In today’s world of optimized customer service, what’s with, “All agents are busy right now. Your call will be answered in the order in which it was received”? Top it off with an estimated hold time of 21-24 minutes that really means somewhere along the lines of a Broadway play and Gone with the Wind on repeat until close. Add the fact you’ll only get to inquire on exactly five of the forty claims in your backlog to the mix and you’ve got the recipe for implosion upon impact. If you don’t outsource dental billing, you’ve got a lot of time on your hands. Let’s turn this whole gig around by doing the following:

Why outsource dental billing when you can stay on hold?

This is an excellent opportunity to put the speakerphone on and file that pile of charts from yesterday. You know, the one that’s stacked so high on the front counter it’s falling over and oozing x-rays from seven years ago before the move to digital? If it’s just the morning’s charts, file those and pull tomorrow’s charts. If you’re chartless, tackle the to-be-scanned pile. Hopefully your pile isn’t that high, though I’ve seen some pretty impressive ones in my day. You’ll feel all organized and the counter will reappear for at least a few minutes before the next person drops off a couple inches of “please do this when you get a chance”.
Jump up and straighten up the magazines in reception. Pick up yesterday’s half-full water bottles, put out the fresh-baked cookies or bake some bread, start the coffee pot, and enjoy the aroma. When the doctors finally mosey in the front door, they’ll think you’re a goddess.
Call a patient to try to fill tomorrow’s hygiene schedule. That way when the doctor walks up and mentions to you they noticed 2.5 holes in the schedule tomorrow, you can smile really big and just point to the phone for the next four hours. I highly doubt you’ll be risking the insurance company coming on the line while placing that call, so just try it!
Office managers, use this time to waltz around the office checking on everybody to make sure patients are being taken back on time. See if hygiene is on schedule, or if we’re blocking for “I’m finally back from vacation” time. Take note if the doctor is happily drilling away. Hang up schedules in the lab. Pop your head into the front room and greet a patient. Offer them the hot, fresh bread or the warm cookies. Okay, maybe just direct them to the store-bought area where the sugar cookies and water cooler live.
Clean off the front desk area (put on your gloves) with the type of disinfectant that would choke a horse. The tops of the patient counter, where walk-ins lay their dentures to show you where they’re broken, is a good place to start. Wipe the knobs to the bathroom, supply drawers, and anywhere else. I’ve seen many gloved assistants run for forceps the doctor needs mid treatment. Sure, the instrument stays sterilized after being scrubbed, ran through the ultrasonic, bagged and autoclaved. When was the last time you saw a doorknob go through that? Didn’t think so.
Pull numbers for production, collection, no shows, etc. for the next day’s huddle, if you have one. Stay on top of making sure everyone meets in the morning to discuss that day’s treatment, if cases are in, which patient might go from hygiene into the doctor’s schedule, and get everyone on board with the current numbers. Some offices talk about what went awry the day before. You don’t want to get into who did what wrong because that could overlap into the first three patient appointments and lead to the premature departure of those sugar cookies we talked about earlier.
Place an online order for supplies. Knowing which cotton rolls, impression material, tray covers, saliva ejectors, etc. need replenishing helps to expedite the ordering process. Whatever you can invent that streamlines your daily and weekly tasks will help your days run flawlessly. In a dental office? What am I, nuts? Maybe it’s because I don’t outsource dental billing, but I do not believe I have ever seen a day in the practice run like the schedule says it’s supposed to.
Confirm appointments. That tedious job has got to be done. Just do the doctors’ schedules if that’s what looks feasible in the hour you will really be on hold. Fill out, stamp, and mail your hygiene reminder cards. Make sure there are plenty out on the nice clean counters for patients at the check in and check out areas.
Check the office emails. Clean up the inbox. By the time the rep gets on the line, you won’t have any emails left to tend to, guaranteed or your time back! I organize emails and make several folders to file messages into so when you forget how to move the x-rays from the specialist’s email into Fast Attach in a .jpg format you can quickly access your stash of information. Maybe you can swing over to Dental Zing and learn a new skill while staying on the phone? Talk about multitasking!
Last but not least, go to the bathroom. Have you ever worked all day, gone home and realized you haven’t gone to the bathroom all day? I have. I’ll work right through lunch and keep myself so busy it doesn’t even occur to me until I’m in the car halfway home and stuck at a red light.

While this all might sound fun, aren’t you tired of long hold times and the frustrating billing processes that lead to them? Let’s talk about the secret, 11^th step: Taking the stress away and outsource dental billing with eAssist Dental Solutions. As the nation’s leading platform for customized practice solutions, you’ll be able to fully enjoy every step of your day, with the benefit of not being on the phone to boot! It pays to get on the phone with someone who can help make you money and save time. Business Development Specialists are ready today to guide you through the process of streamlining your billing and increasing collections. There’s no need to delay, and this is one phone call you can actually get something out of.