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Deciding to hire a dental billing company is a big decision. An even bigger decision, and certainly more consequential, is deciding which company to work with.
In this article, Smart Data Solutions uses our expertise in the dental claims industry to determine three steps that help dental providers determine how to choose a dental billing company to work with.
3 Steps to Help Decide Which Dental Billing Company to Choose
1. Look Internally to Discover What You Need
Before beginning your search, the first step is to make sure your team is aligned internally. Taking the time for internal conversations helps determine exactly what your team both wants and needs from a dental billing company. Depending on the Provider or business, needs and preferences may vary, so gathering multiple internal perspectives provides a better picture of what an ideal partnership with a dental billing company will look like.
Some questions to ask your team that help determine whether or not to begin your search include:
- Is your collection percentage lower than you’d like it to be?
- Is your insurance aging report too high?
- Are you finding it difficult to work with insurance companies?
- Is your internal dental claims processing team feeling overwhelmed?
- Do you find claims or tasks falling behind?
- Do you feel like you and your team don’t have enough time to focus on dental claims processing?
Many people believe that self-actualization is the key to success. This is certainly the case here, or at least it’s a great start to finding ways to improve internal processes. Reexamining the workflow your practice uses for dental insurance claims gives you fresh insight into where gaps exist and how a dental billing company can help improve processes.
2. Do Your Research
After you work out your team’s needs and preferences, it’s time to begin your search. The best way to begin your search is by conducting online research on potential dental billing companies. This search can be as simple as browsing potential dental billing companies’ websites, and as complex as interviewing prospective partners.
Services that you are looking for will be openly communicated by these companies if they provide them, whether that lives on their homepage or on a web page dedicated to discussing that service. Searching the main navigation for pages of the services billing companies offer often leads to more detailed information on those services, such as step-by-step process layouts and details on pricing and scope.
A highly helpful method of narrowing down your search is visiting these potential companies’ FAQ pages. This will help resolve any questions you may still have regarding your candidates or about the process. The lack of an obvious question may also indicate that you may not be searching in the correct space.
Keep an eye out for testimonials, which may be advertised on the site or through word-of-mouth. Testimonials from current or former clients can provide incredible insight and credibility into the dental billing company and how they do business.
3. Take Note of How Sales Representatives Treat You
Contacting a sales representative provides an excellent example of how dental billing companies treat their (potential) clients. It also offers another opportunity to have unanswered questions resolved.
When conversing with a sales representative, take careful note of how they treat you. Look for whether or not they provide clear and honest answers to your questions. Take note if a sales rep gives you the runaround on pricing, or if they spam you with emails and phone calls. Or even the opposite, if they avoid contact with you altogether. These are big red flags that a company does not respect your time or simply sees you as a potential paycheck.
Stay on the lookout for representatives that take you seriously and treat you with respect. Having a strong communications person helps streamline the overall process and provides great insight into how the company thinks of its customers.
Compare Your Options and Make a Decision!
Take the information you’ve learned about the potential dental billing companies and compare their pros and cons. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the number of different companies and how they differ from each other. But the most important factor to look for in a dental billing company is whether or not they have the same goal as you: to see you succeed.
At Smart Data Solutions, our primary goal is the success of our customers. We are experienced in leading and implementing countless projects. From our experience in the industry, we are able to guide providers and businesses toward solutions that best fit their needs, while helping them understand the characteristics of billing companies that will streamline their practice and achieve success.