Some of My Favorite New Insurance Features in Dentrix

One of my favorite Dentrix G7.4 new features is the Insurance Benefits and Coverage window. I wanted to share with you what some of these new features are, and why I think they are going to make things so much easier in your office. 

First, there’s a new option to enter a web page for the insurance company. Double-click a patient’s Insurance block in the Family File to open the Insurance Information window, and click the Insurance Data button.

The reason I really like this option is because I often find myself going on the insurance website to verify coverage or check the status of a claim. By having the web page address entered and saved as part of the Primary (or Secondary) Insurance Plan Information, I don’t have to look somewhere else for it. 

Next, there’s the Insurance Plan tab within the Dental Insurance Benefits and Coverage window that provides you with specific, dedicated places to enter lots of important insurance information.

1. You can enter the date that benefits begin for both the subscriber and the patient. The reason this information is important is because it will help you to know when any applicable waiting periods have been met.
2. There is a field to enter when the carrier was last contacted and who in your office contacted the carrier. This is important because if you notice the last update was three years ago, you’re definitely going to want to re-check the insurance benefits and update them in Dentrix. It’s also helpful to know who in your office contacted the carrier. Sometimes you may have a team member that finds entering and understanding insurance to be challenging. If that team member updated the insurance plan, you may want to double-check her work to see if she needs some more training.
3. You can now make note where the insurance plan has out-of-network benefits, and which providers in your office are participating and non-participating with the insurance plan. I really like this new feature for offices with more than one doctor, when one doctor is participating, and one is non-participating. In a practice I worked with recently, the father and son are both doctors in the same office. The father is on his way to retiring and working less hours. He doesn’t want to participate with any insurance plans. However, the son is just beginning to build his practice and so he’s signed contracts with several insurance plans. The option to enter in- and out-of-network benefits would be a great new feature for this office because Dentrix will now have the ability to calculate patient estimates correctly for both doctors.
4. New appointment-related details are going to make a huge difference in your day-to-day workflow. You now have the option to enter whether there’s a waiting period, if there’s a maximum age for dependents, if there’s a missing tooth clause, and if crowns and bridges are paid on prep date or seat date. Although these details won’t be factored into estimates, a new and exciting warning system will help you to avoid scheduling appointments that conflict with the plan details. For example, if you’ve entered that an insurance carrier has a missing tooth clause and you try to schedule a bridge appointment for a patient who has this insurance, Dentrix displays a warning right in the Appointment Book, to alert you to the insurance plan details. I’m sure we can all think of dozens of times during our dental careers that this new feature would have been such a huge benefit! I think this will make a huge difference to our work lives on a daily basis!

I’m excited about all of these new features. Being able to enter an insurance carrier’s web page will save you time instead of having to look for it outside of Dentrix.

The information found under the Insurance Plan tab in the Dental Insurance Benefits and Coverage window provide you with a dedicated place to enter important plan information. The ability to enter non-participating benefits will be especially helpful for multi-doctor practices. 

And the new appointment warnings are going to make a huge difference when scheduling patients’ appointments.

Register for the 2021 Dentrix Insights Digital Summit and attend the session titled “Reduce Coverage Surprises and Claim Delays with New Tools in Dentrix” for a more in-depth look at updated insurance features in Dentrix.

Please join me again next week when we’ll take a look at the new features for maximums and deductibles, and my personal favorite, the exceptions window! If you have questions about the new insurance features in Dentrix G7.4, please email me at vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.

Charlotte Skaggs, Certified Dentrix Trainer

Charlotte Skaggs is the founder of Vector Dental Consulting LLC, a practice management firm focused on taking offices to the next level. Charlotte co-owned and managed a successful dental practice with her husband for 17 years. She has a unique approach to consulting based on the perspective of a practice owner. Charlotte has been using Dentrix for almost 20 years and is a certified Dentrix trainer. Contact Charlotte at vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.  

from  The Dentrix Office Manager Blog https://ift.tt/3u1yNPq