At Becker's The Future of Dentistry Roundtable in June, Paul Bernard, the CEO of InsideDesk, led a featured session focused on revenue cycle management in the dental industry. He shared his background in healthcare finance and billing, and discussed the importance of RCM as a business process that involves multiple players and complexities.
Mr. Bernard emphasized the need for collaboration and innovation in the industry to improve RCM practices. He also discussed denials and the need to minimize manual intervention in claims processing. He pointed out the opportunities for improvement and the role of DSOs in driving innovation and demanding interoperability.
Key takeaways:
1: RCM is a complex and interconnected process
Mr. Bernard emphasized that revenue cycle management is not just about individual components like eligibility verification or billing, but a complex process that involves multiple players and steps. The success of RCM depends on the collaboration and efficiency of all the involved parties.
2: RCM processes today have high denial rates
Mr. Bernard mentioned that RCM processes, such as eligibility verification, billing, payment posting and claim follow-up, often result in high denial rates. This can result in a significant decrease in revenue for DSOs and dental practices.
3: Digital adoption in dental RCM is lower compared to medical RCM
Mr. Bernard pointed out that the adoption of digital transactions in dental RCM is lower compared to medical RCM. This creates an opportunity for DSOs to embrace digital solutions and automation in order to improve efficiency and reduce costs in their revenue cycle management processes.
4: DSOs have the potential to lead the way in driving innovation and interoperability in RCM
Mr. Bernard said he believes DSOs can be at the forefront of driving innovation and interoperability in RCM. They have the potential to demand access to data, incentivize digital adoption, and collaborate with payers and other stakeholders to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of RCM processes.