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The Changing Face of Dental Billing with Dental Insurance Market Trends

3/28/2023

SB Dental Solutions Dental Billing Company is always keeping an eye out for changes in the dental billing field. Lately, a lot of chatter centers around the dental insurance market and their continued combination with the larger healthcare industry.

According to research by West Monroe Partners, the dental insurance industry threatens to shrink and merge with the larger insurance Industry. West Monroe surveyed industry professionals and found, “The portion of health plans offering adult dental benefits has quite doubled since 2018.” Meanwhile, a third of West Monroe’s survey respondents speculated that stand-alone dental payers’ market share will fall to 90% by 2025 (from around 97% today), and one in five believe it'll drop below 85%. This comes as no surprise, as a similar 2017 survey determined that around 96% of insurers believe the two markets will ultimately merge into one.

Inflexible Dental Insurance Companies get Left Behind
As a result of these shifts, industry leaders predict that individual dental insurance providers must either evolve, partner with medical insurance, or decline due to emerging competition. While some dental insurance companies will fall victim to the changing tide, many insurers acknowledge the approaching change, and they’re getting ready. In fact, some view convergence as a good chance to partner with and “embed” their dental benefits in new health plans.

The Upshot for Dentists
The changing industry does pose some risk to dental insurance companies that refuse to adapt, but it also offers an opportunity for providers and payers alike to extend holistic, value-based treatment to more patients for a lower price.

For one thing, dental coverage is the strongest determinant of whether a patient will schedule regular dental appointments, which should increase the subsequent volume of patients. Secondly, access to insurance coverage may increase case acceptance for expensive dental procedures like Endodontic restorations. Finally, merging medical and dental records allow for better knowledge-sharing and cooperation between providers.

Yes, dental practices will have to adapt to new insurance plans, unfamiliar pay structures, and growing consumer demand for value-based care. But, thankfully, these industry shifts need not disrupt day-to-day dental practice. Our clients can depend upon highly trained dental billing professionals to navigate the changing landscape of dental insurance and reimbursement. Call today to learn more about our Dental Billing Solutions!

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3 Common Dental Billing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

3/15/2023

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Correct dental billing enables dental offices to receive proper compensation, but many hard-working dental practices struggle with simple mistakes. Even the smallest errors can lead to an automatic claim denial until corrected. Furthermore, inaccurate dental billing not only harms the dentist’s bottom line, but it also harms patients if they’re charged incorrectly. Thankfully, there is an easy solution. Outsourcing the dental billing process to a team of dedicated professionals improves precision and efficiency and saves dental offices valuable time and energy. But accurate billing begins with the dental practice itself. To get the best results from outsourcing to SB Dental Solutions Dental Billing Company, look out for these common mistakes:

1. Missing Dental Billing Information

Dental insurance companies require everything on a claim to match their records. Unfortunately, hard-working dental staff may forget to enter a piece of required information into a patient’s file. However, a good dental billing advocate like SB Dental Billing Solutions can help. We transfer patient data electronically, regularly update billing information, and communicate directly between dental insurance companies and dental practices to ensure we have the necessary information.

2. Record Discrepancies

On the other hand, the staff may enter incorrect patient information rather than simply skipping a required field. This could include misspelling the name of a patient or policyholder, recording the wrong date of birth, or using an outdated billing address. Just like with missing information, insurers will also deny claims with mismatched records. That’s another reason why SB Dental Billing Solution will confirm all pertinent patient details, which helps prevent denials.

3. Inaccurate Dental Coding

Additionally, billing incorrect codes can lead to denied claims if the procedure code doesn't match the diagnosis or if there's insufficient evidence justifying a specific service. Coding errors can also result in overcharging patients, which damages the dentist’s patient relationships and reputation. The primary way to avoid this error is by keeping detailed clinical notes and accurate chart files. Also, dental insurance companies may require a narrative to explain certain treatments. Our billing service offers proven narratives that facilitate reimbursement for those claims.

SB Dental Solutions Can Help! We examine each claim before submission to prevent clerical issues that cause denials. We then submit claims with all of the proper attachments, including pictures, diagnoses, and x-rays. With our help, dentists see fewer rejections and faster payments, which not only saves the practice time and labor but often increases overall revenue as well.

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Making Dentistry More Gender Inclusive for International Women’s Day

3/7/2023

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Is your dental practice a woman friendly workplace? Early March marks international Women’s Day, prompting many to reflect on the changing face of women in the workplace. Meanwhile the dental industry has seen an increasing number of women becoming dentists, with the American Dental HYPERLINK "https://www.ada.org/en/science-research/health-policy-institute/dental-statistics/workforce"Association reporting that women make up nearly 35% of providers. Additionally, women account for the vast majority of dental assistants, hygienists, and reception staff in the US. With all this in mind, creating a workplace that considers the specific needs of women can improve a dental office’s overall effectiveness. So what can dental providers and office managers do to ensure their dental practice is gender inclusive?
Consider Mothers: This expands to more than Maternity Leave. Make sure that your dental practice provides sufficient PPE for pregnant women performing radiographs. Provide clean, private areas for lactation needs. And you may even want to take a page out of the Google playbook and offer special Pregnancy Parking for expecting mothers. Appropriately Address Uncomfortable Topics: Women face higher levels of workplace harassment than men on average, so responsible bosses need to keep tabs on any inappropriate interpersonal problems in the office. Creating a harassment-free culture can often include help from outside experts, such as gender equality seminars to help facilitate the conversation around appropriate workplace behavior. Ask and Listen: Any employer, regardless of gender, should set aside time to ask employees what changes would help make their workplace a more inclusive space. For example, one dental office learned that stocking feminine hygiene products in the employee restroom lowers female employees’ stress about working during menstruation. Employers who listen to the needs of their staff and take simple, affordable action to meet their needs inevitably reap benefits from a more dedicated, loyal, and dependable workforce.
We’ve previously discussed that finding and keeping reliable dental staff takes a lot of time and effort. That’s why dental offices need to do whatever they can to make their practice people-forward. Taking steps to create a more inclusive workplace could be a great start for any dentist.

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Endodontics Hour

10/4/2021

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Endodontic Hour: How Endodontists Improve their Endgame
Want to ensure the financial growth of your endodontic dental office? Patient follow-through can be especially difficult when it comes to endodontic practices. Many patients fear root canal therapy and similar endodontic treatment more than other restorative procedures. In addition, insurance often pays lower percentages for endo treatment compared to basic restorations, and so they can sometimes be cost prohibitive. Unfortunately, if patients come in for an endodontic consultation, but don’t schedule or complete their needed treatment, patient outcomes get worse, and the endodontist loses income. As dedicated specialists in endodontic dental billing, SB Dental Billing Solutions Dental Billing Company cares about improving the lives of patients and endodontists alike, so we’ve put together these three tips for encouraging patient follow-through:

Use Relatable, Positive Language
Your endodontic patients usually won’t be members of the dental profession. Be careful of the language you utilize when explaining treatment. Retrain staff to consider patients their first priority, and emphasize speaking plainly, avoiding technical jargon, and prioritizing patient comfort. Encourage your staff to spend as much time as it takes to work through financial concerns. Use creativity and compassion in financial counseling and emphasize the important health outcomes of their investment.

Get Staff On Board
Patients consider staff like an extension of the dentist, so it’s important to help everyone get on board with your business goals and values. Teach your staff how practitioners can ease patient fears and help patients envision positive results from their treatment. Ensure that everyone is knowledgeable about treatments, side effects, possible complications or risk, and why procedures are needed. Every employee—from hygienist to receptionist—must know how to describe treatment in a clear, accurate and reassuring manner. When everyone on your staff knows what they’re doing, that comes through to patients who will feel confident in your care.

Follow up with patients.
Proactively contact your patients with treatment plans who haven’t scheduled. This helps the patient understand the importance of the completing care. In addition, it assures them that your endodontic practice is reliable and professional, increasing their trust for your practice. Use open spaces in your schedule as a chance to reach out and follow up on unscheduled procedures. Tell your patients you care about their dental health and invite them to come back in. This has the double positive effect of showing patients that you care while helping to improve your daily production by reducing open chair time.

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The Changing Face of Dental Billing with Dental Insurance Market Trends

3 Common Dental Billing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Making Dentistry More Gender Inclusive for International Women’s Day

Endodontics Hour

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