Everyone has a different way of doing things when it comes to dental billing. Finding the right process for yourself is hard when the work is complex and no one is over your shoulder telling you what to do. When it comes to dental billing specifically, every part of the process needs to be done in a timely manner, and this can be difficult to navigate.
At Dental ClaimSupport, our billers work remotely, following precise steps and pooling their knowledge to resolve issues faster. This is why our collections and appeals process is one of the most effective and efficient you will find. Part of their efficiency is the strategy behind their process.
In this article, we will share with you how our expert remote billers structure their schedule so that you can use it to be more efficient when handling insurance billing.
Creating a schedule for yourself in the dental office
Could you work remotely in dental billing and “do what you want, when you want”? Sure! If you want to take twice as long to accomplish things and end your day feeling scattered and inefficient. We’re not saying that to scare you, but since our billers are remote, they actually have to be extra focused on having a structured posting schedule.
Having a timeline to follow daily is the key to professional and personal success. Everyone wants to be successful at work, AND have a good work/life balance, right?
So, how do you build your schedule? We talked to Stephenie Neville, a former remote biller who worked her way up to become Operations Manager, overseeing tens of thousands of claims trusted to Dental ClaimSupport. She gave us her best advice for structuring your dental billing process. The following steps are straight from Stephenie and the advice she gives our newest remote dental billers.
Step 1: Ask yourself, in what order do you accomplish the most?
Do you accomplish more working aging reports in the morning or in the afternoon? Your best bet is to designate morning and afternoon to either working aging or posting payments.
Posting payments tend to have deadlines, so I prefer to get my posting done in the morning when that applies and hold myself to a mid-day deadline so that I can work aging reports all afternoon.
In the event that I don’t have payments to post in the morning, or very few- I will flip flop my schedule and make aging phone calls. As we all know, early morning calls to insurance reps tend to move much more quickly and smoothly.
Step 2: Prioritize posting payments and keep track of denials
Instinct may tell you to stop what you are doing when you encounter a denial in the middle of posting and work the denial immediately, but if you consider efficiency, this can actually hold you back.
If you set that denial aside and complete posting, you can work the denial while you work aging and eliminate possible multiple phone calls. Most importantly, your mid day schedule deadline will remain intact.
Step 3: Post EFT payments weekly rather than daily
Paper checks and bank deposits have daily deadlines, so work with that. EFTs, as we all know, don’t hit bank accounts daily for all insurance companies or even when they state they do online. It is not efficient to log into web portals every single day looking for EFTs over and over again. The goal is to maintain them within the week the funds are released.
Know what insurance companies always release funds on the same day weekly and coordinate other EFT payments with those. For instance, whether your office has checks daily or twice a week determines how you can tailor your EFT posting to eliminate spending time on them daily. You do not have to check all EFTs every time you have checks to post.
For instance, United Concordia always releases EFTs on Tuesdays so I post all EFTs for an office from Monday through Wednesday that week on Wednesday. I post Thursday and Friday EFTs on Friday. I do have a backup to this schedule for heavy paper check posting weeks. I will post all EFTs for that week on Friday in the morning and work Aging Friday afternoons.
Friday is my “hard deadline” for EFTs, which works well with my non-negotiable Friday afternoon aging report work, as they tend to go hand in hand.
Step 4: Schedule your claim submission early in the day
Typically claims are submitted next business day to give the office time to correct any claims they may need to. The most effective plan is to submit all claims first thing in the morning, next business day, before you begin your posting and aging schedule.
If this is not applicable for your office’s requests, then adapt, but be sure you are not submitting claims more than twice a day, at the same time. Submitting claims is easy to forget to do if you do not have a non negotiable time to do it per office.
Now, remember those denials we set aside? If you have implemented the schedule above, you should have at least 2 mornings or 2 afternoons that are free and quiet to work on this, and/or more aging, because you have set yourself up to not be posting payments randomly all day every day.
Move through your dental billing process with ease
What about lunch? What about breaks? These are extremely important questions. It’s very easy to work non stop and not realize you have even taken a break. You have to take care of yourself in order to be your best! So make sure to work in those times of reprieve as well.
Follow these 4 steps to structure your insurance billing schedule and you’re sure to have a smooth workday almost every day.
You’re able to create this schedule yourself, but if you’re interested in someone else handling the business of insurance billing, we can help. Learn how you can have a better work-life balance through outsourcing your insurance billing in our Learning Center.
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