Manual insurance verification takes an average of 13 minutes per patient for dental practices. When you multiply that times the number of patients you’re seeing every day, simply validating insurance ahead of time could become a full-time job! However, insurance verification plays a critical role in ensuring that your billing is accurate, your revenue stream is steady, and your patient experience is great. Why is proper insurance verification so critical?
It Prevents Claim Denials and Payment Delays
A single denied claim every now and then is not a huge problem, but managing a huge stack of denied claims every week is. Insurance companies deny claims for a broad range of reasons, including everything from typos when entering patient information to treatment exclusions. When insurance is not verified beforehand, the likelihood of submitting incorrect claims increases significantly, which can lead to denials and payment delays.
These delays can disrupt your dental practice’s cash flow, which makes it harder to maintain financial stability and grow. By implementing thorough insurance verification processes, dental practices like yours can reduce the chances of claim denials and ensure faster reimbursement from insurance companies.
It Improves Your Revenue Cycle Management
Revenue cycle management (RCM) is a hot topic, and that’s for a good reason! Proper RCM can ensure that your practice is operating smoothly, attracting and retaining patients and staff, and growing over time. Insurance verification is one of the key steps for effective RCM. Ensuring every patient’s insurance details are accurate and up to date prevents surprises when it’s time to coordinate payment.
Without insurance verification, dental practices can find themselves chasing after unpaid balances, re-submitting claims, or explaining unexpected charges to patients. By integrating insurance verification at the start of the process, your dental practice can streamline its RCM and maximize your revenue.
It Boosts Patient Satisfaction
A smooth insurance verification process enhances patient satisfaction. Patients want to understand their financial obligations upfront, and unexpected bills often lead to patient complaints and a loss of trust. If your dental practice verifies insurance coverage before treatment begins, you can provide patients with accurate estimates of their out-of-pocket costs so that they know how much they will be responsible for.
This transparency allows patients to make informed decisions about their treatment plans and budget accordingly. Practices that prioritize clear communication and accuracy in billing are more likely to retain loyal patients and foster positive relationships, and they are also more likely to get positive referrals.
It Decreases the Burden on Your Staff
Manually handling claim rejections, resubmitting claims, and dealing with patient disputes over coverage takes time and energy away from the daily operations of your dental practice. By verifying insurance details ahead of time, your staff can reduce the risk of claim rejections and non-payment from patients. This proactive approach minimizes the back-and-forth with insurance providers so your staff can focus on other important tasks, like patient scheduling.
Additionally, today’s innovative insurance verification solutions can streamline the process even more. This further reduces the risk of human error and improves efficiency. Leveraging technology for insurance verification not only saves time but also reduces stress for both staff and patients. APEX Reimbursement Specialists is here to help your practice find the right insurance verification solution for your needs.
Simplify the Billing Process with APEX Reimbursement Specialists
Whether you’re looking for a way to make revenue cycle management at your dental practice easier or hoping to improve your overall patient communication plan, APEX Reimbursement Specialists is here to help. Contact our team today by calling (410) 710-6005. We look forward to working with you to make your practice a more profitable place.