Did you know that every dentist has the opportunity to improve their practice’s bottom line solely through insurance negotiations? Many dentists are so overwhelmed by the other aspects of running their practices that they rush through the negotiation process. However, it is one of the single biggest ways that you can instantly boost your revenue. If you are starting to prepare for payer negotiation, here is what you should know.
Get Together Contracts and Fee Schedules
It is impossible to complete insurance negotiations successfully if you have no baseline to compare things to. Before starting insurance negotiations, make sure that you have a current copy of your existing payer contracts and fee schedules. When you receive an offer from the insurance companies that you are negotiating with, you should always start by comparing it to these.
Know Your Codes
What codes are you using the most often? Many dental practices have a handful of codes that they utilize the most. By increasing the reimbursement rates for those codes, you can boost the revenue for your entire practice without adding new services or changing anything that you are doing. When getting ready for insurance negotiations, make sure that you sit down and take a hard look at your most-used codes.
Focus on Top Payers
As a dental practice, you might work with a handful of payers or many different payers to help as many patients as possible. There is nothing wrong with that, but when preparing for insurance negotiations, it’s a good idea to focus on the top payers only. By allocating your efforts here, you can make the biggest difference in your practice’s bottom line. Some practices exert themselves on smaller contracts and end up not having the time and energy to devote to negotiating more meaningful contracts.
Get Organized
Preparing for insurance negotiations means doing a lot of homework, which is why staying organized is so important. After you’ve done all of the work above, make sure that you have everything organized in a central location. Fee negotiations take perseverance, as your payers have a lot of leverage and data that they can pull from. By educating yourself and equipping yourself with the right tools, you can get the job done!
Get Ready for Fee Negotiations with APEX Reimbursement Specialists
Whether you’re preparing for the recredentialing process or looking for assistance with the initial process of credentialing with a new provider, 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.