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Dental billing tips for summer

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Amanda Cross

Director of Marketing, Branding, & Content

June 16, 2022 Motivation & Productivity 4 min read

Summertime is here, and dental practice owners and teams across the country are enjoying some much-needed vacation time away from their desks. This means gaps in production, which will mean gaps in revenue over the next several weeks. While all of the dental billing processes are important, there are a few key processes to keep your cash flow consistent during the slower summer production months. Here are our top four dental billing tips for summer:

Start by outlining your Pre-Appointment Readiness Plan

What is a Pre-Appointment Readiness Plan? It is honing the dental billing processes that build a foundation of trust and accountability with your team and patients. By creating a Pre-Appointment Readiness Plan, you’ll be taking the first step toward productive and transparent conversations with patients.

 

  • Obtain a full insurance verification or eligibility check prior to a patient’s appointment to more accurately define what the office and patient should expect in terms of reimbursement and payment
  • Confirm the patient information with the insurance carrier and enter it correctly into the practice management software to reduce unnecessary denials due to missing or inaccurate information
  • Double check that treatment coverage percentages, deductible amounts, and maximums match are entered into the practice management software for transparent treatment plan presentation

Streamline your dental billing processes

There are a number of dental billing processes that need to be completed before, during, and after a patient’s appointment in order to collect what is rightfully owed on dental treatment.  When summer vacation disrupts daily production or collections, streamlining these dental billing steps becomes crucial to consistent cash flow to your practice.

  • Send clean primary and secondary claims with the correct CDT codes and necessary supporting documentation
  • Resolving rejected claims and appealing denied claims (when necessary)
  • Run insurance accounts receivable reports and follow up regularly
  • Post insurance payments timely
  • Running reports showing procedures not attached to insurance
  • Balancing and reconciling the PMS with the practice bank account

 

Outsource dental billing vacation eassist

Know the “how” and “why” behind dental patients with outstanding balances

If your patients have outstanding balances with your practice, it can seem harder to collect on those balances when summertime activities are causing inconsistencies in your dental patient billing processes. The hard truth is that these processes are sometimes actively put on the back burner because they can be hard. But having your patients pay their portion of outstanding balances is a crucial step in your revenue cycle management. Not to mention, without a set of processes to get patient billing dental statements processed, you’re left with money hanging in limbo for weeks to months.


It can be tempting to just pick up the phone and make a quick call for payment reminders, but it’s incredibly important to not just prepare to ask for a patient to pay but also enter into the conversation with the confidence that what they owe is correct. Improper dental billing processes will create scenarios where your patients are upset at having to pay the wrong amount for procedures that weren’t billed correctly or denied due to missing or inaccurate information.

 

  • Review the patient’s account to cross-check their outstanding balance with their insurance EOBs: 
    • Are there any that require follow-up or were denied? 
    • Has their insurance paid their portion already? 
    • If you have a large practice, you might be surprised at what slips through the cracks on those busy days that stretch into weeks without payments.
  • If you have them, remind patients of credit or payment options that work with their finances, such as monthly payment plans with a defined end term where the entire balance is due 

The art of bringing down outstanding patient billing dental balances requires a commitment to your patients. It isn’t easy to ask for payment on an outstanding bill, but by offering compassion and being transparent with reporting and account management, you can set yourself up for successful payment from patients that trust your office and dental billing processes. 

Outsource your dental billing so summer vacations don’t cause stress

Vacations shouldn’t cause stress by delaying and disrupting dental practice revenue. Outsourcing your dental billing has added benefits of reducing stress even after you come back from vacation. If your front desk is struggling to keep up with denials, appeals, and the rest of the dental billing processes, we understand and are here to help. 

 

eAssist’s proprietary platform offers your practice a chance to succeed by completely outsourcing your dental billing. The dental billing specialists on our platform take care of the processes so you can take care of the profits. Schedule a no-obligation consultation today and learn how you can profit by outsourcing to the nation’s trusted platform for outsourced dental billing.

82188964 10105940289773882 7698041949600612352 o

By Amanda Cross

Director of Marketing, Branding, & Content

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