Plan Forward — Dental Membership Plan Implementation Playbook

For DSOs & Multi-Location Groups

About This Resource

For a DSO, a private membership plan program is a strategic revenue layer — one that captures uninsured patient volume, reduces fee schedule dependency on PPO panels, and creates a recurring revenue base that stabilizes location-level cash flow. Plan Forward's platform is built to make this manageable at scale.

Who this is for: DSO operations leaders, VP of Strategy, regional directors, and marketing leaders overseeing patient acquisition and revenue mix across 5+ locations.

What's covered: Why membership plans matter at DSO scale, enterprise rollout framework, plan design standardization, performance tracking, and vendor evaluation criteria.

What Plan Forward Does at DSO Scale

Plan Forward is a membership plan platform with multi-location support, PMS integrations, automation, and analytics designed to make membership programs manageable across a large location footprint.

DSO-relevant capabilities:

• Multi-location plan management from a centralized dashboard
• Customizable plans by practice, region, or state (for market-appropriate pricing)
• Automated member billing, renewals, and communications
• Read/write PMS integrations across major systems
• Enterprise analytics: membership revenue, churn, hygiene completion rates, production lift
• Marketing tools for patient acquisition and member retention

What Plan Forward positions as their core DSO differentiation: Read/write PMS integrations that actually work at scale, eliminating the double-entry burden that typically limits membership plan adoption across locations.

Why DSOs Benefit

Reducing PPO Dependency

Most DSOs operate with 60–80% of production coming from PPO-contracted patients. That dependency creates a structural margin problem: as PPO reimbursements stagnate or decline, the only levers are volume (more patients) and cost (less overhead). Neither is sustainable indefinitely.

Membership plans create a third lever: private-pay patients who pay the practice's full fee minus a plan-defined discount. The practice captures the full production revenue without the write-down, the claims processing overhead, or the payer relationship risk.

The math:

• PPO patient: $800 crown, average PPO write-down 30% = $560 collected
• Membership patient: $800 crown, 15% plan discount = $680 collected
• Difference: $120/crown or ~$14,000 per 100 membership patient restorative cases

At a 10-location DSO doing 2,000 restorative procedures per year with even 20% membership penetration: that's $280,000 in incremental margin vs. the same volume at PPO rates.

The Uninsured Population at DSO Scale

A multi-location DSO in metropolitan markets has significant uninsured patient opportunity. Uninsured patients often don't present until they have pain — then they disappear again after acute treatment. Membership plans convert them into consistent recall patients, improving both their oral health and the DSO's production per patient per year.

Enterprise Implementation Framework

Phase 1: Program Design (Weeks 1–3)

Plan standardization decisions:

• Standardized enterprise plans vs. location-customizable plans (recommend: standardized core + regional pricing flex)
• Service inclusions: 2 cleanings, 2 exams, core X-rays as baseline across all locations
• Discount tier: 15–20% on all other services (consistent across regions)
• Billing: monthly or annual, or both with annual incentive
• Child vs. adult pricing distinction

Market pricing research:

• Survey competitive membership plan pricing in your key markets
• Typical adult range: $30–$70/month depending on market cost of living
• Ensure plan pricing covers expected production cost of included services

Phase 2: Technology Setup (Weeks 4–5)

• Enterprise account configuration in Plan Forward
• PMS integration across all locations (or pilot cluster first)
• Staff training documentation and videos
• Patient-facing enrollment pages for each location (or enterprise-branded unified page)

Phase 3: Pilot Launch (Weeks 6–8)

• Launch at 3–5 locations with motivated office managers
• Target: 30+ members per location in first 60 days
• Track: enrollment rate per patient interaction, churn in first 90 days, production lift vs. non-member uninsured patients

Phase 4: Enterprise Rollout (Weeks 9–16)

• Standardized training package based on pilot learnings
• Regional manager KPI: membership enrollment as part of location scorecard
• Launch with patient communication campaign (email, in-office signage, website)
• Quarterly membership growth and churn review by region

Performance Framework

Location-Level KPIs

Enterprise-Level KPIs

Standardizing the Enrollment Conversation

The most common failure mode: membership plans are available but not actively presented. Enrollment requires a consistent, scripted conversation at the right moment.

Highest-yield enrollment moments:

1. New patient check-in (no insurance): "Before we get started, I want to let you know about our membership plan — it covers today's appointment and gives you a discount on anything we recommend."

2. Hygiene appointment (uninsured or lapsed insurance): "Have you heard about our membership plan? You'd save money on today's visit and everything we schedule going forward."

3. Treatment plan presentation: "If you're not already a member, joining today would give you a discount on this treatment plan. Here's what that looks like."

4. At checkout after first visit: "Based on what we did today and what we recommend for you, joining our plan would save you [X] on your next visit alone."

Plan Design for Multi-Market DSOs

For DSOs spanning multiple markets, consider a tiered pricing structure:

• Core plan design: Identical across all locations (services included, discount structure)
• Regional pricing: Price adjusted by market (e.g., $35/month in Southeast, $50/month in Northeast)
• State compliance: Some states have regulatory requirements for prepaid dental plans — confirm compliance before launching in each state

Key Questions to Ask Plan Forward

1. Does your platform support multi-location plan management from a single dashboard? Enterprise-level visibility vs. location-by-location management.

2. Can we set different pricing by region while maintaining a standardized plan structure? Critical for DSOs in multiple markets.

3. What state-by-state compliance support do you provide? Some states regulate prepaid dental plans — what guidance does Plan Forward offer?

4. What does your PMS read/write integration actually look like at scale? Request a technical walkthrough — not all integrations are equal.

5. What is your enterprise pricing structure? Per-location vs. flat enterprise rate? Volume discounts?

6. What analytics are available at the enterprise level? Enrollment rates, member churn, hygiene completion, production lift vs. non-member baseline.

7. Can you provide DSO customer references at comparable scale? Request 2+ references from multi-location groups.

Red Flags

⚠️ Write integration is limited or unreliable. At DSO scale, double-entry kills adoption. If PMS write integration isn't robust, the administrative burden will limit enrollment.

⚠️ No state compliance guidance. Launching a prepaid dental plan in states with regulatory requirements without guidance creates legal risk.

⚠️ No enterprise-level analytics. Location-by-location dashboards are insufficient for managing a program across 10+ locations.

⚠️ Per-location pricing with no enterprise discount. Costs should improve as you scale.

⚠️ Platform doesn't support regional pricing variation. A one-size-fits-all plan price will underperform in high-cost markets and overprice in lower-cost markets.

Pricing Context

Plan Forward enterprise pricing:

• Per-location monthly fee: Typically $99–$299/month depending on features and support
• Volume discounts: Available for enterprise accounts — negotiate based on location count
• Payment processing: Standard card processing fees (typically 2.5–3%)

Break-even math: at $150/location/month, you need approximately 4–5 members per location to cover platform cost. Most locations should hit 50+ members by end of Year 1 with active promotion.

Integrations

• PMS: Dentrix, Eaglesoft, Open Dental, Curve Dental (read/write)
• Payment: Stripe (card), ACH (bank)
• Marketing: Integration with patient communication platforms for member outreach

Avized Take

Plan Forward is a serious enterprise membership plan platform for DSOs that want to systematically grow their private-pay patient base and reduce PPO dependency. The read/write PMS integration is the most important differentiator — without it, the administrative burden of managing membership enrollment across locations becomes prohibitive.

For DSOs evaluating this space: the financial case is strong, the implementation is manageable with the right platform, and the Plan Forward team has genuine dental operations depth. Validate state compliance requirements and integration reliability, then pilot aggressively — the data from a successful pilot will justify rapid enterprise rollout.

This playbook was created by Avized as a free resource for the dental community. Visit avized.com to explore more vendor profiles, implementation resources, and advisory services.