3 reasons to automate credentialing for your dental group practice

When you’re running an emerging dental group, it can be challenging to oversee the credentialing status of every locations’ providers. But it’s crucial to ensure every dentist is able to provide treatment they can bill payers for, and they can’t do that when their credentialing status is out of date.

Expired credentials prevent your dentists from filing insurance claims for their work, which can reduce revenue for the group. 

DCS is a revenue cycle management (RCM) provider that offers automated dental credentialing and a recurring re-credentialing service. Emerging groups, specifically, stand to gain several benefits from automating their credentialing processes across their many locations. 

We see 3 big wins for your emerging group when you automate its credentialing process. Let’s get into it…

Reason #1: Enhanced efficiency and accuracy

Automation is when technology performs a task that would otherwise be performed by a person. Some tasks can be done faster and more accurately through technology, and computers never get bored, tired, or call in sick.

Many administrative tasks in a dental office are ideal for automation because they’re repetitive, tedious, and time-consuming — and also essential to the continued success of your business. This is especially true for credentialing. 

And when you’re an emerging dental group, you have to make sure multiple dentists at multiple practice locations are properly and continuously credentialed. It can be hard to keep the details and deadlines straight, especially with all the other aspects of running your practice locations. 

When you automate your credentialing process, it eliminates a large and repeated administrative headache for your team. They won’t have to stop their everyday tasks to about gather information to credential a new doctor or re-credential an existing one — experts will do it for them.

For your people, credentialing becomes a hands-free process, with no paperwork to file or follow-up on. The entire process is online and facilitated by our specialists, who will grant access to a digital dashboard that lets you view the status of your dentists’ credentialing at any time. 

This more efficient approach to credentialing also ensures the process is completed accurately and on time, so there are no delays or interruptions in providing treatment or billing for it — and your team’s load of day-to-day work won’t be interrupted, either. 

Reason #2: Consistent compliance across your locations

The credentialing process has to be completed for your dentists to bill for treatment covered by insurance. And if they are being re-credentialed, you’ll be given a firm deadline for when that process must be completed. 

As an emerging dental group owner or team member, that means you’ll have to ensure multiple dentists are credentialed or re-credentialed at various times throughout the year — and possibly on various years. It’s overwhelming just thinking about it!

You’ve likely experienced the challenge of keeping other processes consistent across your different practice locations — honestly, it can feel like herding cats. But when you automate your credentialing across all of your locations, you don’t even have to think about monitoring and managing each dentist’s credentialing status, because we’re taking care of it…for them, and for you. 

Running an emerging dental group also means making sure every location is compliant with laws and regulations. If one of your dentists is treating patients with out-of-date credentials, you could face two big issues: 

1. If they have out-of-date credentials and treat a patient, and then list another dentist on the claim, it is considered a fraudulent claim
2. If they have out-of-date credentials and treat a patient, and then list themselves on a claim, the claim will be denied and processed as out-of-network. After that, the patient will be billed the entirety of their treatment cost, even though they’re insured. Imagine how put out the patient would feel. 

Read more: 3 ways dental credentialing issues can cost your practice

Automating the credentialing process helps you avoid both of these no-win scenarios, so all the services provided at your practice locations remain consistent and compliant, and your patients won’t find unwelcome surprises on their bills. 

Reason #3: Accelerated growth for your emerging group

When you automate your credentialing, the process will move quicker, allowing you to expand your network and your group faster, and without adding on administrative hassles. 

For dentists, being in-network with insurance is like receiving free marketing services. The insurance companies you’re in-network with will promote you to everyone who is covered by their policies. Staying credentialed is good for business and for patient awareness!

Related: 3 ways dental credentialing issues can cost your practice

Also, when the credentialing processes are handled by us, your teams:

• Will have more time to focus on growing your emerging group
• Will have more time to focus on patients
• Can turn their attention to other revenue-related processes, and
• Will have more opportunities to notice where they can improve and implement changes that support growth 

By signing up for automated credentialing, you ensure all your teams can dedicate time to more fulfilling tasks, such as growing the emerging group and developing stronger patient relationships.

Your team will be more satisfied with their roles, your patients will be more satisfied with your group’s services, and you and your partners will see your business thrive — everyone wins.

Streamline the credentialing process for your emerging dental group through automation

To recap, here are 3 big reasons your emerging dental group should automate its credentialing process. When those services are handled by DCS, you’ll see: 

Reason #1: Enhanced efficiency and accuracy

Reason #2: Consistent compliance across your locations

Reason #3: Accelerated growth for your emerging group

It can be a challenge to implement a consistent process across all of your dental practice locations, but you know that to keep your emerging group organized and streamlined, it’s a must. 

DCS’ revenue cycle management services implement efficient workflows that will help all of your emerging dental group locations to collect more and worry less. We’ll take on your credentialing and re-credentialing, as well as your insurance verification, patient billing, and insurance billing to ensure consistent cash flow while your team focuses on growing your business. 

Alleviate your administrative headaches today: Book a free 30-minute call with DCS.