If you ask any front desk personnel at a dental office, they will likely say that dental insurance verification ranked low on their list of favorite tasks at work. It can be tedious, time consuming, and seemingly mindless, but it is vital to make sure your practice receives insurance payments. In other words, without it, you could face unnecessary delays in getting money you’re owed!
So how can you streamline this process? Here are four tips to keep your system as efficient as possible.
Don’t Wait to Start the Insurance Verification Process
If you postpone verifying your patient’s insurance information until their appointment, it’s already too late. In fact, you should take care of this process at least two days in advance. This amount of time gives you plenty of opportunity to double check their policy with the insurance provider, reach out to the patient if there’s a problem, and receive a call back to resolve the issue well before the appointment begins.
Your front desk team members balance a lot of tasks simultaneously, and they could get sidetracked with helping patients in the office, but starting the verification process this early should allow them to better balance all these responsibilities in a timely manner.
Collect All Necessary Information from the Patient
When a patient calls to schedule a visit, you need to make sure all the required information is taken down. At minimum, you need to gather the patient’s insurance provider name, member ID number, group ID number, member’s date of birth, name of the employer, and the phone number of the insurance provider. Because of the higher possibility of human error, writing down the information isn’t the best option; instead, filling out an online form or other system will enable you to keep better track of the numbers you need to verify insurance.
Get the Entire Breakdown of Benefits (Including Maximum) When Needed
Even if your patient anticipates needing only a dental checkup and cleaning, it’s a good idea to look up their coverage for all services. That way, if they require a crown, filling, or another treatment, you’re prepared with what percentage of the cost insurance will cover and how much the patient owes out of pocket. Otherwise, you could collect the wrong amount, potentially resulting in follow-up collection calls to the patient and leaving a negative impression of your practice.
If your existing patient’s information has not changed since the previous appointment in the same year, you may not need to rework and verify their benefits again.
Keep Insurance Information for Families Filed Correctly
When everyone in the family is covered in one insurance plan, verification is simple and straightforward. You should just have to verify it once and apply it to every member. In other situations, however, verifying insurance benefits for multiple family members can be tricky if they aren’t all on the same insurance plan. Make sure you know which is the case for your patient.
Following these tips should help your office run smoothly and get paid on time. If the dental insurance verification process feels overwhelming at this point, you should consider hiring a team to handle it for you. That way, your front desk team can focus on other important duties and take better care of your patients.
About Dental Support Specialties
Dental Support Specialties has been in business since 2008 and has served general dental, periodontal, and oral surgery practices throughout the country. With decades of experience, our team members are familiar with working with insurance companies and can take over verification responsibilities remotely. We are fully HIPAA compliant and want to facilitate the process for your team. If you are interested in learning more about our services, contact us online here.