HomeBlog10 Dental Billing Tips & Best Practices

10 Dental Billing Tips & Best Practices

Larissa

Larissa Jolly

Business Development Specialist

January 17, 2023 Dental Billing 5 min read

Your dental practice requires daily revenue cycle management in order to remain profitable. With so many things going on in the realm of insurance, do you often worry about keeping your revenue consistent and your dental practice profitable? We have 10 dental billing tips and best practices that you can implement in your office to keep your revenue cycle healthy and consistent.

1. The importance of a pre-authorization

A pre-authorization is especially useful when you’re unsure if a procedure is going to be reimbursed by your patient’s insurance plan. By submitting a pre-authorization, you’re covering yourself and your patient against any surprises that come from unexpected deductibles or claim denials, and you can set up an easy payment plan when you know exactly what the patient’s co-payment will be. This is a best practice for large treatment or new CDT codes, so that your practice continues to build trust with patients by keeping surprise billing statements to a minimum.

2. Make it easier to get your payments

Your patients come from many different demographics, and some may be more or less tech-savvy when it comes to online payments or paying over the phone. Increase your chances of timely payment by offering as many ways as possible to collect patient balances:

  • Cash
  • Credit/debit card
  • Auto-pay on specific dates
  • Online payment portal
  • 24/7/365 automated phone payments 

This could be a game-changer for your revenue cycle management. Collecting outstanding patient balances is one of the more difficult dental billing processes.

3. Collect patient co-payments on the date of service

Train your staff to remind your patients of their initial payment portion, and offer the ability to pay it on or before the appointment date. By being transparent with your patients about their estimated or confirmed co-pays, you will gain their trust and are much more likely to keep patients for life. Utilize the resources at your disposal to set a standard operating procedure in your office — route slips, morning huddles, patient transfers, and balance reports in your software.

4. Keep up-to-date with CDT code changes

The world of dental billing is vastly complex and requires a dedicated chunk of time and dedication in order to commit to profitably. If you’re having trouble with rejected claims due to updates to the CDT code set, look to utilize outside resources like Dental Coding with Confidence and Practice Booster® Online Code Advisor. Depending on your average collection ratio and in-house staff capacity, it may be in your best interest to consider outsourcing your dental billing to increase your revenue and patient care.

5. Organization and dental billing

It might seem like the simplest step, but it always bears repeating: keeping things tidy. Double-check your dental claims before submitting them to make sure you all necessary dental documentation necessary for timely reimbursement:

  • Clinical notes
  • X-rays
  • Periodontal charting
  • Past treatments 

Dental documentation moving more and more into the spotlight. Check out Dental Documentation with Confidence to stay compliant and maximize legitimate reimbursement. 

6. Know the dental billing rules

Every insurance company is different, and each one has specific requirements regarding clinical notes/narratives or the types of supporting documentation they need in order to pay a dental claim. Did you know that only 33% of denied claims are appealed? Just imagine if you had a dedicated team of remote dental billing specialists on your team to focus on sending, appealing, and receiving dental claims.

7. Offer a payment plan

Each of your patients’ financial situations are different, so it makes sense to have payment options that are just as diverse. Consider offering payment plans over a period of time that help your patients get the immediate care they need. Create an approval process that guarantees your payment after providing services, whether through an auto-pay or a monthly due date for fees. Need a financial agreement? CLICK HERE.

8. Know your medical dental cross codes

With more dental billing regulations on the horizon, now is the time to recognize how and when to use cross codes. More insurance companies are starting to require relevant medical codes for certain dental procedures. Is your practice ready? Submit medical claims with confidence using Medical Dental Cross Coding with Confidence. 

9. Outstanding dental insurance accounts receivables to $0

Sometimes outstanding patient payments and insurance claims take longer than a few business days to resolve, and every dental billing specialist knows the words “outstanding accounts receivable”. This refers to the outstanding revenue that is waiting to be received, sometimes for months. Without consistent attention, your over 90 dental insurance receivables will continue to climb and you may see a collection ratio of 92% or lower. Reduce your dental insurance accounts receivable with consistent and persistent follow-up. Feeling overwhelmed? Consider outsourcing your dental billing to eAssist, where our achievable goal is to get your over 90 A/R near zero.

10. Dental billing takes focus

As you can see, this list is comprehensive and requires dedication and focus. By implementing these dental billing best practices and staying dedicated to improving the health of your revenue cycle in your dental practice, you’ll have many, many years of stable cash flow. However, without dental billing experience on your team, these tasks become obstacles to consistent dental practice revenue.

Larissa

By Larissa Jolly

Business Development Specialist

1 Comments

  • hello

Post a comment

Contents

Share

Learn more about how eAssist can help my practice

Book a consult
Learn more about how eAssist can help my practice
Dental Billing