Dentists sometimes don't know where their place is when working with a dental billing company. It’s common for dentists to outsource their dental billing, introduce the service to their administrative team, then either step away or misunderstand their role in this partnership.
It’s tempting to step back and let the administrative team work directly with the remote biller. You trust them to ensure they have everything they need to get your claims submitted and paid. But as the dentist and leader - you still have an important role in guiding your team to use your outsourced dental billing services to deliver an excellent dental experience.
Dental ClaimSupport has worked with all kinds of dental practices and with dentists who want different kinds of roles with the dental billing company. Some want to be very involved with the billing process and some do not want to be involved at all. Through years of working with dentists, our billers have seen what makes the relationship successful.
In this article, we will share 3 tips specifically for dentists when working with a dental billing company. These tips will range from how to establish your role with the billing company, what your responsibilities will be, and how best to manage your team while they work with a remote biller.
These tips will set your dental team, as well as your remote biller, up for success. When the dentist, remote biller, and dental team can all work cohesively, everyone will see the impact outsourced dental insurance billing makes. In other words, you’ll start to see your practice’s cash flow increase.
Tip #1: Discuss your desired involvement with the dental billing company
When you first onboard with a dental insurance billing company (or even in your initial sales call), we recommend you discuss how involved you wish to be with the dental billing company’s work on your practice.
The extremes here range from being totally unaware of how your dental billing process is working to micromanaging the remote biller and your administrative team.
We’re here to tell you that neither of those options yield very profitable results. But when it comes to the dentist’s involvement, there is a happy medium that you can agree upon with your remote biller.
You’re a dentist - you don’t necessarily have to manage every moving part of your billing process. However, you also shouldn’t completely remove yourself from the equation. It is your dental practice, after all. And your dental billing process is what keeps your revenue flowing, efficient, and organized.
So, establish where you wish to be involved (or not involved) where the dental billing company is concerned. Your biller will help you both come to some kind of compromise or agreement on what your role will be with the dental billing company (besides the boss, of course!).
This will prevent frustration on either side and ensure you have a smooth dental billing process with your biller.
Tip #2: Stay involved in the insurance collection and receivables reporting - keep track of the outsourced dental billing company’s progress
At the very least, as the dentist, you should be involved in reviewing your reports and monitoring the dental billing company’s progress.
This means you’re keeping track of the following reports:
- Insurance collections percentage and total A/R
- Insurance aging report
- Insurance write-offs and net production report
- Daily deposit report or report showing what insurance payments were posted (this report is sent to you by your remote biller - daily!)
These reports reflect not only the overall success of your dental practice but also the performance of the dental billing company. Since you are the dentist that made the final decision on hiring the billing company, you should know if you’re getting your money’s worth.
Keep in mind that results typically take a few months to begin reflecting in your reports.
Here’s an example of why this is important: There have been a few instances at our own dental billing company where dentists have let us know they want to end their services with Dental ClaimSupport.
And it sometimes leaves us confused. Some of these dental practices have seen a lot of success with increasing their collections since they began working with us, according to their financial reports that we keep up with in their practice management software. So, we show the dentist these results, and they’re shocked.
They didn’t know their aging report percentage had decreased that much since the start of their services. This is why it’s important to keep track of your financial reports and the progress of the dental billing company, especially before making any kind of decision regarding your services.
Related: The dental billing metrics you need to check for quality service
Tip #3: Check in regularly with your remote biller and your in-house dental team
A great relationship begins with communication! Checking in regularly with both your biller and your in-house dental team is a great way to ensure everyone is on the same page.
We don’t mean you need to meet with your biller once a week - that would be a little excessive. But perhaps a monthly, 30-minute Zoom call, just to stay up to date with how things are going.
This can also be a good time to address any problems or issues you’ve noticed as the dentist, and they can be resolved ASAP. The longer problems go unnoticed, the more they fester.
And during this call, you can come up with a solution with your remote biller. This keeps the line of communication honest and clear, leading to a better working relationship. And when this relationship is healthy, the biller can produce better results for your practice. In other words, they can efficiently get your claims paid.
Touch base with how your in-house team is feeling about your remote biller
Your team’s thoughts and feelings are important, especially when you make a big change such as outsourcing your dental billing.
Your administrative team members are going to be the ones working directly with the remote biller, so their input is valuable. Meet with them every few weeks to ask how the remote dental biller is doing and how this is working for them. This is especially important for you to do during the transitional period, as a leader.
This makes your team feel valued, and when they feel this way, they’ll be more on board to try their best to make the dental billing service work.
As we’ve mentioned, the true test of how well your dental billing services are performing is your financial reports. Keep this in mind if your team has any kind of complaint about the billing company, especially if it’s just a personal opinion.
Ready to work successfully with an outsourced dental billing company?
Working successfully with a dental billing company takes you and your entire team. Sure, you won’t be in the weeds of the billing process, but your role is still important. As the leader, everyone is looking to you for how to work with the remote dental biller.
With moderate involvement, good communication, and regular check-ins, you’re sure to see the success a dental billing company can bring you: more claims income.
Dental ClaimSupport values the input of your dental team, and great communication. It’s the key to success with a dental billing company.
To learn more about working successfully with a dental billing company, schedule a call with one of our experts.
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