The Jameson Files

The Jameson Files is a podcast that features interviews with inspirational leaders in the field of dentistry. The name "The Jameson Files" is a throwback to a dental journal column written by Dr. John Jameson.

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Jameson Management and Marketing

Laurie Owens:
So I started out working for Dr. Michael Cohen and, as most people know, Dr. Cohen is the epitome of continuing education. So within two weeks of being hired, and with no dental experience, I  was going to a CE course on bacteremia. And I sat next to our hygienist, Elizabeth, and said, “If we're making people sick, how can this be considered dental?” And she said, “That's a good question. I don't know.” And that was my launch pad to saying, “Why are we billing dental insurance when it really has to do with somebody's health?”

We were a perio office and doing lots of oral surgeries. And I said, “I think this is something important, and I really want to figure out how this might apply to what we do. So the doctors, of course, being such a busy office, said, basically, “That’s fine, but we can't have you do it during work hours because we're extremely busy.” 

Now, mind you, I did dental insurance, treatment plans, answering phones, meeting with pay—the whole gambit. So I totally understood, and I took it on myself to learn at home. I paid a guy a hundred dollars to look at my faxed claims. I faxed him the claim, they were fictitious patients, and he would fax back corrections. And so that's how I started, by wanting to make sure I was doing things right. 

So I became a certified professional biller with the APC. A lot of people think, “Oh, well, it's just the oral cavity.” It's not; it's the whole body. When you learn and you get credentialed, you have to learn the whole body. If I needed to, I could do a retina detachment right now, or spinal fusion. 

I wanted to make sure our offices were doing things right and legal. That was the whole reason behind any credentialing I've obtained. I want to make sure that what I'm doing and teaching is proper. And I also bill for six offices myself, because I'm not going to teach something that I won't do. 

For full details and show notes go to the Jameson Management Website.