviews when a provider applies to join the network, analyzing the dentist’s licensing, sanctions, malpractice history, and overall practice patterns to determine whether a dentist is a good fit for the network.
Once dentists have been accepted into the network, they are continually monitored and go through a re-credentialing process every three years.
Deliver dental benefits that help drive satisfaction and retention for your small business clients. Click here to learn more about MetLife Dental’s plan design flexibility, network strength, and provider quality.
For questions or help with a MetLife quote, please contact a member of your B&P Sales Team - 888.722.3373.
1 MetLife’s 19th Annual U.S. Employee Benefits Trends Study, 2021.
2 Savings from enrolling in a dental benefits plan will depend on various factors including the cost of the plan, how often participants visit the dentist and the cost of services rendered.
3 MetLife PDP Plus data as of 2020.
4 Based on MetLife internal data.
5 Dental Actuarial Analytics, Dental PPO Network Study, 2019 edition.
6 Subject to applicable law.