When insurance verification is done right, patients feel more satisfied with efficient service when they come in for treatments and the practice reduces the number of denied claims.
Why do you need good insurance verification?
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) estimates that dental practices lose two-thirds of their revenue to insurance and billing issues and 30 per cent of dental medical insurance claims are denied or rejected on the first submission.
Among the many reasons why insurance verification has become so problematic is:
- Incorrect patient information rendered.
- Failure to update any changed patient information on time.
- Expired insurance cover.
- A mismatch between provided service and diagnosis.
- A mismatch between the applicant information and the owner of the insurance account.
Why is Insurance Verification Important?
As the name suggests insurance eligibility verification is the process of verifying a patient’s insurance.
In this, you look at:
- Is the patient still covered?
- Is the insurance policy still in effect?
- Is the insurance policy not in arrears?
- Does the patient information and that on the insurance policy match?
These along with other verification steps can cut the number of claims that are denied for your patient and your practice. Verification goes beyond simply making sure of successful claims, however, it helps keep the whole practice running smoothly.
How does it help your practice?
Insurance verification done well has many benefits to your practice.
- Increased cash flow.
As the verification process becomes smoother you can assist your patients so that they can get successful applications always. This, in turn, means your claims are always successful and your cash flow increases. Lesser claims write-offs mean you capitalize on every application and payout.
- Better workflow.
As your system takes on a more productive approach the time spent on insurance paperwork by your team is lessened meaning there is now more time being dedicated to the patients and practice. This, in turn, means there is improved productivity.
- Better patient retention.
We mentioned earlier that patients are left confused and feel short-changed by both their practice and their insurance service provider. As the insurance system you provide improves so does the trust you earn from your patients who in turn will recommend and stick to your practice at all times.
How can you improve your insurance verification?
Having a good insurance verification system is good but more can always be done to ensure your verification system is top-notch.
Verify before time. Going through your appointment list regularly helps you plan and know the status of each patient before their planned procedure, it also helps you know who needs help and who doesn’t well before their procedure which in turn makes claims faster.
Educate patients on eligibility. Telling a patient that their policy is not valid won’t cut it. Patients need to be informed on how their policy works and how they can make their insurance application experience stress-free.
Keep close contact with patients. This helps keep patient information up-to-date always. Reduce errors by making any required changes in time.
Invest in real-time verification. Yes, you have verified beforehand but double-checking will not hurt. Verify again on the very day of the procedure to be sure. The fewer errors that are there when you apply the fewer chances there are that you’ll face a denied claim.
Conclusion
Insurance verification is the most important aspect of dental practices. This has become a new way for dentists to realize payment for their practice as more and more patients are turning to medical insurance to help with bills.
As a practice owner consider investing in an external team to handle insurance verifications. There is a need to make sure they are all valid and up-to-date.