6 common billing problems solved! Dental revenue cycle solutions to the rescue

You’re exploring dental billing solutions for your dental business, and you come across a dental revenue cycle management (RCM) company — and now you have questions, like:

• Are dentists really using dental RCM providers?
• Could RCM services help with patient care … and my bottom line?
• How would using RCM services impact my team?

To answer the first question, dental RCM providers are becoming more popular for dentists across the country because of the many business problems that RCM services solve.

“When you set out to become a dentist, you probably didn’t anticipate that every practice owner could benefit from a business degree. But the fact is, your practice is a business. For practice owners, that means understanding and monitoring the revenue cycle is imperative to sustaining and growing that business.” —BEST for Dentistry

If you’re open to modern solutions and curious about what a full-service RCM company like DCS can do for your dental business, read on! Our RCM experts have solutions for 6 common billing problems that could be hurting your cash flow right now.

Problem #1: Low insurance collections. Solution: Submit clean claims and quick appeals

Uncollected revenue is the most widespread problem dental teams are looking to solve when they explore RCM solutions, and it makes sense to fix your claims process first. Insurance income can make up around half of your overall revenue, and you should expect your insurance collections to be almost 100%. 

If you’re frequently collecting less than 95% of your insurance revenue, that missing income affects how you cover your business expenses — office rent or mortgage, salaries, clinical equipment maintenance, and more. 

Let’s say your typical collection rate is 91%. That 9% you’re leaving on the table may not sound like much, but for a practice with $1 million in production, that’s a $90,000 leak in your cash flow.

Imagine what your life and practice would look like with that money in the bank or well-spent, instead of left with insurers.

When you partner with RCM experts like ours, they will work your insurance aging report regularly to maximize how much you collect from the money you’ve earned. 

Our RCM experts will also review and submit claims for your team, always striving to:

• Increase the claim reimbursement amount
• Minimize errors on first submission for quick collection

And they do so using processes crafted through years of experience. Let’s get into those now...

Problem #2: Outdated billing practices. Solution: Use today’s technology for ease and efficiency

Dental offices aren’t always quick to update their way of doing things. And unfortunately, obsolete processes can tank your dental profits. 

Revenue cycle management experts will help you organize your billing processes so that your team’s workflow is as profitable as possible, but also as efficient as possible.

Automation and technology are your friend. When you take advantage of these two solutions, you’ll see faster, more hands-free processes. For example, you can automate your credentialing, scheduling, and patient billing processes with our DCS Expansion Pack. It reduces your team’s workload, paperwork, and time spent, empowering them to focus on in-office patients. 

The DCS Expansion Pack bundles three key services, each optimized for performance and efficiency:

• DCS Credentialing: Streamline the onboarding and maintenance process for your doctors with efficient, transparent credentialing.
• DCS Patient Scheduling: Allow patients to take charge of their appointments, and fill your schedule without your team lifting a finger.
• DCS Patient Billing: Automate post-appointment billing and improve collections with smart solutions that ensure you get paid faster.

When you get the DCS Expansion Pack, you’re taking modern technology and letting it complete these tasks for you. When used together, our automated services streamline your operations and provide real-time insights into your business’s performance.

Related: Broken workflows tanking your dental profits? Repair the problems in 3 steps

Problem #3: An overwhelmed dental team. Solution: A dedicated RCM expert

If your administrative team is trying to complete, submit, and follow up on insurance claims in addition to their other duties, they’re likely stretched pretty thin. 

But for your employees to do what helps you and your patients most, they need to be able to put your patient relationships first.

When you have a dedicated RCM expert handing the more time-consuming, tedious billing tasks, your team can give more attention to running your office and supplying an amazing patient experience.

We understand: You’re loyal to your in-house team and don’t want to replace them with a third-party RCM provider. 

Well, good news! We’re not here to replace your front desk staff. We’re here to free up their time for the work that only they can do, such as treatment presentations. 

The culture of your dental office is vital to the success of your business. Having a dedicated RCM expert handle the behind-the-scenes billing tasks like scheduling, insurance verification, insurance billing, patient billing, and credentialing gives your in-house team the assurance they need to know those things are taken care of. 

Related: 5 dental admin headaches that are healed by RCM services

We call our nationwide team of experts The DCS Knowledge Network. Although you are paired with one or two Account Specialists, you truly have access to our entire network, which is made up of close to 200 RCM experts with hundreds of years of experience and access to the latest technology. 

For example, if a payer is giving your designated expert a hard time about appealing a specific claim, your Account Specialist will turn to their peers at DCS. With this large of a pool of dental insurance billing experts, you’re sure to always have a solution. 

Problem #4: A growing pile of unpaid insurance claims. Solution: Continuously resolve the aging report

Many dentists lose revenue due to the cumbersome appeals process. Codes, plans, and patient eligibility change every year, so it’s no surprise that so many claims are sent with outdated or incorrect information.   

Insurance won’t pay claims with missing or out-of-date information. To get reimbursed for your services, your team has to research the problem, and then resubmit the corrected claim as an appeal.

This process is called “working” the aging report, and it’s required for each and every unpaid claim on your insurance aging report that’s more than 2 weeks old. And your aging report should be worked at least once a week.

Why the hurry? Because if time runs out to file the claim, you’ll have to write off what you couldn’t collect. That’s wasted time and lost money, which hurts your bottom line!

A top-performing RCM provider is going to spend time successfully appealing your denied claims every single week, or more often, if you have a lot of unpaid claims. And because our pricing is based on the amount posted and not hours spent, the continuous research and follow-up doesn’t add to your costs.

Problem #5: Neglected patient relationships. Solution: Automate processes to make time to build connections

When your administrative team is busy with billing, your patients will notice. And they’ll definitely notice if everyone is stressed and rushing to get their work done. When your work environment is chaotic, it’s palpable to the patients, and it will negatively affect their experience at your practice.

When you partner with DCS, you and your team will rest assured that billing is handled using expertise and automated technology — greatly increasing speed and accuracy for prompt payments. 

We use automation to facilitate efficient credentialing and re-credentialing, insurance verification, easy patient billing, and user-friendly patient scheduling.

With all these ongoing tasks taken off your team’s plate, they will have more time, energy, and focus to dedicate to patient care. This means they can actually take time to cultivate relationships with each of your patients. They’ll have more time to talk them through their treatment, answer questions about insurance benefits, or even ask about their life. 

Amazing patient care is a priceless asset to your practice, and a true competitive advantage. It will lead to a stellar reputation and more revenue by attracting more patients with word-of-mouth — the best marketing that money can’t buy.

Your patients should never feel neglected by your team, and when you have the support of expert RCM specialists, they won’t — because your team has plenty of time to dedicate to them.

Problem #6: Risks of embezzlement and fraud. Solution: Qualified protection and safeguards

According to an interview with Dentistry Today, David Harris of Prosperident shared that the lifetime probability of dentists being targeted for embezzlement is 60% to 70%. 

And unfortunately, the leading source of embezzlement at a dental practice is an employee. 

Partnering with a third party, such as a DCS, reduces the risk of embezzlement at your dental practice. Your RCM expert will be an objective eye that looks at your numbers every day, and they know what patterns to watch for.

Read more: 4 common dental insurance mistakes that can lead to fraud [Free Guide]

At DCS, our insurance billing services include end-of-day reports, where your Account Specialist will see what money was earned and posted that day. If something is missing, they will be the first to notice, and they will immediately let the dentist and/or business owner know. 

Our own company’s reputation depends on a clean billing system that will pass any audit, so we have every reason to spot and report inconsistencies immediately.

Having a fresh and objective pair of eyes on your numbers is a great safeguard, and will reduce the risk of fraud and embezzlement at your dental practice.

Resource in this article: BEST for Dentistry, Dentistry Today

Solve your dental practice’s billing problems with our expert RCM solutions

When you partner with RCM experts, several pain points you and your team experience every day are alleviated by our services. Instead of the usual stress and frustrations, you’ll discover:

• Maximum dental insurance collection through clean claims and quick appeals
• Up-to-date billing practices, thanks to today’s technology
• A happier dental team because our experts share the load
• More money in the bank because unpaid claims are resolved quickly and continuously
• Stronger patient relationships, once your team has time and energy to focus on the patient experience
• Reduced risks of embezzlement and fraud, as your Account Specialist reviews numbers daily

Using our end-to-end revenue cycle management services will enable your business to collect more, and will allow you and your team to worry less. Your patients will get the best care possible, along with every convenience that today’s technology can offer. 

Marcia Stewart of Stephens and Burrell Family Dentistry describes DCS in her own words: 

“We started with DCS in August 2023. We signed up for insurance verification, insurance billing, and patient billing. We enjoy getting a daily report from DCS, giving us feedback on what's been done and which areas need help. I personally would recommend DCS to any office that is looking for a third-party billing. You guys are amazing.”

You can learn more about our full revenue cycle management services by scheduling a free 30-minute consultation with one of our experts. 

Solve your dental business’ problems easily: Book a free 30-minute call today.