Dental insurance verification is a crucial aspect for a dental practice and must be performed precisely. It can directly impact collection and profitability as it relates to both the sources of revenue for a dental practice – the insurance company and the patient.
A few ways a practice can benefit from a streamlined dental insurance verification approach that boosts profitability.
The goal of any dental practice is more than just business growth and profitability. It is also to offer quality care and service to patients who will then return again and again as the need arises. At times, a practice may have to resort to outsourcing insurance verification services to improve the patient experience.
A great patient experience ensures lower wait times. When proper verification is done well ahead of time, a patient will witness a reduction in wait times. At the time of arrival at the practice for the scheduled appointment, a patient does not need to be kept waiting while the front office team processes all the information and completes the verification process.
If there are complications, wrong or incomplete information, then the process would take even longer. An outsourced specialist completes these tasks on time and ensures that a patient can check in faster and smoothly.
Accuracy is vital in insurance verification. There will be no doubt or confusion about any patient information as the data has been checked and verified. It is sometimes obvious that dental insurance policies can be tough to understand and interpret. The dental team can thus make mistakes during the insurance verification process.
Such errors can create an issue that results in a claim denial. It can also add to the out-of-pocket expenses for a patient. A patient can thus get upset with the practice, and this unpleasant experience may not augur well for the practice.
Patient satisfaction can be enhanced when verification of insurance information is completed before the appointment. The dental practice can then share more accurate estimates for the recommended treatment and avoid any unpleasant surprises when it comes to presenting the bill to the patient. This advances the patient experience and drives loyalty and referrals.
dental team has multiple tasks to perform at the practice, and insurance verification is just one of them. The time and effort needed to collate all the relevant information of a patient for every appointment can leave little time for other activities.
Many studies have revealed that teams across most dental practices spend a maximum amount getting insurance information of patients verified. When a dental practice outsources insurance verification to an expert, the load on the dental team gets reduced. These specialists use advanced insurance verification software to ensure more accuracy and efficiency.
The team can then utilize this available time on other administrative and critical duties, such as patient scheduling, patient check-ins, responding to phone calls or queries, and treatment plan presentations.
The practice thus becomes more productive and competent by lowering the quantum of time spent on performing insurance verification and patient eligibility.
A large volume of revenue for a dental practice comes through insurance reimbursements, and a timely flow of such reimbursements is necessary to maintain profitability. When a practice is faced with claim denials or underpaid reimbursements, it can be left with a considerable loss.
It may be wise for a practice to outsource the insurance verification process and mitigate any potential financial losses.
An outsourced team can help reduce errors and denials. Very often, mistakes are made during the insurance verification, which can prove costly for a practice. The outsourced team uses the latest and updated insurance software to verify insurance information of patients and determine their eligibility and benefits. This results in a reduced number of errors and claim rejections.
They also ensure a streamlined process for verification that gets completed at least two or three days before the patient comes to the practice for treatment. This helps to curtail any errors on claims since there is no need to rush and collect insurance information for patients. This results in accurate and complete claims getting submitted for a timely reimbursement
thereby improving cash flows and profitability.
Any business can generate trust and loyalty when it operates with financial transparency, and a dental practice is no exception.
The dental team needs to ensure informed consent from the patient. Every patient needs to know and understand their insurance coverage and what amount of the bill will be covered, and what the approximate out-of-pocket expenses are.
When all information is accurate and updated, the dental team can then share alternative solutions, risks and benefits, and associated costs. Dental insurance is complex, and a clearer understanding of insurance coverage and benefits will help a patient understand what their policy covers. When verification is done on time, the dental team gets more time on hand to effectively communicate a patient can expect from insurance coverage and other possible options.
The dental team needs to be abreast of all the timely updates provided by insurance companies on patient insurance policies. Policies are subject to periodic change, and patients can raise queries regarding coverage and other details. By staying updated on such changes, the dental team can offer patients any impact that these changes have with regard to coverage, eligibility, etc.
When insurance verification for patients of the dental practice is effectively carried out, a practice can gain a fair bit of competitive advantage. Patients are looking for quality treatment backed by a superior experience across all touchpoints of the dental practice.
Billing and insurance are key for a practice to thrive, and it needs to stand out from its competition. Outsourcing this critical activity can aid the dental team in focusing on core areas and thus have the means to offer better quality care to patients.
An outsourced expert not just enables the dental team to provide quality care, but also enhances profitability and the experience that patients value.
Insurance verification to determine the eligibility and coverage of a patient is a vital process. It needs to be handled and managed effectively, as this can have a positive impact on the practice. Capline Dental Services emphasizes that accurate and timely insurance verification can lead to a more profitable operation while also delivering a superior patient experience.
