Outsourcing Dental Billing: Why should you consider it?
Dental billing is an integral yet complex aspect of any dental practice. It is not only time-consuming, but it is an intricate task that requires precise attention to detail. If dental billing is not managed correctly, it can result in delayed payments, denied claims, and revenue losses. To bypass these shortcomings many dental practices choose to outsourcing dental billing to dental billing experts.
What Does Outsourcing Dental Billing Mean?
Dental billing is a complicated task that involves preparing and submitting claims to the insurance companies by dental practice for reimbursement.
Outsourcing dental billing is the process of involving a third party to take charge of the practice’s dental billings. These companies house a pool of dental billing experts with years of experience. In the field who take charge of dental insurance services.
Initially, the idea of outsourcing dental billings and letting a third-party take hold of the revenues of a dental practice may seem daunting. However, once the practice entrusts dental billings to specialists. It can devote the time to provide quality dental care to its patients.
How Does Outsourcing Dental Billing Work?
By partnering with a professional billing company, dental practices do not need to process claims and follow up on denials. The dental billing specialists work behind the scenes and handle the task of dental billing and coding, submission of primary and secondary claims, fee schedules, and follow-up on claims that are denied.
Here’s how outsourcing dental billing typically works:
Initial Assessment Of The Practice's Current Billing
The primary objective of an outsourcing billing company is to review the current billing process of a dental practice, to identify areas that may be lacking and require improvement. This assessment helps the billing company to offer a tailored solution that helps the dental practice streamline its revenue collection.
The outsourcing billing company helps dental practices by reducing errors in billing and coding, increasing their efficiency, and ultimately improving their financial performance by targeting areas that need improvement.
Access Patient Data and Billing Information
After the initial assessment, the outsourcing dental billing company will connect with the EHR (Electronic Health Record) system of the dental practice to gain insights into patient data and billing information.
An outsourcing billing company can acquire all the necessary information. That is required for seamless insurance bill processing by integrating with the software of the dental practice. This helps the dental practice to provide the finest level of care to the patients while letting experts handle the administrative and billing tasks.
Submission Of Claims
Outsourcing billing companies will submit claims to the insurance companies on behalf of the dental practice to receive payments for the services rendered. This is a crucial step in the dental billing process and includes verification of the insurance plan of the patient, and accurately coding the claims for the treatment provided before submitting them to the insurance service providers electronically.
By entrusting this task to billing experts, dental practice owners can ensure that claims are submitted promptly and accurately. Which leads to faster payments and improved cash flow.
Posting of Payments
Once the billing company has submitted the claim, it is processed by the insurance company after which payment is disbursed. Thereafter, outsourcing billing companies post the payments made by the patient or the insurance company into the EHR system of the dental practice.
Management of Denied Claims
In case a claim is denied by the insurance company, the billing experts follow up on the claim to identify the reason for the denial. After a thorough investigation, the claim is either resubmitted after making the necessary amendments or the process of appeal is initiated.
Partnering with a dental billing company gives the practice access to dental billing experts that handle these shortcomings effectively, resolving any complication. That may arise, and ensuring minimum delay in the practice’s payments.
Regular Reporting To The Dental Practice
Lastly, the outsourcing dental billing company will provide regular reports to the practice regarding their financial performance. Which includes payment collection, the status of the claims submitted, and rejection or denial of claims if any.
Regular reporting by the billing experts ensures that the dental practice stays up-to-date about its financial position along with identifying areas that need improvement.
What Are The Benefits of Outsourcing Dental Billing?
Learning about how outsourcing dental billing works might make one contemplate the benefits of this expensive option.
Here’s how dental practice benefits when dental billing specialists take charge of the practice’s dental billings:
Cost-effective Solution
Partnering with a professional billing company that can outsource the practice’s insurance dental billings. Which is a financially sound option when compared to hiring in-house billing staff. The latter charge more than 60,000 USD per annum (5,000 USD monthly). if a practice needs multiple in-house insurance coordinators it becomes a substantial amount.
On the contrary, outsourcing dental billing to a third party involves charges based on the size and revenue of the dental practice. The fee of dental billing companies usually falls between 1,300 to 5,000 USD per month making it a cost-effective option.
Moreover, outsourcing dental billing frees the dental practice of the stress of managing an in-house staff due to sick leaves, vacation time, and employee burnout that hampers productivity.
Access to Dental Billing Experts
Some dental practice owners are of the notion that they can instantly train their administrative staff to become experts in dental billing. However, this is far from the truth. Dental billing and coding involve intricate details and it takes an expert in the field to handle the billing information correctly.
There is simply no comparison between the quality of work provided by dental billing specialists to that of in-house staff with basic training in dental billing. Unlike in-house staff which is often considered as the ‘jack-of-all-trades’, juggling between various administrative tasks. Outsourcing billing companies have a pool of dental billing experts with years of experience in the industry.
Additionally, dental billing specialists are always updated about the latest developments in the regulations of dental billing and coding. Which ensures that the claims are processed timely and accurately.
Improved Financial Performance and Cash Flow Optimization
As soon as dental billing experts take hold of the practice’s revenue cycle an improvement in the clash flow is expected. This is due to the prompt processing of claims by dental billing specialists. Which then reduces the chances of claim delays or denials resulting in a boost in revenues for dental practices.
Additionally, dental claim processing companies possess an in-depth understanding of the right billing practices and claim processing and this improves cash flow resulting in faster payments.
By outsourcing dental billing to experts, dental practices can improve their revenue cycle, ensuring that their finances are managed smoothly.
Improved Time Management and Workflow
Dental practice can save a significant amount of time and energy that can be invested to improve other aspects of dental practices by partnering with an outsourcing dental billing company.
Knowing that the claims are being processed promptly and accurately saves dental practice owners and the in-house staff from the time-consuming and tedious task of dental billing and coding which can often be draining.
What Factors To Consider When Choosing An Outsourcing Dental Billing Company?
Choosing the right outsourcing billing company is crucial to streamline the practice’s revenue collection. However, it is not as easy as it seems since every billing company claims to be the best in the field.
Therefore, the dental practice should do thorough research and consider the following factors. Just before partnering with a third party for managing their revenue cycle:
Experience In The Field
It is vital to know how long the outsourcing
a dental billing company has been in business. A dental practice should seek out billing companies that have a proven success record and have been in the industry for a minimum of 5 years.
Moreover, it is imperative to note that dental and medical billing are entirely different fields since dental practices often make the mistake of hiring medical billing experts.
Reputation In The Industry
It is critical to consider the reputation of the billing company. Before handing the third party the reign of the practice’s revenue cycle. Dental practices should do their research and read about the reviews of the services provided by the company so that they can make an informed decision.
Compliant With HIPAA Standards
HIPAA compliance is a necessary factor to consider when searching for an outsourcing dental billing company. Dental practice should partner with a company that is 100% compliant with HIPAA standards as this ensures that the patient’s sensitive information is secure. Medical and dental billing companies that are fully compliant with HIPAA standards follow accurate codes. Their claims reducing the risk of errors and claim rejections.
Affordable Billing Services
Considering the budget of dental practice is key when opting for an outsourcing dental billing company. Dental practices need to consider the cost that they are willing to spend to outsource dental billings. Practices should partner with billing companies that are affordable yet offer premium services.
Backed With The Latest Technology
Finally, it is important to choose a billing company that is backed with the latest technology. So that practices receive payments faster.
Conclusion
Outsourcing dental billing is a great way for dental practices to improve their revenue cycle and billing procedures. Moreover, if dental practice owners have complex dental billings or their dental practice is large. Then hiring dental billing specialists is the right way to go about their billing process.
CPT code 2129 is used to bill implants with an extended use explanation.
The CPT codes for the procedure of wisdom teeth are quite simple. There are two options: the code, D7230 is used for removal of an impacted tooth that is partially bony. Whereas the code D7240 is used for the removal of an impacted tooth that is completely bony.
CDT code is used for dental procedures and it assures consistency during documentation of dental treatment. Whereas, CPT codes are used to report medical procedures and services to increase efficiency and accuracy in reporting.
The CPT code for billing and coding dental procedures is A56663.
The dental procedure code for dental cleaning for adults is D1110. Whereas for children aged 13 or younger, the dental procedure code for dental cleaning is D1120.
