When beginning any relationship, it’s important to set clear expectations. It lets each party know the other’s purpose in the relationship. When your dental practice starts working with a dental billing company it’s important to be clear about the scope of work, the benefits to expect, and timing involved.
When expectations aren’t clearly communicated at the beginning of this working relationship between the dental team and the outsourced billers, it can lead to disappointment on both sides. As a dental billing service provider, we care about customer success and happiness, so let’s be clear about expectations.
In this article, you will learn about a few false expectations that are common among some dental teams when they start working with a billing service, and what the reality truly is that needs to be understood on both sides.
Understanding these assumptions can help you adjust to working together more easily, for the benefit of your practice. Once this relationship is established and honest expectations are set - the practice will see positive results.
Let’s dive into a few false expectations some dental practices have about outsourcing their dental billing.
Expectation #1: The dental billing company is going to come in, clean up outstanding claims, then leave
It’s imperative this is discussed upfront when working with a dental billing company: how long do you plan to use their services?
Some dental offices are not transparent about this, and have the expectation that this will be a short-term collections cleanup. They want someone to come in and get claims off the aging report. Then, they let the billing company go once the aging reports look good.
Hey, that’s your prerogative! But that’s not the greatest benefit of having a dental billing service. It’s most effective as a continuous service, not a short-term fix. Let’s talk about it.
And if you do plan on using the services for a short period of time - you should let the billing company know! This way they can help you plan to handle future insurance billing challenges once you’re on your own.
Reality: Outsourced dental billing is a continuous, long-term service
The goal of a dental billing company is to free you from the profit-crushing strains of insurance billing. If you let go of your dental billing company without an immediate and experienced replacement, the strain of lost revenue is going to come right back.
A dental billing company is helping you take control of a huge portion of your revenue: insurance claims income. Insurance payments don’t keep flowing in when the tailored collection system stops.
If you do stop that system - be prepared for low collections to return, unless you immediately hire an experienced insurance coordinator (which could be costly). And until that happens, the added work to fix problems when a less experienced team member handles your claims.
Learn more about why in-house dental billing will cost you in our Learning Center.
Expectation #2: The admin team never has to talk to the dental billing company
It’s a common expectation that the outsourced billing company is going to work in the background and your admin team will never have to deal with them. You might think, “all we’ve got to do is create the claims then they’ll take it from there.” Hey, you’re half right. That is what they do.
However, the claims process is not always so seamless, no matter how many experts you have on hand. Insurance companies always find new ways to deny claims, and if the outsourced biller has a question, or needs patient information corrected, your team needs to be available to respond.
Reality: The admin team should make communicating with the billing company a top priority
Working with a dental billing company won’t work if the dental team is not willing to communicate with the remote biller. They don’t necessarily have to talk every single day, but your practice’s point of contact should be available to speak with your biller during business hours if need be, or answer a quick email.
Some people prefer phone calls, video chats, emails, or texts. Whichever your preference, this is something you will explain to your billing company. That way the line of communication is clear and that expectation is set.
Also, you’re going to hear from your remote biller at least once a day anyways. They will send you a daily report, informing you on total amounts posted and questions or correspondence on patient claims. This will give your practice an update of what all was done that day, as well as a snapshot of how your practice is performing.
Expectation #3: The dental billing company is going to take control of the administrative team
It’s common for dental administrative teams to get nervous when their dentist outsources the billing company. They fear that the remote biller is going to run the admin team and take control of all aspects of billing.
With this false impression, the admin may actually resist the services that would otherwise grow their income.
Everyone’s work gets harder rather than easier. Instead, the expectation should be to think of the billing company as an extension of the team.
Reality: The dental billing company is an extension of the administrative team, not a replacement
The dental billing company is not going to come in and begin bossing your administrative team around. The remote biller is going to take care of insurance billing headaches so that they can focus on all of the other tasks they are juggling.
The dental billing company wants to work with the admin team, not against it. A smooth claims process empowers your in-house team to create an amazing patient experience, a streamlined insurance verification process, and a more productive patient billing process.
It’s up to the dentist (or whoever is making the decision to outsource) that no one is losing their jobs because of the billing company. The better the dentist communicates the purpose of the billing company, the less threatened the administrative team members are likely to feel.
Expectation #4: The dentist doesn’t need to communicate with the dental billing company
There are some dentists who want their insurance billing entirely off their hands, saying: “Alrighty, y’all take care of it!”
Sure, the dentist doesn’t need to be in the weeds of the billing process. However, dentists who don’t think they need to be involved at all with their billing might miss out on important information such as:
- The performance of their outsourced biller
- The performance of their administrative team
- Their return on investment in the dental billing company
- Increased insurance collections
- Lowered aging report percentages
The person “in charge” and who truly has the most at stake in the revenue of the practice should be in the loop.
Reality: The dentist should stay in the loop about the numbers and performance of both the in-house team and remote biller
So as we’ve said - the dental billing company isn’t there to boss anyone else around, but if the admin team will not willingly work with the dental billing company, that’s a problem and the dentist needs to be notified.
And vice-versa. If the administrative team has a problem with the dental billing company, they should let the dentist know, and the dentist can talk to the point of contact.
When the decision-maker knows how the relationship is going, and how the numbers are improving, the relationship can keep growing to best serve the practice.
Ready to successfully work with a dental billing company?
Working with a dental billing company is certainly an adjustment for everyone involved in the billing process. It takes clear communication and expectations in order for the relationship to be successful. Without both parties willing to do this, the remote billers won’t get the chance to help improve the billing process, revenue, and overall financial health.
Dental ClaimSupport always encourages open communication and dialogue between ourselves and the offices we work with. Understanding one another’s expectations is what can help your practice be profitable, and benefit from the services we offer.
To learn more about what it takes to work successfully with a dental billing company, visit our Learning Center.
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