3 Ways to Spring Clean Your Dental Insurance Aging Report
As the season of renewal approaches, it’s time to give more than just our homes a thorough spring cleaning—our dental insurance AR could also benefit from a fresh start. Following the rush of updating new insurance benefits at the beginning of the year, spring presents an opportune time to reassess and optimize our systems for managing accounts receivable. Effectively managing your dental insurance aging isn’t just about tidying up—it’s about saving time and money and preventing future headaches. Just as we apply three critical steps to sprucing up our homes—decluttering, deep cleaning, and organizing—we can apply these principles to our aging reports.
Declutter: Insurance Verification
Decluttering gives us the foundation of a healthy AR. In the dental office, this is the insurance verification. To stay on top of your AR, dedicate time to the task and carefully verify patients’ dental insurance coverage. It is also helpful to customize this verification for your practice. For example, after hiring an associate doctor, we realized he preferred to place a bone graft with most extractions. Therefore, we added that code to our verification. This allowed us to provide a correct estimation of patients’ copay. By conducting thorough insurance verification, you ensure accurate billing, optimize treatment planning, and foster smoother patient experiences. This proactive approach will minimize denials and appeals and lessen the need to search for outstanding claims.
Deep Clean: Check for Outstanding Claims
Run a report in your practice management software for outstanding claims over 30 days old. What does it look like? Is it manageable? After assessing the situation, set a goal to start deep-cleaning the claims. Depending on the number of claims, this may take several weeks or more. One approach is to call one insurance company per day and follow up on those claims, correct them, or send the appeal. If this step seems daunting or your practice needs to be more relaxed, as most offices are, this is another task that can be outsourced.
Organize: Put your System in Place
For example, our AR requires ongoing attention, as we regularly clean and organize our homes. Establishing a systematic approach, such as bi-weekly follow-ups on aged claims and meticulous documentation, ensures consistency and accountability within the practice.
Spring cleaning your dental insurance aging is beneficial but essential for the smooth functioning of your practice. You can significantly improve your accounts receivable management by following the three steps: decluttering, deep cleaning, and organizing. By embracing these spring cleaning techniques for your dental insurance aging, you save time and money and contribute to your practice’s overall effectiveness and success. So, as you embark on your spring cleaning journey, don’t forget to give your dental insurance aging the attention it deserves—it will pay off in the long run.
About the Author
Valerie Hallman-Hill grew up in North Carolina and attended North Carolina State University. She began her journey in the dental field in 2004 as an assistant and later transitioned to the administrative side of the office. Valerie received her FAADOM in 2022. She currently serves on the board of her local study club in AADOM’s Dental Professional Learning Network. In her off time, she is an avid runner and enjoys spending time with her family.
