Dental billing can be considered one of every dental practice’s nightmares. Having a single dental office manager cater to treatment plans as well as manage account receivables is a lot to ask of any professional. This doesn’t mean that it is impossible to solve this and other demanding tasks.
In this article, we will identify some of the common dental billing problems and how using a remote dental billing company can help you solve them.
Common dental billing issues:
1. More Patients Owing
Without an effective follow-up solution, you will end up with more patients who make away with unpaid bills. Most dental patients are under one insurance policy or another, and these inevitable pile-up errors make claims impossible to collect.
As the realization that losses are increasing, the common reaction is to increase the number of patients you attend. The dentist now works overtime in a bid to increase revenue. This is usually not an ideal approach, as collections will remain low, with more patients filing unverified insurance or delaying payments.
2. Denied Insurance Claims
Unpaid treatments are not the only problem. As insurance claims are denied, appeals need to be made to ensure that reversals or claims are successful and you collect what you are owed. This results in lost time and can affect patient experience due to a preoccupied staff.
3. Not enough time
Dental billing becomes a heavy burden on practices when only one person has to;
- Patient attention in the office
- Treatment plans
- Calls
- Insurance claims
- Post credits
- Appeals to denied claims
- Manage account receivables
This deprives you and your staff of time to focus on income-generating aspects of the practice. Your main focus will be limited to fixing the many things that are not going right, frequently neglecting to pay attention to detail when processing billings.
4. An affected patient ledger
As the toll weighs on the office manager, patients are bound to turn away from your practice. A loss in patients also means a loss in revenue which could, in turn, lead to a loss of your whole business.
Remote Dental Billing Solutions
1. Get good I.T solutions
Investing in simple filing and organizing software solutions. These need not be in your office. Specialists can be outsourced to your existing team, these virtual team members assist your practice.
While still on the issue of I.T there is a need to secure your online network should you choose to have one installed. This ensures that patient data is secured at all times. Avoid the advent of costly hacks or mistakes. This also builds trust between you and your patients.
2. Dental Billing and insurance verification
Close to 30 % of revenue is lost to unverified insurance claims. This means that there is a need to have professionals. As claims get well managed you can spot procedures that rent covered by a particular policy. This makes it easy for you to tell your patients how to get the best medical procedure they need without the stress of shortfall or denied claims. This also ensures you always see a successful claim.
With a virtual team complimenting your accounting. You get quicker responses on claims filed. This quick turnaround time makes it possible for you to improve your billing. There is also the added advantage of having errors eliminated from all your paperwork.
3. Virtual assistants save time, time is money
The idea of having a virtual assistant might seem detached from billing but the two are intertwined. When you invest in virtual assistants you clear your schedule and lessen the workload all around. This makes it possible for you to pick out would-be errors and see more of your patients.
In summary when you spread out the workload you get;
- More expertise in your practice.
- Boosts the speed of applications and claims.
- Increased revenue.
- Elimination of billing errors.
- Get organized data and analytics.
- Savings on the money.
- Avoidance of payroll taxes.
- Focus more on your patients.
How To Choose A Dental Billing Company
There are several dental billing companies out there. All offer different price points and services. However, some dental billing companies make use of employees who are not native English speakers which could pose a problem.
Another, factor to look at is the training that is offered by the dental billing company. You need a company that trains its employees to efficiently and effectively handle your dental billing and coding.
Lastly, to ensure success, you will need to get your team’s buy-in for your virtual team member to fit into your existing team culture. If further training is required, one of your team members can also help.
Advantages of Remote Dental Billing Solutions
Dental billing saves on costs
Practices avoid virtual dental billing because they feel it will cost more. Having professionals handling all their paperwork sounds like a tall order. They however miss the bigger picture. Dental billing outsourcing is the most effective way to save on costs. With insourcing you don’t have to go through the rigorous process of hiring someone, buying extra stationery, equipment, software, and creating office space. Also, you save on employee payments and benefits. Insourcing offers you all these at one flat fee.
Lessen your paperwork
Dental billing comes with a ton of paperwork. Insourcing takes over that entire load. This makes what would be hard to get information available to you at a moment’s request. All documentation becomes the insourcing companies’ problem to organize and keep up-to-date. In addition, you save on any extra material, equipment, and furniture that might be required before you engage the insourcing company.
Save on time
Time is the biggest advantage of remote dental billing services. With the above-mentioned paperwork off your hands, you can now get back to being an active healthcare giver. This means better customer care, better patient reviews, and better well-rounded practice.
Direct resources where they are most needed
Having an insourcing company take care of your dental billing ensures that you have a dedicated team that is on call for you and you alone. This team is trained and adapted to dental billing and collections for the United States of America and is HIPPA certified.
This means that you would have saved on resources, physical and intellectual that should have been filling up your practice. Your dental team is now down to the men and women you need in your practice.
A quieter working environment
Billing issues seem to have no end. While a receptionist can try and attend to all the inquiries and calls it can overwhelm anyone. Not to mention the constant droning of a voice in the office all day. Insourcing does away with a bulk of that pressure and ensures your working area is optimized for production at all times.
Goodbye to document Errors
Having to fill and organize large amounts of billing paperwork leaves you prone to making a lot of errors. The mere thought is nightmarish. When you insource, you have an individual or a team if need be that specializes in billing organization and processing.
This means tasks are handled with attention to detail, getting rid of any possibility of errors. This helps your patients as well, patients will develop trust in your systems and you will realize higher patient retention.
Conclusion
Poor billing will result in slow cash flow, if you wait too long there might be nothing left to save your practice from going broke. Insourcing has become our number 1 recommendation. Manage your finances better and stay ahead of the pack.
With an improved billing system, you can claim without any hindrance, there is enhanced accuracy in all your administrative tasks. You also build better relations with your patients. Also, you have better cash flow protection. There is a lesser risk of not turning over a profit. This guide to outsourcing dental insurance verification can help you begin your journey.
