How Dental Credentialing Affects the Practice’s Revenue Cycle

How Dental Credentialing Affects the Practice’s Revenue Cycle

Dental credentialing is a vital process that plays a key role in a dental practice's operations and profitability. It can affect the practice’s revenue, growth, and customer flow. The dental care sector is highly competitive, and the practice must be an in-network provider with various insurance organizations to gain a competitive edge. Here’s where the dental credentialing impact plays a decisive role in augmenting the patient base and revenue.

What is dental credentialing? 

Dental credentialing is about verifying a dental practitioner’s qualifications, work experience, and professional background. This enables the dentist to become an approved provider with different insurance organizations. This process can be cumbersome and time-consuming and needs a good deal of focus and an organized approach. The team needs to consistently follow up to get the paperwork processed and completed promptly.

Automation and dental credentialing

A practice can rely on automation solutions that can considerably enhance the dental credentialing process through secure electronic data entry. The team can submit all the data through a user-friendly portal thereby lowering the risk of manual entry errors. Such a streamlined and swift process enhances accuracy while also accelerating the timeline for completing all credentialing requirements.

Besides data entry, automated solutions can integrate with multiple verification sources for confirmation of vital input details such as licenses and educational qualifications. As a result of this integration capability, the need for manual verification of these jobs gets significantly reduced. These solutions also ensure that all mandatory compliance standards are adhered to without any delay.

Automated solutions also offer real-time dashboards. They provide the dental team with an updated status in real time. This enables the team to spot any missing information or documents that could lead to a delay in the credentialing process. These solutions can also be integrated an existing practice management software. This can prevent any duplicate data entry thereby ensuring consistency in operations.

These automated solutions result in dental credentialing impact and enable the practice to focus more on patient care and less on administrative jobs.

Benefits of credentialing and its impact on revenue cycle management  Additional patients to the practice 

Getting credentialed enables a practice to become an in-network provider. This can create an influx of potential patients who could come to the practice to utilize their insurance benefits. By getting credentialed with several insurance companies, services are more affordable and accessible to the patients who need them. With this extra visibility, a steady stream of additional patients impacts revenue growth.

Credentialing plays a role in marketing and promotion 

An insurance company stands to benefit from patient co-pays, deductibles, and other fees.  Hence, it needs the dental practices that are credentialed with them to be successful. Hence a dental practice can garner additional patients through visibility with the insurance organization and this creates an impact on the revenue of the practice.

When a patient finds a dental practice backed by their insurance organization or featured a list of preferred in-network service providers, this can help to pull patients to the practice. These patients would also be more receptive to using the services of the practice as their insurance plans would cover procedures and services that are recommended.

A boost of confidence to patients  

Credentialing is a sign of assurance and a sign of confidence provided by the insurance organization. By getting dental practitioners from the dental practice credentialed, an insurance organization subtly outlines a level of confidence and trust that it has in a dental practice. This gives patients an extra push to visit the dental practice and avail of quality services and treatment.

Rigour and discipline

Credentialing is often a time-consuming process due to administrative requirements and extensive documentation. This reduces the chance of a claim denial. An insurance organization also attaches their brand and reputation to the practice.

To solidify the partnership between the insurance company and the practice, they need to observe how the practice adopts a disciplined approach to work while also following proper procedures. As a result of such demands, the practice offers better quality treatment and services to a patient. This attracts more patients to the practice and helps to increase revenue and growth.

A competitive advantage that drives growth

The dental care market is intense and competitive. Credentialing with various insurance companies can differentiate the practice from competitors who do not offer a wide range of in-network options. This in-network status drives more predictable and consistent revenue for the practice due to higher patient volumes.

As an in-network provider, one is reimbursed for services and procedures not available for out-of-network dentists. This enables the dental practice to offer a wider range of treatments for existing or potential patients thus garnering more revenue.

Reduced out-of-pocket expenses  

As an in-network provider, a patient can enjoy reduced out-of-pocket expenses. This can spur them to avail of treatment and services more often.

Dental credentialing can offer a dental practice significant benefits that include enhanced revenue, reduced claim denials, and greater cash flows. It enables the practice to become an in-network provider that also helps drive an additional stream of patients.

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