Who wouldn't love a dental terminology cheat sheet? You went to school to be a dentist, and your specialty lies in helping patients achieve exceptional oral health—not figuring out dental claim terminology. We get that, so when it comes to all things dental insurance, Dental Claim Support is here to help. As an outsourced dental billing partner, we work with hundreds of practices across the country to help them focus on getting paid by eliminating the strain of dealing with insurance companies. Because of this, we know it is important to have a basic understanding of certain key terms in the dental billing world for a successful billing department within your business. Not understanding these terms can create stress when addressing concerns about insurance and payments with patients. This article will help you understand the basic terms you should know so that you can get back to helping patients achieve optimal oral health. First, you will learn the most important dental billing terms that dental teams must know. This will help you understand how to discuss any kind of concern you may have when dealing with insurance. Then, you will learn types of insurance plans you will see in the industry and how they determine the actual payment. Following a review of the essential terms, is the classifications of plan benefits. Knowing each classification defines how much each type of procedure is covered by insurance and how much you will get paid per procedure. By the end of this article you will know how to use all of this information to your advantage.
Making the decision to be in-network with a dental Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) can bring challenges to your dental team. To be an in-network provider, you must credential with the insurance payer. But proper credentialing involves many steps and can consume much of one team member’s time. As an outsourced dental billing company, we have worked with hundreds of clients taking care of the credentialing process on their behalf. During the credentialing process, one problem you may face is how to submit claims properly. The challenge occurs most often when a treating provider joins a practice as an associate practitioner. During the credentialing process, practices are often tempted to submit claims using the already credentialed doctor or owner doctor listed as the treating provider. This is inappropriate because that provider may be receiving reimbursement he is not entitled to receive.
Do you see your team’s frustration and struggles with insurance and billing? Do you find your team needs additional training regarding insurance and billing? Finding a reliable source for training can be challenging so that is why it’s important to look to the billing experts as they are most knowledgeable in this area.
A dental patient credit balance is a form of unclaimed property, and state laws apply. A dental practice may be the holder of unclaimed property. However, most practices do not understand what unclaimed property is nor are aware of the rules and regulations. These rules and regulations do apply to dental practices, along with other businesses. This article will begin with defining unclaimed property as it pertains to a dental practice and proceeds to discuss how this area of compliance may affect your practice and how to become compliant.
