Is your dental revenue cycle broken? Here's how to know [Free Guide]

A broken dental revenue cycle leads to less cash flow, a stressed office team, and general chaos in your dental business. We’re helping you pinpoint where the cracks are so you’ll know where to implement solutions. And remember, our total billing solution can fix it all.

Your dental revenue cycle includes the 7 main steps from treatment to transaction, starting with a patient scheduling their appointment and ending with your dental business being paid by payers or patients or both.

Each of these 7 revenue cycle steps needs to be completed efficiently and accurately to ensure you collect everything you’re owed from insurance claims and patients, as quickly and easily as possible… 

But that’s easier said than done. 

When there are weak spots in your revenue cycle, it jeopardizes your overall cashflow because:

• You don’t earn as much as you could,
• You don’t collect as much as you should, and
• Getting paid takes longer than it ideally would.

This will become an ongoing problem that makes it harder to run your dental business. 

We’re here to help! Download our Dentists' Guide for Fixing a Broken Revenue Cycle to determine the strengths and weaknesses in your revenue cycle. 

And if you’d like a partner in perfecting your processes, DCS is a total billing solution for dental businesses like yours, with our end-to-end revenue cycle management services. These services ensure faster, higher cash flow through streamlined, ultra-efficient systems.

In this article, we’re defining the dental revenue cycle, what goes wrong when it’s broken, and how our RCM services will repair it for maximum cash flow with minimal effort. 

Key takeaways about dental revenue cycle billing solutions:

• Your dental revenue cycle is like dominoes — each step affects the next
• The outcome of a broken revenue cycle isn’t just lost income: It’s also a stressed-out in-house team and dissatisfied patients
• Investing in a total billing solution is how you’ll find financial success for you and professional success for your team — and happier patients, too

Are you missing a piece (or two) of the dental revenue puzzle?

The dental revenue cycle is made up of 7 everyday steps, with an extra first step that happens periodically if you choose to be in-network with insurance: 

How well each of these steps is handled affects how well the others will go.

For example, if insurance is not properly verified at Step 2, it may result in an inaccurate out-of-pocket estimate for the patient. This will be incorrectly communicated in the treatment presentation that follows, and there will be an insurance claim denial in the step after that — negatively impacting your goodwill with the patient, and also your business’ cash flow. 

Read more: What is dental billing? An understanding of how dental billing works

As you can see, there is a domino effect when you begin moving through the revenue cycle. When things are done correctly at the start, the process continues smoothly and ends well. But if the cycle begins with errors, challenges with the steps that follow result in lost revenue, a stretched-thin administrative team, and unhappy patients.

Let’s take an even closer look…

A broken dental revenue cycle leads to a broken dental business

There are several painful consequences of a broken revenue cycle: 

• Lost revenue. When your revenue cycle is riddled with errors and mistakes, you’re unlikely to collect what you’re owed from insurance claims and patients. This is your entire bottom line threatened. 
• A stressed team. When the processes that govern your revenue cycle are inefficient and disorganized, your team will feel the same way. This will negatively affect your office culture and increase office staff turnover.
• A poor patient experience. Billing mistakes are a big stressor for your patients. Dental work isn’t cheap, even with insurance coverage. If there are billing errors or scheduling mishaps, your patients will leave for a more organized provider.  
• General chaos. The environment in which you conduct your business is reflected in the quality of your work. If your revenue-related processes are disorganized and chaotic, your entire business will be that way — and the quality of the work you put out may too. 

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

But this doesn’t have to be your reality, and if it already is, it doesn’t have to stay that way. You don’t have to put your team, your business, your patients, or even yourself through the chaos and frustrations of a broken dental revenue cycle. 

Get a total billing solution: Revenue cycle management services

DCS is a full-service revenue cycle management provider. Our services cover each step of the revenue cycle — except the treatment presentation.

It’s crucial your team handles the treatment presentation! They already have relationships with your patients, and they can sit down face-to-face to transparently communicate the cost and necessity of treatment. No one can do it better than your in-office staff.

But all the other steps can be handled remotely by our RCM experts, using their expertise and today’s automation to ensure speed and accuracy.

DCS’ services include: 

• Credentialing and re-credentialing. We’ll ensure your dentists get credentialed with your in-network payers, and stay credentialed, so they can bill treatment correctly and receive proper reimbursement. 
• Patient scheduling. Patients will easily schedule their treatment online using a system completely customized to your dental business and your busy schedule. 
• Insurance verification. Our technology-assisted insurance verification confirms patients’ coverage at least 2 or 3 days in advance of their treatment.
• Insurance billing. Our RCM experts work to submit, follow-up, and appeal all of your insurance claims. They will also post claim payments to your patient management software (PMS), and address claims on your insurance aging report every week. 
• Patient billing. Our automated patient services will move your patient’s payments completely online. These services offer multiple payment options, automatic reminders, and customizable payment plans for your patients, direct deposit for you, and it’s entirely hands-free for your team. 

You can dive deeper into DCS services and features here. 

What benefits will you see when you use our total billing solution?

• Increased cash flow. From experts handling your insurance claims to automating your patient billing, suddenly collecting from multiple sources of revenue is easy. 
• Streamlined processes. Optimized workflows are a priority to DCS because they result in more revenue for you. Once we analyze your current revenue cycle, we will note where improvements are needed and implement changes for maximum efficiency.
• A more balanced team. Your team will no longer be bogged down with tedious administrative tasks like credentialing, scheduling, insurance appeals, or patient billing. Instead, they can focus on creating a pleasurable experience for your patients. Speaking of…
• Happier, more satisfied patients. Implementing a total billing solution will positively impact your patients’ experience at your dental business — from total control over their appointments to easy online payments, you’re sure to get positive feedback and reviews from delighted patients. 

But wait — how would you even know if your dental revenue cycle is broken and truly in need of a solution? We’re glad you asked…

Not sure if your revenue cycle is broken? Use our free guide

Download our free Dentists' Guide for Fixing a Broken Revenue Cycle to pinpoint where your revenue cycle is missing a piece of the puzzle. 

Fill out the form below, and within minutes, you’ll get access to a downloadable PDF that illustrates how each step of the revenue cycle looks when it is broken. 

This guide will also explain which of our services will repair what is broken. Download and use it to inform yourself of how your dental business is performing. Then you can make an informed decision on what steps to take next to improve. 

Partner with DCS: We’re the missing piece of your revenue cycle puzzle

Remember: Each step of your dental revenue cycle is affected by the preceding steps. If you start strong, you’ll end strong by collecting what you’re owed quickly and easily. 

But if there are steps your team struggles with due to being stretched thin or a lack of expertise, then it’s time to improve, automate, or delegate those steps to benefit your team, your patients, and yourself. 

Remember, you can pinpoint those troublesome steps using our free PDF download: Dentists' Guide for Fixing a Broken Revenue Cycle.

And you’ll get a total billing solution when you partner with DCS. Our automated technology and RCM experts will heal your revenue cycle by cleaning up your workflows and collecting more money, more often. 

Put the missing puzzle piece in its place: Book a free 30-minute consultation with DCS.