An effective and smooth dental billing process is vital to ensure a positive cash flow by minimizing claim denials while augmenting revenues for a practice. The process needs to foster timely and precise submission of bills and adequate follow-up to receive timely payments from insurance companies. This calls for accurate billing and coding by the dental team or even consideration for outsourcing dental billing.
Accuracy and coding in billing results in fair and just billing for patients. Many practices might not have large teams to handle billing and related tasks. Moreover, it takes resources and time for teams to be periodically trained and updated on coding and other evolving guidelines. Several practices prefer outsourcing dental billing to specialists to lighten the burden on the existing team, but more importantly, to foster a more efficient billing process that yields financial benefits for the practice.
It has been observed that more than half the revenue that a dental practice earns gets allocated to operational overheads including revenue cycle management services. Outsourcing billing services is effective and economical as knowledgeable professionals can help save time and money without compromising on accuracy.
Outsourcing helps in multiple ways that ultimately lead to greater profitability and revenue while also allowing the dental team to focus on its core area of offering quality care to patients.
Coding is the primary driver for maximizing payouts by the insurance company. The precise usage of codes in billing helps a practice to explicitly define the services and procedures provided to the patient. Billing companies have
adequately trained and experienced professionals who are experts in dental coding and billing.
These professionals receive periodic training and stay abreast of evolving guidelines that govern billing procedures. They are well aware of HIPAA and other regulatory necessities. These companies also undertake internal audits regularly to detect possible compliance issues and take remedial steps accordingly.
Outsourced professionals do not commit typical errors such as incorrect or incomplete patient details and dental codes. Other typical errors such as duplicate billing errors in coordination of benefits are avoided.
A dedicated outsourced team can manage the complete billing process. This includes accurate submission of claims, consistent follow-up, and handling of claim denials. Timely billing with minimal errors results in faster payments.
Optimizing the revenue cycle management process can be made simple and faster with technology. Billing companies use advanced technology stacks that can be customized as per the need of the practice. These technology platforms aid in identifying coding errors and monitoring the status of claims. It can also create detailed reports that evaluate billing efficiency.
Claim denials are a major issue for a dental practice. By outsourcing billing and coding, a practice can take advantage of practical and tested denial management strategies adopted by billing professionals. A systematic analysis of denial trends and past data can result in remedial steps that can enable the practice to handle denied claims promptly.
Billing experts are quick and knowledgeable in resolving patient queries smoothly. This makes a difference to the practice as faster response times coupled with precise responses can lead to higher patient retention and satisfaction.
Many outsourcing companies offer a flexible package based on several factors. These include the scope and the level of service needed. As business increases, the practice can scale the services as and when needed.
Leveraging the skill and expertise of experienced outsourced companies can enable a dental practice to maximize reimbursement rates and minimize claim errors. These professionals are adept at managing the entire revenue cycle management process. Outsourcing reduces the burden on the existing dental team while the practice gets access to advanced technology and tools that can elevate its financial performance for maximum gain.
