February 8, 2023
The Keys to Growth: How Payer Organizations Can Thrive During Challenging Times
In this first of a two-part series, we discuss two priorities that business leaders can adopt to accelerate growth even in an uncertain world. These priorities can hold the key to growth in an ever-evolving dental landscape.
A data-driven mindset as the basis of growth
According to Accenture, to be successful today and in the future, companies need to become more data-driven than ever before. It’s not about just collecting more data though. Data is all around us. We’re drowning in it: each day, the world produces 5 exabytes of data.1 Instead, being data-driven is about how people and organizations operationalize data. Data can tell you whether you’re moving in the right direction, show areas that can be improved and guide how you go about implementing those improvements. It’s the stuff that leads to growth.
7 out of 10 most valuable enterprises today all rely on data to drive their key decision-making processes.1
For example, from our DentalMarketWatch® Forecasting Report, we know that General Practitioners:
- Are treating 46% of the orthodontic patients in 2022 compared to 30% pre-COVID
- Are treating 75% of the implant patients (and 80% of the treatments), compared to 67% pre-COVID
Knowing that GPs are doing more ortho and more implants today than before COVID could be meaningful to dental network managers interested in provider capabilities and utilization trends.
By integrating data-driven insights like those above, Forbes suggests that leaders at payer organizations have the opportunity to put these insights to work increasing operational excellence. And this leads to improving the customer experience — the only real path to sustainable growth.
Finding the courage to embrace new possibilities
Many businesses faced the unknown when the pandemic changed the way the world went about everyday processes. Now that the landscape looks vastly different, McKinsey says that it's tempting, but wrong, to pull back on initiatives and growth plans during uncertain times. Be wise about managing the downside, but pursue the upside with boldness and courage.
For dental payer organizations, incorporating boldness and courage into day-to-day operations might include leveraging big data sources to streamline the search for outlier abuse before claims are paid, or improving member engagement with oral health education, provider search and performance measurement tools. Or it might involve putting new data sources and analytics capabilities into the hands of the actuarial team to optimize fee schedules. Considering expanding network recruitment in a new area? With the right data at your fingertips, network development teams can be empowered to quickly find the best dentists to recruit and rapidly verify their credentials.
Bold moves can yield big payoffs – and while it might seem counterproductive to speed things up when other businesses are slowing down, courageous actions can allow your organization to pull ahead of the market. To learn about how you can leverage data to generate efficiencies and incorporate expert insights to grow, contact P&R Dental Strategies today.
