When you purchase an item online or at a store, it has what’s called a SKU, or a stock keeping unit or number which distinguishes a particular product from others. By tracking these SKUs, stores can know how popular or in-demand a certain product is. In the oral health field, dental coding, also called CDT codes, assists with financial success for practice owners as well because every insurance claim must be documented and approved to receive payment. In this post, you’ll learn more about dental coding, how it can impact your bottom line, and how you can make the whole billing process smoother.
What Is Dental Coding?
Dental coding is the simple translation of services and treatments into specific codes for easier filing and paying of insurance claims. There are many categories of codes including preventive, restorative, implant, sleep apnea, endodontic, surgical, periodontic, and orthodontic. These individual codes help identify the types of services you complete for a patient and, therefore, need to be reimbursed for by the insurance company.
Why Does Dental Coding Matter?
Including the correct dental code is one of the most important elements of billing. Not only can an inaccurate code prevent you from receiving payment on time, but it can also lead to insurance fraud charges, even if the mistake is unintentional. Obviously, any scandal doesn’t help your practice gain new patients or retain existing ones. Your business’s reputation and financial health are at stake!
How Do You Commit Dental Coding Errors?
Unfortunately, some related services have remarkably similar CDT codes, allowing for easy mistakes in claims. Being just one number off can result in a rejected claim in the best-case scenario or worse.
Dental codes can be updated every year as techniques and technology evolve. In fact, in 2020 alone, about 300 changes occurred to dental codes, which means staying updated and current is required for your team to continue submitting successful and accurate billing claims.
How Can I Avoid Common Dental Coding Mistakes?
The clearest answer is to make sure your team knows and uses the proper code for each claim every day. You may want to build in a few minutes to double-check the claims before submission in the hopes of avoiding getting denied payment. You also need to make sure your additional documentation, such as clinical notes and X-rays, is thorough and clear. In addition to continuing education for your in-office team, you could consider having a service company handle verifying insurance benefits and processing billing for you, allowing you to focus on the clinical expertise instead of dividing your attention with insurance issues.
When you take the time to properly train your team on dental codes or hire a service company to handle billing for you, you can save precious time, preserve your practice’s reputation, and keep your business running smoothly. At the beginning of the year, make sure your team knows any updates to coding to avoid careless but costly mistakes.
About Dental Support Specialties
Dental Support Specialties has assisted dental practices throughout the United States for more than 15 years. Our clients include general dentists, oral surgeons, and periodontists. We are currently working on expanding our knowledge and skills for other specialist practices. Our team of administrative professionals have years of experience and are familiar with how to work with dental insurance companies in the smoothest, most efficient way. Allow us to take coding and billing burdens off your plate. Give us a call to see how we can best help you!