Dental Plan Social Coupons
Groupon, Living Social, and other online discount sites provide a new way to reach out to dentistry customers. A simple description, emailed in geo-specific mailing lists to local customers, allows possible dental patients living near a general dentist office to get discounted treatment. A general dentist will get possible repeat business out of it, so it would seem everybody wins. But the state of Oregon says no. The Oregon Board of Dentistry announced this week that they are banning the use of Groupons and other referral websites as they violate the state’s “no commissions” rule.
According to the board’s website, Groupon and other companies are “soliciting Oregon licensees to enter into contracts for marketing and promotion services between the licensee and the company to promote voucher systems for potential patients.” According to their statement, there is an investigation pending, but Oregon licensed dentists are advised to not use these types of coupons until the matter can be judged more closely. The state commission rules prohibit “offering rebates, split fees, or commissions for services rendered to a patient to any person other than a partner, employee, or employer.”
While these marketing efforts have gotten a lot of new patients for dentists across the country, states will likely be examining their own state statutes, either looking to ban these deal websites or to change the law. But patients should act accordingly, talk to an insurance company about group coverage, and not rely on discount offers to be around forever.