Did you know checking your patient’s dental insurance eligibility (ahead of their appointment) takes an average of two hours a day? That’s at least 10 hours a week or 40 hours a month, at a minimum. Spending ¼ of an 8-hour day making phone calls, checking websites, and digging for information can really add up!
Dental insurance eligibility verification is like flossing. It’s a preventative measure that keeps from costing you more down the road! If patients don’t floss, they are prone to gum disease and more expensive treatments. If you don’t check eligibly ahead of time, more time and money will be spent on tracking down payments.
Ring…Ring…Ring…More Phone Calls?
Many insurance companies’ websites have eligibility information, but can really vary and either be comprehensive or extremely limited and inaccurate. This means hoping on the phone and starting the insurance phone call tunnel. Insurance companies greet you with a slew of automated prompts, having you repeat the reason of your call several times without the promise of a helpful (human) representative.
Two Tasks at the Same Time
Front desk staff often must manage two tasks – calling insurance companies and welcoming patients – which requires two different approaches. Phone calls require a firm tone and approach to get through prompts and reach live help (who often read scripts) and uncover the answers you need. While greeting patients requires a warm, pleasant, and welcoming tone. After spending 20 + minutes on a likely frustrating phone call, it’s hard to flip a switch to a warm smile and genuine tone when a patient walks through the door.
Secondly, it’s easy for front desk staff to prioritize easier tasks ahead of checking insurance eligibility because of the inevitable frustration and time suck. Eligibility is almost always going to be last, but it is also one of the most important because it heavily impacts your collections. It also happens that patients with “easy” insurance companies get checked, but the companies that are difficult to deal with fall low on the priority list.
Negativity from insurance phone calls can bleed into a patient’s treatment planning discussion if you aren’t careful. If a patient has an insurance that is very difficult to deal with on the back end, those feelings can unknowingly influence your conversations with patients. You must work around the negativity that can be generated when dealing with insurance companies.
Dental Support Essentials helps save time and boost internal morale with insurance eligibility verification, which is based on a flat monthly fee per volume of patients. We check eligibly three days in advance of an appointment, allowing for enough time for difficult cases, making patients, doctors, and staff happy!