How Peppy Dental Retained Patients When Insurance Got Complicated While Simplifying Front Desk Work

Peppy Dental serves a community of patients who often delay preventive care because there are no clear, affordable payment options when traditional insurance isn’t an option. After years of payer participation, the practice made a deliberate shift away from state plans, an important move for sustainability, but one that risked patient disruption.

To make the transition work, the team paired operational rigor (capacity, scheduling protocols, and staff alignment) with a Clerri-powered membership that gave uninsured and access-constrained patients a practical alternative. As internal ownership increased and the team leaned into Clerri support and training, membership adoption accelerated, and program stability improved.

The Challenge

At Peppy Dental, the team’s goal has always been to make dental care accessible and affordable. Before Clerri and before any changes to insurance participation, they offered several patient-friendly options, including in-house managed ACH payment plans and CareCredit, to help families receive care without added stress.

However, many patients in the community were still delaying important preventive treatment because traditional insurance wasn’t available or didn’t fit their needs. At the same time, continuing to participate in certain state insurance plans became financially unsustainable. As Peppy grew, adding a fourth doctor and more hygienists, and as multiple offices in the area closed, the manual administrative lift behind managing those options also increased. The practice needed a way to maintain high-quality care and patient access while making responsible decisions for the long-term health of the business.

• Peppy’s patients needed an option that felt simple, affordable, and didn’t require taking on credit or debt.
• The community needed Peppy to remain accessible in an area with limited dental resources.
• The team needed a system to reduce manual administrative work, allowing staff to focus more on patient care.

What Changed with Clerri

Peppy Dental needed a clear, repeatable system that the whole team could run, especially as it navigated a payer shift and sought to protect patients' access to care. The change was a combination of internal ownership and Clerri execution that clarified the benefits of membership, made offers consistent, and added automation to enable the front desk to move faster.

• Positioned membership as the default alternative for uninsured and access-constrained patients (especially elderly patients on fixed incomes).
• Operational throughput supported demand (four doctors, 15 operatories, seven hygienists; 8,800+ active patients).
• Clerri automation, integrated with Eaglesoft PMS, streamlined manual tasks, enhanced eligibility and procedure visibility, and introduced checks and balances.

Team enablement and ownership, supported by Clerri's training, boosted staff confidence and trust in their ability to manage the program effectively.

Results that Matter

The membership momentum wasn’t a “flip the switch” moment. As payer strategies, operations, and the membership program aligned, Peppy Dental demonstrated leadership by building a dependable, patient-centered system that fosters trust and loyalty. In less than a year, the results speak volumes:

• Active members: 414 → 827
• Members added per month: 7.6 → 29
• Cancellation rate: 44% → 8%
• Renewal rate: 21% → 79%

Why Clerri?

What mattered most was removing friction at the front desk while making the offer easy to execute every time.

• Less manual work for enrollments and tracking.
• Better visibility into plan timing and included services.
• Support and training that helped the team run the program with confidence.