I admit it. I am a Groupon subscriber. I have not yet purchased a Groupon, but I do open my daily Groupon email with anticipation and excitement. What new meal, salon service or vacation awaits me today? Will it be a pedicure or a cupcake?
I recently opened my email and found a Groupon coupon for an examination and periodontal evaluation at a periodontist’s office. It was a Groupon for a $375 exam for only $85. That’s quite a discount. It made we wonder, if I was not a dentist, what would I think about a dentist who turns themselves into a coupon? I didn’t have to think that hard because the truth is, I was a Groupon too.
Before I started working for a corporate dental office, the marketing department advertised my services (without stating my name) by Groupon. The Groupon coupon was for an exam and “teeth cleaning” including x-rays, for $45. The patients (I am not sure that’s the correct term for this type of commercial transaction) paid Groupon the fee. Groupon passed $15 on to the practice. The front desk fills my schedule with potential new patients. My “job” according to the practice administrator is to “convert” Groupon patients to regular patients. The theory being that they will then pay for ongoing dental care. That’s not exactly what happened.
Groupon consumers are a clever bunch. I know because some of my friends use Groupons. They don’t eat anywhere without a Groupon. They get their haircut when they have a Groupon. In other words, no Groupon, no deal. This is now a documented phenomenon. ( see www.slate.com/id/2289087). Instead of increasing revenues, the Groupon has the opposite effect. Groupon teaches the consumer that they never have to pay “full price” ever again. Maybe an exam and cleaning is really only worth $45. Maybe an evaluation by a periodontist shouldn’t cost $375. If it really was worth more, why would they offer such a big discount?
This is what actually happened in my office. The majority of the patients using the Groupon had no dental insurance or no current employment. Most had little or no dental needs and they were aware of this because they had, up to the current economic crisis, been regular patients somewhere else. Many patients commented on how nice the office was, presumably because when using a coupon for healthcare there is an assumption that no “nice” office would offer a coupon. Few, if any patients opted for more ongoing dental care. And my guess is that when their recall appointments roll around, they will be at the next Groupon office.
My very first patient on my very first day was a Groupon patient. He turned out not to be a typical Groupon patient. He had not been to the dentist in 12 years. He didn’t need a “teeth cleaning”. However he did need 4 quads of SRP (scaling and root planning or deep cleaning). The practice administrator didn’t know what to do. The patient had prepaid for a teeth cleaning so we”had” to do it. Yes, an ethical dilemma on my first day back in private practice. Actually it was an easy one. I educated the patient about the need for 4 quads of SRP. I explained that that “teeth cleaning” was not indicated for his case. I also told him what the exam would have cost without the Groupon. And I was lucky that he was a nice guy who understood that $45 was not going to clean up 12 years of neglect.
Practicing dentistry is not the same as selling cupcakes. Why are we trying so hard to become cupcake sellers?
