As a dentist, your main focus is providing quality oral health care to your patients. To achieve this, you need to ensure your business is running efficiently with a team that shares the same dedication and passion as you do.
Unfortunately, pure dedication is not enough to sustain your dental business and, you need to pay attention to your revenue cycle management. In this article, we look at the strategies you can use to ensure your revenue cycle management is kept on point.
Do not overwhelm the doctor.
Patient scheduling plays a big part in your Revenue Cycle Management ( RCM ). If not properly managed, you will find yourself with an overwhelming number of appointments. We don’t need to tell you what happens here, bad patient experiences, bad reviews and yes, no revenue.
Are you sure your patient is eligible?
Dental health Insurance makes it easy for your patient to get much-needed attention. This does not always go without its challenges. Many patients will present health insurance that does not cover their procedure and will inevitably short-change the dentist. You need to make sure your patient’s insurance is verified for both your practice and your patient’s sake.
Create payment plans for your patients.
So, your patient is faced with a problem when it comes to paying for their procedure. What do you do? turn them away? we think not. Prepare for these unfortunate scenarios by having payment plans in place. These will ensure that your patient gets the help they need and you get your much-needed revenue.
Correct coding.
When dealing with dental billing claims it is essential to have the correct coding. American Dental Association (ADA) has a list of codes depending on the dental process, and it keeps everything moving in a timely direction. The list is annually updated. It is up to you to know these codes so that you do not delay your payments.
Leverage Virtual teams for your RCM success.
There are several things that a dentist needs to look into if you are going to have top-tier RCM. We recommend you invest in cost-effective virtual team members. These team members can take on every element of your RCM including
- Scheduling,
- Appointment,
- Insurance verification,
- Eligibility checks,
- Treatment planning,
- Claim submissions,
- Insurance and patient payment collection,
- Account receivable
Conclusion
Dental Service Organizations (DSOs) can benefit from leveraging Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) solutions. When done right you will find your dental business revenue and patient retention will improve.
