How Dental Practices Can Reduce Administrative Friction and Get Back to Patient Care
Every dental office has a rhythm. Patients check in, coverage questions get answered, claims are submitted, schedules shift and providers stay focused on care. On a good day, those steps happen without much disruption. On a harder day, even one delay can ripple across the entire practice.
For office managers, administrative friction often begins in the spaces between tasks. A benefit verification takes longer than expected. A claim needs another look. A patient has a cost question just as the phones start ringing. A team member is out, and the rest of the staff has to absorb the work.
Those moments may seem small on their own, but they can add up quickly.
A recent Humana survey of American dentists found that practices are managing pressure from several directions at once. Dentists cited staffing shortages, patient cancellations or no-shows, increased patient volume and confusion around eligibility and coverage verification among the operational challenges affecting their practices.¹
For dental office teams, these findings likely feel familiar. Smooth operations depend on much more than clinical care. They also depend on clear processes, reliable communication and support that helps teams move through the day with fewer interruptions.
Where Friction Shows Up
Dental office teams are used to juggling competing priorities. They may be confirming benefits, answering patient questions, coordinating schedules, submitting claims and following up on outstanding issues, often within the same hour.
Insurance coordination is a major part of that workload. Many practices participate in multiple insurance networks, which can mean different systems, requirements, communication channels and expectations. Humana’s survey found that nearly half of dentists participate in one to three networks, while another 40% participate in four to nine.¹
That complexity can make consistency difficult. More than eight in 10 dentists said they experience difficulties communicating with insurance providers at least occasionally.¹ For office teams, that can translate into more phone calls, more follow-up and more time spent looking for the right answer.
And the impact is practical. When staff members have to chase down information, they have less time for patients. When processes are unclear, teams can lose confidence in what to expect. When answers take too long, the entire workflow can slow down.
What Predictability Gives Back to the Practice
For busy dental offices, predictability is one of the most useful forms of support. Teams need to know where to go for answers, how to resolve issues and what timeline to expect when they submit information.
Dentists in Humana’s survey said faster claim resolution, easier patient coverage verification, dedicated support representatives and more transparent policies would strengthen their relationships with insurance networks.¹ Those priorities all connect back to the same operational need, which is fewer surprises and clearer next steps.
That kind of predictability can help office managers protect the flow of the day. Clearer verification can make patient conversations easier. Reliable claim timelines can reduce follow-up. Accessible support can help staff move forward when a question does not fit neatly into a standard process.
Operational details matter here. For Humana providers, nearly 99% of clean claims process within 10 business days.² Humana’s average new provider credentialing time is 2.2 days.³ For practices, those kinds of efficiencies can help support cash flow, reduce administrative uncertainty and allow providers to begin seeing patients sooner.
Why a Consistent Contact Matters
Digital tools can help with routine tasks, but human support still plays an important role when questions become more complex. Office teams often need more than a general service line. They need a path to reach someone who can understand the issue, help identify the next step and support a faster resolution.
In Humana’s survey, nearly one-third of dentists said a single point of contact is absolutely essential to their practice, and 30% identified it as the single most useful improvement an insurance network could offer.¹
For office managers, that kind of continuity can reduce the back-and-forth that makes administrative work feel heavier than it needs to be. When a team knows where to start, they can spend less time retelling the same issue and more time getting it resolved.
This is especially important in practices already managing staffing pressure, full schedules and patient needs. A consistent point of contact can bring clarity to moments that would otherwise create disruption.
Making Routine Work Easier
Many administrative tasks are routine, but that does not mean they’re particularly simple. Eligibility checks, claim status updates, fee schedule questions and remittance details all take time. When teams can complete more of those tasks through a centralized digital process, they may be able to keep routine work from becoming another phone call or interruption.
Humana uses the Availity Essentials™ dental portal to help simplify administrative tasks for providers and office staff. Through Availity Essentials, dental practices can verify eligibility and benefits, and view claims, access a fee schedule listing, view patient ID cards and proof of coverage, manage electronic remittance advice (ERA) and electronic funds transfer (EFT) enrollment, and complete other secure administrative tasks online.4
For Dental offices, tools like these are most effective when they support existing workflows by reducing manual steps, improving access to information and giving staff more time to focus on patient care.
Front Office Shapes Patient Experience
Administrative efficiency affects more than the back office. It can influence how patients experience care from the moment they schedule an appointment.
When coverage is easier to verify, cost conversations can be clearer. When claims move efficiently, staff can spend less time following up and more time helping patients. When teams know who to contact, issues can be addressed with less disruption.
That matters because insurance relationships are closely tied to practice growth and patient retention. Nearly all dentists in Humana’s survey said insurance relationships affect their ability to attract and retain patients. Dentists also named cost transparency, insurance acceptance and scheduling convenience among the top factors that influence how new patients choose a practice.¹
For office managers, this connection is part of everyday operations. Patients want clear information and staff need reliable processes. Practices can and do benefit when both sides of that experience work more smoothly.
Reducing Friction One Workflow at a Time
Dental practices will always have administrative demands. Patients will have questions. Schedules will change. Claims and coverage will require coordination.
The opportunity is to make those demands easier to manage.
For office teams, that starts with network relationships that support clear communication, timely claims processing, efficient onboarding, accessible support and digital tools that reduce unnecessary manual work. When those pieces are in place, practices can spend less time navigating administrative complexity and more time supporting the patients in front of them.
Reference
- All survey statistics are taken from “Humana Dentist Survey,” Opinium Research, January 2026.
- In 98.95% of cases based on Provider Customer Service and Dental Claims Metrics 2025 results.
- Recred vs. Initial Timelines, Humana, June 2025.
- “Making it easier for your dental practice with Availity Essentials,” Humana.
About the Author
Michelle Hart, RDH, MBA
Michelle Hart, RDH, MBA, has been in the dental industry for more than 35 years. She started in the clinical practice setting as a registered dental hygienist before expanding her education and entering the payer side, serving in capacities such as professional relations, network expansion, recruiter, quality management and credentialing.
She has been in her current role as associate vice president, dental networks with Humana for the past seven years, where her responsibilities include dental network expansion/retention and credentialing/compliance.
