During busy times, your dental practice is humming with activity—you’re examining and talking with patients, your hygienists are cleaning teeth, your front desk staff members are checking patients in. When you have a lot going on, it may seem like an inconvenience to add another task to the mix.
However, if you aren’t currently taking the time for insurance verification, it could end up hurting your practice. Why is this step important? What could happen to your relationship with patients if you don’t do this? Keep reading to find out!
What Could Happen If Insurance Isn’t Properly Verified Before Filing Claims
Let’s say your team doesn’t verify a patient’s insurance prior to the appointment. When the patient arrives and is treated, you collect their assumed deductible and submit the claims with their insurance for the rest of the payment. A while later, your team would follow up with insurance to ensure that the claims are going through, only to find out that some information is incorrect. In other words, the claim is denied.
After this setback, your staff would need to contact the patient to collect accurate policy information, starting the process all over again. Not only does this add to your team’s workload, but it delays your payment from the insurance company. And that’s just for one patient!
Smoother Insurance Processing Makes for Happier Patients
For the most part, the world of insurance makes sense predominantly to those who work in it. Put another way—most of your patients would rather not know the nitty-gritty of how their dental insurance works. They just want claims to be handled correctly with minimal involvement on their part.
When you take care of insurance verification before the appointment, you confirm that the patient does, in fact, have coverage with an insurance provider and avoid the awkward, annoying phone call to the patient after the visit to resolve the issue.
Insurance verification pre-appointment also shows the patient that your team is proactive, competent, and on the ball, helping the patient trust your practice. It’s a small step, but it helps to build a stronger relationship with your patients and helps with retention in the long term!
Dental Support Specialties Can Take Care of This Step
Although verification is certainly important, many dental offices simply don’t have the staffing capacity to have someone devote time to calling insurance companies all day. Their attention is taken up by patients in the office, answering phone calls, and other administrative tasks. That’s where Dental Support Specialties comes in! We can verify each patient’s insurance information and even file claims, making the process seamless for everyone.
Insurance verification doesn’t have to interrupt the workflow of your practice. Let Dental Support Specialties take this task off your team’s plate so that your office can continue to work smoothly, and your relationships with patients can stay positive and healthy!
About Dental Support Specialties
Dental Support Specialties (DSS) is an administrative company that caters specifically to dental practices. With many years of industry experience, our professionals understand the complexities of dental insurance. We are fully HIPAA compliant, which means you trust us with your patients’ information. To learn more about our services, you can reach out to us online here.