In this episode of the Less Insurance Dependence podcast, host Lester De Alwis welcomes Heidi Mount, a dental practice coach with over 33 years in the field, for a conversation about the revenue already sitting in most practices’ schedules. Heidi has worked in offices where 98% of patients accepted treatment plans, and her focus is simple: showing dentists how to add hundreds of dollars a day to tomorrow’s schedule without a single new patient.
Heidi makes the case that the biggest untapped opportunity in most established practices is not new patient acquisition, but reactivating patients who are already on the books. She walks through why the unscheduled treatment list often represents over a million dollars in lost production, why no-shows and cancellations are the single biggest daily leak, and how a scheduling mistake as small as a mistimed crown prep can cost a practice thousands. She also breaks down why insurance objections are really communication problems in disguise, and why chasing every patient instead of a defined niche quietly caps a practice’s growth.
The conversation closes with a practical next step: run a new patient report, identify patients spending $3,000–$5,000 or more, and look for what they have in common. That pattern points to a practice’s real niche. Get scheduling, follow-up, and communication right, and the revenue a practice needs is already there, waiting to be unlocked.
Key Takeaways
- The biggest untapped revenue is already on the books, not in new patient marketing. In most established practices, the unscheduled treatment list represents over a million dollars in lost production. The real gap is follow-up: staff default to whatever feels most urgent that day instead of prioritizing reactivation calls.
- No-shows and cancellations are the single biggest daily leak, and it’s often a mindset problem, not a money problem. Teams frequently prejudge patients as unable to afford treatment or assume they’ll “only do what insurance covers.” Consistent, judgment-free communication builds the trust that actually drives case acceptance.
- Scheduling precision alone can be worth thousands of dollars a week. A crown prep on a tooth that doesn’t need anesthetic or a temporary can take 10 to 15 minutes, not the default hour. Blanket appointment-length templates waste chair time that could be used for production.
- Insurance objections are a communication failure, not an insurance problem. When a team creates value for the specific outcome a patient wants before price comes up, insurance becomes less of a deciding factor. The goal is to prevent the objection, not argue with it after it surfaces.
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Episode Timestamps
- 00:00:05 – Introduction: Meet Heidi Mount
- Lester De Alwis introduces Heidi Mount, a dental practice coach with over 33 years in the field, known for helping dentists add revenue to tomorrow’s schedule without a single new patient.
- Today’s topic: why the schedule is quietly bleeding money, and exactly what it takes to stop the leak.
View Transcript
Lester De Alwis: Welcome to the Less Insurance Dependence podcast. I’m your host, Lester D. Today, I’m honored to welcome Heidi Mount, a dental business coach with over 33 years in the dental field and one of the most in-demand voices in practice profitability. Heidi has worked in offices where 98% of patients accepted treatment plans. Her niche is simple and powerful: showing dentists how to make $500 more a day on tomorrow’s schedule without a single new patient. Today’s episode is called Your Schedule Is Bleeding Money: Here’s How to Stop It.
Heidi Mount: Thank you so much for having us.
- 00:01:10 – The Hidden Revenue Most Practices Don’t Know They’re Sitting On
- Heidi’s answer: reactivating existing patients, not chasing new ones. The unscheduled treatment list frequently exceeds $1 million in most established practices.
- The core issue is a lack of follow-up. Staff default to email, paperwork, and insurance calls instead of prioritizing outreach to patients who need to be rescheduled.
View Transcript
Heidi Mount: Most dentists are calling me because they’re totally frustrated or plateaued. The number one thing I see in established offices is that reactivating the patients you already have is a pot of gold. When you run reports, the unscheduled list is usually in the millions. Lack of follow-up is the biggest concern.
- 00:04:13 – Where the Money Actually Leaks: No-Shows and Cancellations
- The single biggest daily leak is no-shows and cancellations, and it often stems from a mindset rather than affordability.
- Teams sometimes prejudge patients as "insurance only" and stop presenting treatment, which patients read as not being cared about.
- Mixed messaging between the hygienist and the doctor on a diagnosis erodes trust fast and gives patients a reason to walk away.
View Transcript
Heidi Mount: No-shows and cancellations. Sometimes it’s a mindset where employees feel like that patient can’t afford it, that patient will only do what insurance covers. So sometimes it’s an attitude, and we prejudge our patients when you just never know. If you treat your patients equally every single time and your customer service is consistent, they really feel like you care.
- 00:05:51 – Diagnosing a Practice’s Revenue Leaks in Under 30 Minutes
- Heidi reviews patient charts, notes, codes, fees, appointment lengths, and the practice management software’s programming.
- The most common problem: patients get lost in the schedule because treatment plans aren’t entered correctly, so they never surface on the right follow-up list.
- Real example: a crown prep that only needs 10 to 15 minutes of chair time gets scheduled for 90 minutes by default, costing the doctor thousands in lost production.
View Transcript
Heidi Mount: The most common thing I see is patients lost in the schedule. We’re not only not following up, but we’re also programming it wrong, where they don’t even show up on the proper list. Let’s say a patient has a flag indicating they never use a nesthetic. This tooth literally is gonna take the doctor 10 or 15 minutes, and yet we’re scheduling an hour and a half when that doctor could have made three more thousand dollars.
- 00:07:41 – Sponsor Break: Ekwa Marketing
- Ekwa Marketing offers a complimentary practice growth audit, no pitch and no pressure, focused on attracting patients who value care over insurance coverage.
- Book a complimentary session at lessinsurancedependence.com/msm.
- 00:08:40 – Insurance Objections Are a Communication Problem
- Heidi’s take: patients shouldn’t be bringing up insurance at all if value has been properly communicated before price.
- The fix is to prevent the objection, not argue with it afterward. Patients aren’t buying the crown; they’re buying the result the crown gives them.
- Tying treatment to what a patient actually wants, whether that’s sleep, bite, or aesthetics, takes insurance out of the decision.
View Transcript
Heidi Mount: Patients shouldn’t bring up insurance at all. It’s, of course,e a communication problem. When team members learn to create value for the service the patient actually wants, then insurance won’t matter. They’re not buying the crown; they’re buying the results it delivers.
- 00:10:31 – Attracting the Right Patient: Why a Niche Beats General Marketing
- A common mismatch: a website full of family and children’s imagery while trying to market implants or cosmetic cases.
- Heidi’s marketing analogy: a coach who says "I help middle-aged women lose two inches off their waist" attracts far more than one offering generic meal plans, because specificity signals expertise.
- Mixing coupon-style offers with high-end cosmetic marketing sends conflicting signals and repels the higher-value patient that a practice actually wants.
View Transcript
Heidi Mount: Make your website your ideal patient. If you have a niche or something you specialize in, you will attract way more. Every dentist wants cosmetic cases, but then I look at their website, and it’s crooked teeth or the midlines are off, and then there’s a coupon to come in for 29 bucks to get your teeth cleaned. You’re not gonna attract a high-end person if you do that.
- 00:12:06 – The New Patient Report: Finding a Practice’s Real Niche
- Heidi’s method: pull a new patient report, look for patients who spent $3,000 to $5,000 or more over the past few months, and identify what they have in common.
- That pattern, whether it’s demographics, treatment type, or referral source, points directly to a practice’s most profitable niche and to where marketing dollars should be spent.
- A related audit: review treatment case acceptance to see what’s walking out the door. If crowns, bridges, or implants are being declined, that’s the specific conversation script to fix first.
View Transcript
Heidi Mount: When I look at a new patient report, I’m looking for somebody who spent three to five thousand dollars or more in the past two, three, or four months. What do these patients have in common? You will find something that you’re naturally good at selling. You need to figure out who your ideal patient is so you can market only to that niche.
- 00:15:08 – Where to Find Heidi Mount
- Website: coachheidimount.com, with a booking link to reserve a call directly.
- Email: heidi@coachingdentist.com.
- Free Facebook group: Coaching with Heidi Mount, plus a Coach Heidi Mount app with free classes and marketing resources.
View Transcript
Heidi Mount: You can find me at coachheidimount.com. There’s a booking link in there. My email is heidi@coachingdentist.com, and they can join my Facebook group called Coaching with Heidi Mount. It is free. I even have an app called Coach Heidi Mount. I’m always willing to give a free coaching call.
- 00:17:04 – Closing: Plug the Leak First
- Lester’s closing message: the revenue needed to reduce insurance dependence is already inside the practice, sitting in unscheduled treatment and unanswered follow-ups.
- Two ways to take action: book a complimentary marketing strategy meeting with Ekwa Marketing at lessinsurancedependence.com/msm, or a complimentary coaching strategy meeting with Gary at lessinsurancedependence.com/csm.
View Transcript
Lester De Alwis: The core message is very clear. The revenue you need to get off insurance is already in your practice. It’s in the unscheduled treatment; it’s in the holes in the schedule. You can schedule a complimentary marketing strategy meeting with Ekwa Marketing at lessinsurancedependence.com/msm or book a complimentary coaching strategy meeting with Gary at lessinsurancedependence.com/csm.
Patients really do not care about what the cost is if they receive a tremendous value — because the value you receive is more important than the money you spend. People don’t want to just buy something. What they want is a relationship.
Mike Sonick
Leadership is what holds everything together. If there’s no leadership, everything crumbles down.
Lester De Alwis
Resources
One of Gary's most significant achievements as a dental practice management coach is transforming his own practice, LifeSmiles, from one that was infected with PPO plans, no effective marketing strategy, and an overhead of 80% to a very successful dental practice that is currently one of the top-performing practices in the US.
As CEO of Ekwa Marketing, Naren has over a decade of experience working with dental practices and helping them attract the ideal type of patients to their practices. It is his goal to help dentists do more of the type of dentistry they love with the help and support of effective digital marketing.
