Unlock the Secrets of Medical Dental Billing – A Complete Guide

Hey there! If you're in the dental world, you know billing can be a headache. But what if I told you there's a way to make it less painful? Welcome to the complete guide to medical dental billing. Let's dive in and unlock some secrets together.

What is Medical Dental Billing?

Medical dental billing is not just about sending out invoices for teeth cleanings. It's about understanding the medical necessity behind dental procedures that also have a health or medical reason behind it and billing them accordingly. This approach can open doors to better reimbursements and a healthier bottom line for your practice.

My First Encounter with Medical Dental Billing

I remember when I first stumbled upon medical dental billing. A patient needed major reconstructive work due to an accident. Traditionally, this would have been a dental insurance matter, but we billed it medically through Medicare. The result? Better coverage for the patient and the start of a new way of running our practice, we knew we would never go back to telling patients "no"

The Benefits of Medical Dental Billing

• Doctor Recognition: The first step to be recognized as a doctor is getting credentialed and receiving your PTAN. This registers you to accept and bill for patients. You shouldn’t even touch a patient without this.

• Better Reimbursements: 7 out of 10 cases overall and 9 out of 10 cases 65 and older apply. Higher reimbursements with lower overhead

• Improve Patient Care: Doesn’t matter how good you do, if the patient can’t afford it, especially when it’s just financial, not doing medical dental billing is not just doing your practice a disservice, it’s risk of complaints, and worse.

• Expanded Services: You can offer more to your patients when you're not limited by dental insurance restrictions.

A Real-Life Success Story

We had a patient that was a veteran and was constantly being denied care because he couldn't afford to pay out of pocket it didn't matter that he was promised his health coverage from the VA office all the dental practices that he was visiting weren't properly trained so they were denying his health benefit of his mouth calling it dental and using that word as an excuse. We were able to get them a set of dentures so we can smile and chew his food again. It was covered under Medicare and she was able to not only be a happy Grandpa instead of a scary one he was also able to get a job and return back to society.

How to Get Started with Medical Dental Billing

If you are new to this, do not get overwhelmed, use this guide to get credentialed. It can be overwhelming if you think you need to learn medical billing and do it yourself, but I wouldn’t recommend that for many reasons. In order to get started with medical dental billing you must be credentialed, we have a guide for you so you can learn how to get your dentist-doctor credentialing with CMS.gov. Then you’ll need to get and/or train a medical biller, but this is the easy part.

Understand What Qualifies

• Medical Necessity: Learn what dental procedures can be billed medically. Think beyond the teeth. Always ask if the patient wasn’t here, if it was just the teeth alone, would I still be doing this procedure? If not, we should and must consider the medical portion first as a primary.

• Documentation: Proper documentation is key. It’s not just about what you did, but why it was medically necessary.

The Right Tools and Training

• Billing Software: Get a software like EZ Biller that is streamlined for dental practices and dental offices to get paid from Medicare and medical payers.

• Training: Consider training or hiring someone with medical dental billing expertise, look for someone that is licensed in medical billing and also has experience in surgeries and procedures you perform.

• Protect Your Practice: It doesn’t matter how much you make it matters how much you keep and so while dental medical billing can seem very exciting its lucrative when you do it right and a disaster when done wrong. This is one of the areas that you don't want to cut corners or just try to do it yourself get professional help.

Navigating the Challenges

If you don't know your options it's impossible and easy to give up but if you know your options to appeal to fight and to demand for your money it's just a matter of taking the steps before you get your money. Don't develop learn helplessness by learning from people that get up or lose learn from the top 1% of people that win and continue to get paid even when everybody else is not.

Dealing with Denials

Denials can be discouraging, but they're not the end. It's about understanding the reason and responding appropriately. Persistence pays off!

Keeping Up with Codes

Billing codes change. Staying updated is crucial. I learned this the hard way when a claim was denied due to an outdated code.

Maximizing Your Dental Practice’s Potential

Embracing medical dental billing can transform your practice. It’s about seeing the bigger picture of your patient's health and your practice's potential.

Broadening Your Patient Base

When you start billing medically, you open your doors to more patients. It's an opportunity to grow and diversify your practice.

Building a Reputation

Being a practice that goes the extra mile in billing can build your reputation. Patients appreciate it when you help them navigate the complex world of insurance.

Conclusion:

Medical dental billing is more than a billing strategy; it's a mindset shift. It's about recognizing the integral role of dental health in overall well-being and stepping up to meet that need. Sure, it takes effort to get into the groove of medical billing, but the rewards for your practice and patients are immense. Make sure you have the right guide to help you with dental medical billing.

Your Next Steps:

Ready to take your dental practice to the next level? Start exploring medical dental billing. It's a journey worth embarking on for the sake of your patients and your practice’s growth. Dive in, learn, adapt, and watch your practice thrive!

Explore our Complete Guide to Medical Dental Billing and transform your practice's financial health. Uncover effective strategies, real-life success stories, and essential tips to master medical billing in dentistry. Perfect for dental professionals seeking to enhance billing efficiency and maximize reimbursements. Dive into our comprehensive guide and unlock the secrets of successful medical dental billing today!