The objective of every dental practice must have the need to deliver quality care to patients. But beyond just care, it also needs to stay profitable to be sustainable. Here is where collections from patients and insurance companies play an important role.
Before the team focuses on reimbursement from patients or insurance providers, there is a lot of critical work that needs to be done. The team needs to verify all patient information details.
The team also needs to document the entire process of treatment and procedures, collect all supporting files or images, clinical notes, and other relevant details.
One of the complex steps that needs to be undertaken once the treatment is done is the processing of claims. The dental team needs to be aware of evolving dental claim guidelines as well as other requirements of the insurance company. This claim preparation process is tricky and needs attention to detail. A few dental practices explore outsourcing the claims submission process to a billing and collections specialist, which reduces the need for additional team members while enhancing productivity. Another alternative is to explore acquiring a popular software option that can help automate the claim posting and submission process.
A few reasons why every dental practice must consider automation of the claim posting and submission process are as below.
Billing is a cumbersome task, and the dental team will take a fair bit of time to manage the entire billing process. This also includes sending out patient statements and calling them for follow-up on payments. Typical solutions charge a fee for mail payment reminders, postage cost, envelopes, stationery, etc, even if sent electronically by using the practice management software of the clinic.
While the practice can hire a skilled member to join the dental team, it does not make business sense to perform routine tasks that are a waste of time and money. It makes better sense if the practice considers outsourcing or using automation software so that the dental team can focus on managing patients more efficiently.
The dental team can ensure that automation of patient billing and claims submission can be integrated into the existing practice management software. This can help to save critical resources like time and money.
A majority of dental practices will have some patients who will not make payments even after several reminders through email or telephone calls, irrespective of the number of times the team reaches out to them. outreaches. From a business perspective, it can have a frustrating impact, but such situations are unavoidable.
In these cases, the software can automatically collate a list of patients with outstanding dues for further action.
Automation of the claim process can help the dental practice streamline and accelerate all billing and claim submission activities. The entire list of activities can be sped that includes gathering data, claim settlement, reports, and analytics. Automation does not fully eliminate the manual effort, but it considerably curtails routine tasks, and this enables the dental team to focus on more important jobs and patient management.
Many automation software solutions also incorporate AI-enabled features that can offer better decision-making choices due to elaborate analytics-based reports. The practice can assess and detect damage estimation or possible insurance fraud swiftly. The team can also rationalize operational processes, optimize costs, and deliver a pleasing experience to the patient.
Automation can effectively help to submit claims electronically through claim modules. Once submitted, the team can get a status update from the clearing house. The software solutions are generally simple and user-friendly. They come with separate tabs that include pending claims, all claims, denied, etc.
For any practice, monitoring is very important, and these solutions offer reporting tools that provide the dental team with real-time data on current aging dues from patients and the insurance companies.
The team can also provide detailed summaries of pending claims. One can check claims based on the number of days overdue, and one has a link that lands on the respective patient’s ledger. The menu also enables users to browse the account of any patient if any additional review is needed.
Robust analytical capabilities offer an overview of insurance aging totals and other related information. The team has access to dashboards that provide performance analytics at a glance. With advanced Dental Insurance Claims Processing tools, the team can analyze indicators connected to insurance codes, claims pending submission, claims pending creation, and more. These incisive reports help the practice design effective action plans for improving workflow and driving productivity.
The team can have quick access to claim flags that can monitor progress and status easily from the claim module. The team can create additional flags as required to garner feedback on how claims are getting processed.
Accurate claim submission is a must for a dental practice to enjoy a robust revenue pipeline. The team needs to document the entire process of treatment. The practice can purchase an automation solution that enhances productivity and patient satisfaction. The dental team also gets more time to focus on other important activities.
