Revenue Cycle Management
Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) is an efficient process that is essential for all dental practices. RCM is the system used to track the dental services provided and collect revenue from patients. The financial health of your practice depends on your ability to stay focused on patient care and good revenue cycle management makes this possible. Partnering with Independence Dental, an established and experienced dental service organization (DSO) ensures that you have resources supporting your RCM efforts every day.
Manage Your Dental Practice’s Revenue Cycle
Dentists and their dental teams help people develop and maintain good oral health but, ultimately, you’re running a business. One of the most important goals is to be profitable, and this happens by creating a consistent cash flow through an organized billing process. The point of a revenue cycle management strategy is to increase revenue and lower costs as efficiently as possible by providing a service, receiving payment, and managing all the steps in between.
The Basics of Data Collection and Verification for RCM
The revenue cycle begins when you receive a phone call from a patient, new or established. The appointment is scheduled, patient information is collected and verified, and this interaction lays the groundwork for the success of the rest of your revenue cycle. It’s essential for all information to be gathered correctly – an error can interrupt the revenue stream.
What does “correctly” mean? Confirming home address, insurance provider, phone number, and email for existing patients is essential, but so is gathering the following information for new patients:
- Insurance provider
- Member ID number
- Member date of birth
- Patient date of birth (if not primary cardholder)
- Group ID number
- Employer name
Patients often find the providing of insurance information tedious and repetitive, but your RCM depends on accuracy in this department. Without obtaining and verifying this information, submitted claims will be denied and payment delayed. When you streamline your RCM, denials are far less likely, time will not be spent correcting inaccuracies and resubmitting, and your revenue cycle will be that much stronger.
Best Dental Billing Practices
By working with a DSO, the difficulties of creating successful RCM are minimized. You have an expert to guide you and your team and offer big and small tips alike during training with best dental billing practices, such as:
- When to post insurance payments to practice management software
- When to look for new strategies for your dental billing process
- What resources to rely on for timely dental billing advice
- How to stay organized with so much patient and insurance information
- How to enroll in text-to-pay options with low merchant fees
Fill the Calendar and Increase Revenue
If your schedule is full, the revenue will flow. Courting patients is a major part of revenue cycle management – they need to respect you and your team, feel comfortable in your office, and trust that they’re getting the most of their insurance. Keeping revenue going is as simple as:
- Prioritizing patient outreach
- Following up with patients about unscheduled treatment
- Getting new appointments on the calendar
- Using social media to reach new patients
- Implementing a referral program
Get RCM Support at Your Dental Practice Through Your DSO
Revenue cycle management doesn’t have to be complicated, but the act of getting everything right is complex. Ask for the support you need from Independence Dental, the DSO with the experts to help you achieve optimum efficiency and success. Contact us today to learn more about partnering with Independence Dental.
