Australasian Dentist Issue 93

28 AUSTRALASIAN DENTIST PROFILES 1800 806 450 www.amalgadent.com.au UNIVERSALLY UNIVERSALLY STRONG. SIMPLE. SEE BACK COVER FOR SPECIAL OFFER! Duolink Footer #93.indd 1 19/04/2022 3:52:51 PM A ustralia prides itself on the provision of qualityaffordablehealthcare, yetdental appointments continue to be an enormous out-of-pocket expense for many. Australia has the third-highest reliance on individual healthcare contributions. 1 Nearly half of the nation’s residents buy complementary and supplementary coverage for private hospital care and dental treatments that Medicare won’t cover. 2 Healthcare costs in Australia continue to increase, with approximately $185 billion – $7,485 per person – spent annually. 3 Dental check-ups and procedures are a key aspect of this spending. Unfortunately, unlike Medicare, which provides prescribed rebates and recommended fees from the Australian Medical Association (AMA), there are no standard fees for dental services provided by dentists across the country. Without transparency, many patients are unsure of how much they owe their dentist or how to pay their bill. Even if an individual has enough to cover the cost of these services, there are often variations in prices and fees from one dentist to another for similar procedures. As a result, Australians are avoiding and delaying important dental checkups and procedures, which could prove detrimental to their oral, and overall, health in the long- term. Below are my reasons why patients and dentists can benefit from price transparency in dentistry. Gives power to the patient. Price transparency allows for easier comparison of products and services by providing pre-procedure knowledge of prices and fees. As a result, patients are Four reasons why Australian dentistry needs price transparency better supported in their healthcare decision-making and have increased knowledge of their responsibility for payment. Helps patients avoid surprise medical bills. Knowledge of estimated out-of-pocket costs mitigates the chance of a patient receiving an unexpectedly large dental bill and takes some of the anxiety out of the overall payment process. Transparency in dental prices would likely increase provider competition and may decrease dental prices for patients. Increases patient trust. For dentists and other healthcare providers, this transparency often results in more profitable revenue collection from a lack of surprisemedical bills, as it promotes patient engagement and trust. Patients who are fully engaged in their care are more likely to maintain treatment plans, track their health, and ask their dentist questions. Allows dentists to monitor insurers. Dentists and patients share the same incentives to provide the lowest possible cost for quality care. With transparency, dentists can monitor the effectiveness of insurers by comparing different payment offers for providers across insurers and regions. Better-informed dentists can help patients shop for value. Price transparency and regulation in Australia would vastly improve healthcare access and affordability for many Australians and allow them to lead full, healthy lives. In the absence of such changes, Australians can also use a dental comparison service, which allows patients to compare the prices and fees of various treatments and procedures easily and accurately before visiting a dentist, not after receiving a hefty bill that causes them to further avoid dental care. u Visit www.airsmile.com Dr Heath Fraser is a dentist and founder of national dental service comparison site AirSmile. He has more than 15 years’ experience and is the owner of Avenue Dental Kawana and Fresh Breath Clinic in Queensland, leading a team of more than 20 across the three businesses. A passionate advocate for accessible, affordable and quality dental care for all Australians, Dr Fraser founded AirSmile in 2019 to enable more Australians to access these benefits. The comparison service is free to use and features an all-in-one online platform for Australians to search and compare dentists across the country, book and manage appointments, and access their dental records. By Dr Heath Fraser