When you graduated from school, you may have thought your days of writing were behind you. Dentistry doesn’t seem like an industry that involves writing, but when it comes to dental insurance claims, you need to write a narrative or justification and context for treatment in a statement called a narrative.

While this narrative doesn’t have to start with “once upon a time,” it does need to tell a story—your patient’s dental story. To help you write a good narrative for each insurance claim, here are some tips to keep in mind.

When you decided to be in-network with dental insurance, you knew that it would attract more patients and help your business. However, working with these companies can get complicated. Case and point, a patient is covered by two insurance plans. You now have to do double the paperwork!

Coordination of benefits (COB) is essential if you want to be paid on time and correctly. Although there are more complex situations not discussed here, below are some rules that can help you get the basics of COB down.

You’re not a layperson, so the world of dental insurance isn’t a confusing mystery. However, if you have a patient with two insurance plans, verification and billing can get mirky, even for professionals as seasoned as your front desk team! Which plan is the primary and secondary? How do you process the claims for the same services? How can you receive payments smoothly? Understanding more about this situation can help you know what to do next.