Like it or not, choices have consequences. If your patient makes a poor decision, such as not brushing their teeth, the natural consequence is facing cavities, gum disease, and other oral problems like tooth loss. Although your patient may not initially want to brush their teeth, they ultimately should decide to do it to avoid these bad outcomes.
Verifying dental insurance is a choice that every dental practice should do, but what are the potential consequences of failing? What could happen if you don’t confirm a patient’s dental insurance information before filing claims? Keep reading to find out!
Denied Claims or Delays in Payment
Receiving a denied claim is almost as bad as non-payment. The service has been performed already, but you aren’t getting the funds you’ve earned in a timely manner. Studies have found that most denied claims stem from having incorrect policy or coverage information. Once the correct information is submitted, the claim is often approved and paid. Even in this best-case scenario, however, you are still waiting on payment, which can be more than just a small irritation.
Unnecessary Financial Stress
When you don’t have access to all the funds you should have, it can put an immense amount of stress on your shoulders. After all, you’re responsible for paying your employees’ salaries, for the rent and utilities, and for other obligations. If dental insurance doesn’t pay on time, you can struggle financially, even if your schedule is bustling with patients. Confirming insurance policy information before the appointment can give you more peace of mind.
Practice Inefficiency and Waste
In basically all industries and instances, rework is a waste of valuable time and resources. When you fail to verify insurance, instead of doing important functions around the dental office, the team has to redo claims paperwork, which makes the entire practice less efficient. Basically, you’re paying your staff to do things twice, rather than just doing it right the first time!
Unhappy Patients
When it comes to payments, no one likes surprises. Most people want to know upfront what they will owe for services and resent having to pay more later. In dentistry, if you don’t verify coverage or available benefits, you may get the wrong amount from the patient. In this case, after insurance pays its portion, you must call the patient and collect further payment, which is irksome to say the least. As a result, your patient may get frustrated with your practice and choose to go elsewhere in the future.
If you want to steer clear of these issues, the choice is simple: make sure dental insurance verification happens! Whether you handle it in-house or outsource this task, it needs to be done for every patient using insurance to ensure that everything runs smoothly.
About Dental Support Specialties
Dental Support Specialties has been in business for more than 16 years so far and is among the first companies to offer remote administrative support for dental offices in tasks like dental insurance verification. In addition to general practices, we also serve periodontal and oral surgery practices. We have the capability to work in your software suite with very little training. Are you interested in seeing how we could help your practice avoid these bad consequences? Contact us for a consultation today!