At DCS, we recently conducted a case study on one of our oral surgery dental practice customers: Aspire Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery of Michigan City, Indiana.
In their success story, we shared their experience of growth and expansion despite challenges, including how revenue cycle management (RCM) services played a role in their success.
You can read Aspire Oral Surgery’s full case study here.
After hearing from Aspire Oral Surgery’s team, we wanted to know what an industry expert who was outside the practice but inside the process would say about the experience.
We spoke to Angela Moorman-Rakestraw, manager of our Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (OMS) Business Unit, who has years of experience working with oral surgery practices, and played a part in Aspire Oral Surgery’s success.
Here’s the inside scoop on achieving next-level success when partnering with DCS...
Quick Recap: Aspire Oral Surgery’s success story with DCS
Aspire Oral Surgery was eager to grow their dental business by opening a third location. But only one person handled the billing for their two current locations, and she was already overwhelmed — they needed more help.
In November 2020, their accounts receivable (AR) over 30 days had crept up to 75% of their overall AR, and timely filing denials were becoming an issue.
After hiring additional staff for their insurance team, Aspire Oral Surgery still struggled to manage the billing workload that comes with multiple OMS locations, so they partnered with DCS, a full-service revenue cycle management provider.
Read more: Aspire Oral Surgery takes a chance on RCM: An aspiring dental case study
Bringing on DCS took claims submissions, claim appeals, insurance payment posting, and AR management off the in-house insurance team’s plate — to their great relief. Aspire soon saw positive results, and it didn’t take long for them to add two more services from our suite: Credentialing and Patient Billing.
Today, Aspire Oral Surgery proudly has three locations that run smoothly and profitably, and DCS manages the revenue cycle for them all.
So, let’s ask our OMS expert at DCS, Angela, what she makes of the remarkable progress that Aspire Oral Surgery made in just a few years.
What was the biggest transformation Aspire Oral Surgery is seeing while working with DCS?
Angela answers,
“I think the biggest transformation was the decreased outstanding claims in the insurance aging report, which in turn creates an increase in collections. As we worked through Aspire Oral Surgery’s outstanding claims, we were able to collect on older claims that were just in limbo.”
When you face frequent insurance claim denials, you guarantee chronic delays in your claims revenue while appeals are filed. These delays cause dips in your cashflow, and will begin to affect how you can pay expenses. When those claims are left in limbo past their timely filing limit, that’s income you’ll never collect.
If your team is receiving denial after denial but doesn’t make any changes to their processes to prevent errors, they’re leaving money on the table for insurance companies to keep.
“The DCS Team worked diligently to contact each insurance plan and find out why the delays were occurring,” Angela continues.
Related: Broken workflows tanking your dental profits? Repair the problems in 3 steps
A big transformation noticed by the in-house team was how they were able to reinvest their time after DCS took on the tedious billing work. Relieved of those tasks, the in-house team was able to give patients the full attention they deserve.
Sarah Christ, Aspire Oral Surgery’s Finance Manager, explains:
“We don't want to be short with our patients, we want them to know that they're our top priority, and that we care about them. Now that we have DCS, we're confident that when a patient comes in, we can say ‘We'll have our insurance team do a verification of your benefits, and we'll contact you with an estimate for your day of surgery expense.’ And then we can leave it to DCS to handle the filing of the claim.”
With the help of DCS, Aspire Oral Surgery’s team could focus on what mattered most to them: Their patients.
What makes Aspire Oral Surgery's experience with DCS successful?
Working with a third-party provider does not come easily to every dental or OMS team. But Aspire Oral Surgery’s willingness to adapt and change is what lead to their success with DCS.
Our OMS expert, Angela, praises the Aspire OMS team:
“One of the main reasons for success was the open lines of communication with DCS and the OMS office staff. We have a great team of DCS billers working with Aspire Oral Surgery, and their in-house team was extremely welcoming to the DCS Team. They were also willing to work together for that success.”
Aspire Oral Surgery’s team knew they needed more hands on deck to handle the OMS billing workload. It felt like an unclimbable mountain that just kept getting higher, so they reached out to DCS — sometimes, asking for help is the surest sign of strength.
Related: More freedom with RCM services: 5 ways your dental team will invest their time
“We took it, and ran with it, for sure. Because we knew that we needed a solution. And we needed a solution quick.” Sarah Christ explains.
There was no push-back or territorial mindset from the in-house insurance team at Aspire Oral Surgery. They knew that DCS was there to help. Because of their willingness to work with DCS, they smoothed their way to success.
Angela tells us,
“It definitely takes both teams working together. Our goal is to be an extension of the Aspire Oral Surgery team.”
Once they saw the results of working with DCS for insurance billing, the Aspire Oral Surgery team was eager to add more RCM services, assured that DCS would create order, ease, and consistency in other phases of their revenue cycle.
What kind of impact did this have on Aspire’s overall AR?
Since 2020, it’s down from $472,281 to $238,214 — a decrease of 50% since working with DCS.
What can other oral surgery practices learn from Aspire Oral Surgery’s experience with DCS — and their results?
Angela’s answer to this question emphasizes the importance of clear communication and a willingness to adapt:
“Be open to change and be willing to communicate as a team to find success. DCS is here to help. We want to increase your revenue, and we want to help educate you on the new codes and code changes. We want to provide excellent follow-through on claims. We can achieve these goals as we work with each other, not against each other.”
When you work with DCS, our billers will feel like a part of your in-house team, working in tandem to ensure you’re collecting as much as possible, as quickly as possible.
We’ve worked with Aspire Oral Surgery since 2020. Years later, they’re opening more locations, and we’re proud to have helped with their financial and professional success. Their growth truly comes down to the amazing experience Aspire Oral Surgery’s teams can deliver to patients because they’re not distracted by billing tasks.
Sarah from Aspire Oral Surgery reflects:
“You can have the best clinical team and the best staff, but it comes down to patient care in the end. And if patients aren’t happy with their billing experience, it makes a big difference. When they come to get oral surgery, they're going somewhere they don't want to be, and they're spending a lot of money that they may not have…
And if we can make the billing side of it just a little simpler for them, then we will do it. With DCS on our side, patients come in, and all they have to worry about is their surgery and their recovery and go home. That's what we want.”
Related: 3 surprising ways your dental patients get benefits from RCM services
Will you find growth and success the way Aspire Oral Surgery did?
The team at Aspire Oral Surgery started out overwhelmed, overworked, and months behind on claims submissions and appeals.
After they partnered with DCS, they saw more claims income through a reduced aging report, along with improved patient relationships because their in-house team gained the opportunity to focus on patient care.
Our OMS expert, Angela Moorman-Rakestraw, believes Aspire Oral Surgery found success with DCS due to their team’s willingness to communicate and collaborate.
When you bring us on, you will also find that our team provides services that feel like an extension of your own team. And when you’re ready to adapt and adjust, you’ll see how DCS supports your increased financial and professional success.
DCS proudly serves both OMS practices and private practices and groups alike.
You can find growth the way Aspire Oral Surgery has: Book a 30-minute call today.
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