Why Should A Dental Practice Outsource Their Billing?

A dental practice, much like any other business, experiences its share of ups and downs. Outsourcing billing to a third party like Capline Dental Services can streamline various activities, such as reducing costs, simplifying operations, and ensuring consistent cash flow. Running a dental practice involves more than just treating patients and receiving payments; it includes juggling responsibilities between administrative & staff management tasks and patient care.

This article will delve into how outsourcing can improve overall efficiency and help dental offices collect more money from insurance companies.

Professionals as Team Members:

Navigating dental billing requires extensive knowledge and experience due to its ever-changing nature and overwhelming compliance with insurance regulations. Outsourcing ensures adherence to dental codes, payer guidelines, and claim submission requirements. At Capline, experts work to reduce claim rejections, minimize errors, and accelerate the reimbursement process.

The dental billing company adheres to patient privacy regulations set by HIPAA for secure data handling and storage. Outsourcing represents a significant step forward, bringing a new level of transparency and accountability to insurance collections.

Improvement in RCM for Dental Practices:

This is the most common reason dental practices choose to outsource. The process involves numerous steps, such as submitting claims, handling denials, and managing appeals. Partnering with a third party enhances productivity & efficiency and helps optimize Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) processes, ensuring quality service that boosts revenue.

Outsourcing allows staff to dedicate more time to enhancing patient satisfaction and loyalty, with dental billing processes handled accurately and without delay by an experienced company.

Cost Savings for Dental Practices:

Understanding the costs associated with maintaining a full-time in-house billing staff helps dental practices realize that outsourcing, contrary to initial beliefs, can lead to significant savings. It reduces expenses related to hiring, training, managing staff, and maintaining billing software.

In the long run, outsourcing provides a flexible team that can scale according to the needs and volume of the practice.

Improved Cash Flow for Dental Practices:

Outsourcing may not be the best option for every dental practice, but it can significantly improve cash flow by reducing claim rejections, ensuring timely reimbursements, and minimizing errors. The billing outsourcing company diligently follows up on outstanding claims and appeals, ensuring alignment and cohesive work between the billing company and the dental practice.

Freeing Staff from Administrative Work:

Billing is a lengthy process that can distract staff from patient care to filing claims. Dental staff already have numerous duties, and adding billing to their responsibilities can be overwhelming.

Responsibilities of the dental staff include:

• Answering phones,
• Managing appointment scheduling,
• Responding to patient queries,
• Assisting with form completion,
• Recording and updating patient information,
• Scheduling daily tasks for the staff,
• Managing follow-up appointments.

Additionally, taking on insurance verification and billing responsibilities can lead to errors and affect the quality of service.

Reports to Evaluate Performance:

Efficient tracking provides essential information to monitor the health of the dental practice. Billing outsourcing can offer reports such as:

• Accounts Receivable Aging Reports: These reports give an overview of patient balances due, outstanding insurance claims, and the duration of unpaid amounts.
• Performance Indicator Report: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in a dental practice include net collection rate, gross collection rate, outstanding accounts receivable, debt rate, denial rate, resolve rate, unbilled claim percentage, and comparisons of last year’s performance to current and future performance.
• Insurance Analysis Report: This report outlines the top insurers, CPT codes, and how informed decisions can aid in renegotiating contracts and ensuring timely payments.
• Payment Trend and Collection Report: This report details the billed amount, collected amount, and the duration of claims that remain unpaid.
• Patient Payment Report: This includes patient collections and outstanding balances.

Outsourcing dental billing can significantly benefit a practice by improving efficiency, saving costs, and enhancing patient satisfaction, making it a strategic choice for many dental offices.