Overall satisfaction with dental plans is down 15 points on a 1,000-point scale from a year ago, according to data released by J.D. Power on June 14. The survey, says J.D. Powers, highlights that dental plan providers must employ strong communication strategies to highlight the value of the insurance plan, and they must increase customer satisfaction.
The findings come from J.D. Power's "2022 U.S. Dental Plan Satisfaction Study." As dental practices continue to consolidate following two years of uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, patient visits are less than satisfactory.
"While consolidation in the dental industry could provide a higher level of service, plan providers still have work to do," Christopher Lis, managing director of global healthcare intelligence at J.D. Power, said. "Customer satisfaction in both dental plan cost and coverage correlates directly with the ease of understanding plan benefits and services."
The study is based on feedback from 1,263 dental plan members. It was done in March and April of 2002 and measured customer satisfaction based on five factors in order of importance: cost, coverage, communications, customer service, and claims and reimbursement.
On a 1,000-point-scale, plans averaged 784 points. Humana Dental ranked the highest, scoring 794. UnitedHealthcare Dental ranked second, with a score of 789, and DentaQuest ranked third, with a score of 784.
