During my many years of working as a chairside assistant in a progressive general dentistry practice, I was fortunate to watch the advances in implant technology and technique. Dental implant treatment options to replace missing teeth is an excellent treatment option for many patients. Is it always successful? No, unfortunately it isn’t. When treatment is not successful, it may be necessary to remove the implant.
Are you capturing all the potential insurance reimbursement when performing implant related services? Accurate reimbursement begins with accurate coding. There are many components associated when restoring dental implants. It is important to document each component, as applicable to ensure the highest possible reimbursement. This article will focus on implants restored with single crowns and retainer crowns associated with fixed partial dentures (bridges).
Are you prescribing Perio Trays™ in your dental practice? Many of you may be prescribing and placing carriers, or trays, for the periodontal patient filled with a medicament developed to decrease harmful, disease causing pathogens. Perio Trays™ by Perio Protect® is the brand we are familiar with for fabricating the custom carriers or trays. Use of the custom lab fabricated carrier is a non-invasive treatment and can reduce the need for more invasive treatments for patients with periodontal disease.
Your front office is overwhelmed with checking patients in, answering the phones, running aging reports, posting payments and communicating with insurance companies. Whether you are a small dental practice or not, the billing process feels like a lot of extra work after you have dealt with everything else. Making sure claims went through and were paid correctly feels tedious and time-consuming. You’re ready for someone to take on some of the responsibility. You’re looking to outsource your billing so that the front office staff can focus on what’s in front of them, such as taking care of patients and answering phones, and overall making sure the office is running smoothly.
As you try to understand why your collections percentage is down at your dental practice, you begin to wonder if there is a resource to invest into that will mend your problem to help bring in more money. You need something (or someone) who will work well with your staff while also guaranteeing results. You know your business team would benefit from being relieved of some of the strain that comes with dealing with insurance companies, but you need to know if an outsourced dental billing company, like Dental Cashflow Solutions, is worth the investment and change. We get it, you need to weigh your pros and cons, and all of your options. Is outsourced dental billing even right for you? Is making a change like that worth the time and money?
Do you place fixed interim implant dentures? If so, did you know there are CDT codes to document this procedure? Many dentists are performing All-on-4 treatments and patients are seeking this treatment option more than ever. The All-on-4 is a treatment concept where a fixed hybrid denture is supported by implants, not necessarily limited to placement of 4 implants. In 2018, the Code Maintenance Committee (CMC) recognized a gap in the CDT code set. Dentists were placing interim fixed hybrid dentures and there was no code to adequately document this procedure. Thus, CMC accepted two new codes into CDT 2019.
You are an office manager trying to figure out the best practices for dental billing, and you have a lot of questions. It’s a complex process! There are several steps you must follow and accuracy is imperative. No pressure. One of those basic questions ends up being “how often should I post my dental insurance payments?” Seems like a simple question, but you’re overwhelmed and need answers and recommendations from people that have been there.
According to the American Cancer Society’s recent study , oral cancer continues to be on the rise. This being my 35th year in dentistry and many years being a clinical team member, I have seen many instances of oral cancer, more than I like to count. I have also had friends who did not survive oral cancer and those that have, for which I am very thankful. April is Oral Cancer Awareness month. Early detection saves lives! I thought it would be the perfect time to discuss CDT codes related to early detection of oral cancer. This article will address code D0431 and editorial revisions to the descriptors of D0120 and D0150 for CDT 2021.
A new patient just called your office and asked if you accepted their HMO. Your staff doesn’t know the answer to the question. There are a lot of specific abbreviations and acronyms in dental insurance terminology. It’s common to get tripped up on it. Understanding these terms is important for anyone in the insurance or billing industry, or anyone that deals with insurance on a regular basis. We get it, this can feel like homework… You already went to dental school and worked hard, and learning dental insurance basics can feel monotonous. In this article, we’re going to make it really simple for you to understand one of the most basic components of what dental insurance is: HMO versus PPO. While HMO is generically used, most dental plans are referred to as DHMO or DMO, with the D indicating it is a dental plan, not a medical plan.
You see two long words with the same prefix and think “probably is close to the same thing!” In this case, they actually have different meanings. In the dental world, many people use the terms predetermination and preauthorization interchangeably. However, there can be some differences in the meaning depending on its purpose. Confused? We get it. Not everyone’s an expert on insurance terms, and they can get really complicated. Our team of experienced dental billers at Dental ClaimSupport have submitted many predeterminations and preauthorizations over a number of years. We know the pros and cons of this practice and understand the meaning of these terms and the payer’s views. We value education and learning as much as we can about dental billing terms so that we can move through the process seamlessly.
