For some time now, dental practices have outsourced most lab work, tech support, accounting, and financial planning. Why? Because they need time for the onsite staff to focus on providing consistent, high-quality customer service. Why, then, aren’t they outsourcing dental billing?
Fear of Change
Traditionally, office managers and their onsite staff have handled the insurance billing & coordination tasks. Often, fearful they may lose their jobs, the onsite team is hesitant to embrace outsourced billing.
A Temporary Fix
In addition, many dentists view outsourced billing as something other than a permanent solution to their cash flow problems. They cling to the outdated notion of a quick fix without carefully analyzing the modern complexities of dental billing. A temporary band-aid will not solve their billing issues long-term and may actually cause more damage than good. Such results have led to limited insurance reimbursement due to unnecessary write-offs and a lengthy, labor-intensive appeals process.
A Lasting Solution
In recent years, dental insurance billing outsourcing has emerged to meet the demand of both modern billing complexities and the lack of trained in-house staff. Today many dental practices have outsourced their insurance dental billing and other time-consuming tasks such as patient billing, insurance verification, and PPO negotiations. Studies show that outsourcing can decrease total accounts receivable by 75% in less than a year.
Pros of In-House Billing
- An in-house biller provides a sense of control over the billing process because it’s physically completed in the office.
- If a patient has a billing question or concern, there is an onsite staff member available to answer questions.
- The office manager can control the training and insurance billing workflow.
Cons of In-House Billing
- As of July 25, 2023, the average dental billing specialist salary in the United States is $42,862, with a salary range of $38,809 to $47,134.
- In-house employees can incur overhead costs in addition to their salary including payroll taxes, employee benefits, and training.
- The billing specialist is often pulled away from their responsibilities to assist with patients, which can lead to a delay in claims being billed.
- The office manager must dedicate valuable time to training and overseeing the billing specialist.
- Staff turnover and vacation days result in delayed claims and missed revenue.
Pros of Outsourcing Dental Billing
- Outsourcing allows practices to cut costs of labor and training. For example, at eAssist, plans start as low as $1,377 per month and are calculated according to the amount of collections the office received. A full breakdown of eAssist’s pricing is listed below:
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- Small (under $40,000): $1377.00 month
- Medium (between $40,000 and $100,000): 3.5%/month
- Large (between $100,000 and $150,000): 3%/month
- Enterprise (over $150,000): 2.5%/month
- Custom for groups, multiple locations, and DSO
- Billing specialists are vetted and tested for specific skills to ensure the practice receives every penny it earns.
- Billing specialists are an extension of each team and are readily available to answer any questions about insurance billing and payments.
- Billing specialists work remotely and do not interfere with the practice workflow.
- Outsourced billing teams are immune to staff turnover and vacation days.
- The office receives weekly status reports for result transparency – no micromanaging required!
Cons of Outsourcing Dental Billing
- Consistent communication with the outsourced team is essential to ensure a successful collection rate.
- In-house staff must take the time to read the reports and action requests from the billing team to increase the success of collections.
It’s ultimately up to the dental practice to decide which way to proceed. However, the results indicate that outsourcing your dental billing will ensure a healthy collection rate, reduced labor costs, and increased time for patient care. At eAssist, the Success Consultants who use our dental billing platform are highly experienced specialists who provide consistent collection results. To find out more, complete the form below.
