Episode 815: Proactive Moves For Your Front Office

 Tiff and Dana focus on the front office — specifically, how offices can make sure they have exactly what they need in place to make everyone happy (patients, team members, doctor(s), etc.). They give tips on fine-tuning insurance, account balances, auditing codes, schedule-building, billing, and more.

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Transcript:

Tiffanie (00:01.734)

Oh, hello, Dental A Team listeners and viewers, I guess, I forget we see each other, but you guys see us as well. So welcome. We're excited that you're here, whether you're listening or whether you're watching, we're excited to provide awesome content to you today. I have Dana here with me who we just did an awesome podcast on leveling up your treatment coordinator position and man

 

I feel like Dana, as we were talking more was coming and I was like, oh my gosh, this podcast is going to be so long. We got to figure out how to condense some of this. So I feel like that was jam-cocked and I love pow-walling with you and really just being creative. So thank you for being that person for me and for allowing that space to happen, Dana, and welcome to the podcast. Welcome back. You're here again. Oh, no. Thank you. And Dana.

 

Dana (00:46.082)

Thank you, thank you, right back at you, Tiff.

 

Tiffanie (00:51.282)

I think it's fun. I love the level at conversations and I love it. I love chatting those with you because I think you work one on one with a lot of teams. Like you have more clients than most of the consultants do just based on the virtual aspect that you're able to provide. And so it's just so awesome. So I love how I like being creative with you because you're seeing a lot of things. I'm seeing a lot of things. I have a lot of clients, but

 

you're seeing a lot of things and a lot of trends on your side that we're not always aware of. So I love it. I love talking leveling up with you because you're doing things with your clients too, that some of us might not be doing or some of us might not think like, wow, actually, yeah, that is a level up. So thank you for being here again. Now from office wise, Dana, I think we chatted and really taking the space of being proactive.

 

rather than reactive. And that is my life in general. I always say, like, control what you can control and let the rest roll. Because what are you going to do if you can't? Right? So look at a situation. I teach my son to do this actually in communication, especially when it comes to, he's got some people in his life that he struggles communication wise. And I think I tell him to think about why are they getting upset with you? Why is this person upset with you? What caused this conflict?

 

and could it have been avoided if we had proactively communicated something prior, right? So if he doesn't do his chores and his dad gets mad at him, I'm like, he's like, well, I didn't have time. Where am I supposed to put it in my schedule? Well, the proactive move, right, is to have the conversation first thing with your dad to help him find the space and time. So

 

I'm thinking on that realm for really leveling up those front office positions in general, but definitely like that check-in position, that patient concierge, the first face of the practice. How can we be super proactive in that space to ensure that our patient's experience is seamless? And I think, Dana, do you agree? If a patient's experience from the get-go is like, wow, I barely even like I had...

 

Tiffanie (03:08.59)

to do hardly any work. Like they were just, they got of everything. What's gonna happen, Dana? Like what will happen when something doesn't go perfectly? Maybe their filling is high and they need an adjustment. Like I've had so many patients that are like, you did this wrong. Like, no, it's not wrong. It just needs an adjustment. But if their experience was different, do you think that would have an impact?

 

Dana (03:30.986)

Yeah, I think if they had a great positive experience, if they hardly had to do anything, if they showed up and it was just amazing, then if something like that happens, they know that you'll make it right. They know that you'll fix it, and they have the confidence that, oh, there might not be something wrong, right? There may be something like, I'm just gonna go in, have them take a look at it. I know they'll fix it. I know they'll do whatever it takes for that to be comfortable. So it's just, it's building that trust and that confidence that then when the patient walks away and they have that.

 

Tiffanie (03:33.42)

Thanks for watching!

 

Yeah.

 

Tiffanie (03:41.676)

Yeah.

 

Tiffanie (03:50.975)

Mm-hmm.

 

Dana (04:01.47)

it's even better for future experience with them too.

 

Tiffanie (04:04.546)

For sure. And I think if we all move forward with that mindset that you just described, that's where these ideas come from. So you don't always have to lean. We have all of the ideas. We've got so many things and we see so many things because we consult so many practices just all over the country. And even Canada, we see we consult Canadian offices. Like we're everywhere. So we do get that different perspective, but you guys can do it too. I think if you put your mindset where Dana just described, like

 

How can I make sure that this patient feels taken care of? I went on a vacation recently, and this is the first time I could say I went on a vacation. Truthfully went on a vacation. I came home feeling like I had vacation, and I was relaxed, I was rejuvenated, and I just sat there thinking, what was so different about what I just experienced compared to the slew of vacations I've ever taken? Because I think most of the time, I think everyone says this.

 

You come home from a vacation and you need a vacation because you're stressed out. This vacation was so much different because the company that, the company that, uh, sent us on this vacation, they took care of everything. There was someone at the airport with our names on it, ready to pick us up. There were, um, tour guides, a tour guide company that was, I don't even know how to say it, like rented, right? That was, that was there for the week, no matter what we needed.

 

We just found an orange shirt and we knew they would take care of it. They got us the taxis that we needed. They set up the dinners. They did dinner reservations for us at the restaurants. We chose like literally everything was taken care of. And my mind was clear. It was the first time I could really relax because I didn't have to make any large decisions. Someone was taking care of it. I mean, it was, it was beautiful and we were in a beautiful, there was the Caribbean, so it's hard not to.

 

enjoy it, but I've come home from beautiful Caribbean vacations or Costa Rica or wherever and been like, gosh, I need a couple days before I can go back to the office. And this time I felt like, gosh, this was, this was a vacation. And I think we can create that for other people. And at the same time, save ourselves time and energy, because I can only imagine the retention that this company that sent us on this vacation.

 

Tiffanie (06:26.606)

has for their employees because it was so incredible. I was like, yeah, work your tail off, get us another vacation if that's what it is. So I think the retention of your patients is gonna be higher. We're not working so hard to retain our patients or get new patients. Your stress as a team member, as the person in that position, as a doctor, your stress is significantly decreased because you have less upset patients, you have less mistakes, you have less last minute items.

 

that you're taking care of. I talked to an office yesterday, Dana, that told me that they have an insurance protocol that they wait until the patients come to the office. And if they have new insurance, they get it from them standing there and then get on the phone right away with the insurance company. And they were really impressed. And I was impressed, I was proud of them because they are able, they just get on the phone and they just handle it. And they were like, this is, we do it. We do it for them. I'm like, totally.

 

You totally do, totally do. But Dana, what happens when I say that inside of you? Because I'm wondering, is it the same that happened to me?

 

Dana (07:32.642)

It was so funny you said that and I was like Dana look at the camera because your face will say everything keep your Keep your face smiling Because that caused me so much stress and anxiety Because I know the couple of times that happened in practice like that wasn't our protocol But patients just like came with it, right and it was like scrambling and stressful and I would sweat bullets because heaven forbid I missed something or I entered the wrong number

 

Tiffanie (07:40.032)

It just, yes, it sounds exhausting, doesn't it?

 

Tiffanie (07:53.956)

Mm-hmm.

 

Tiffanie (08:00.426)

Yes. Exactly. And then treatment plans are wrong. Collections are wrong. We've got balances due by patients. We've got the insurance information is wrong. I've had, I used to get frustrated with my team when this would happen because little do we know if you have an insurance and you have a fee schedule attached to it and you make an appointment.

 

Dana (08:00.77)

because I'm rushing, because they're right there, and Dr. wants to get started.

 

Dana (08:08.526)

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

 

Tiffanie (08:29.07)

That appointment is made with that fee schedule. When the patient comes in and is like, oh, I have new insurance, and we didn't even know they didn't have in the insurance we thought because we weren't proactive, and you change it, the fee schedule changes, but the treatment plan has stayed the same in most softwares. So your appointment is now going to be set complete in the old fees. And if it's not caught prior to the claim going out,

 

Your claim goes out with a different insurance's fees attached. So when that comes back, the billing coordinator has to go in, delete the claim, update the fees, remake the claim. And now she can put in the payment. That was absurd. And it would drive me insane. So being proactive rather than reactive, look at all of those steps that were just saved. If I have a team that's like, Hey, I'm going to check these insurance benefits two to three days prior to appointments.

 

because if something has changed, if they're not eligible on what I have them anymore, I'm going to call them and I'm going to change it today and I'm gonna update the fees today so that it doesn't on the back end cause turmoil and extra work. Or I've had so many patients come in and they're like, yep, I have this. And I'm like, awesome, this is a DHMO. And I have you scheduled for two hours and my doctor is going to be so angry.

 

when you decide not to spend $4,000 out of pocket today for your implant, whatever. And so it's stress, right? And in that moment, I've got to be like, oh, how do I handle this? How do I word ninja this to save the appointment, not upset the patient? I guarantee the patient's gonna be upset because they had expectations. They thought everything was fine. Be proactive. So spaces that we wanna talk about today, insurance.

 

Okay, always making sure you guys that you're checking that those verifications are complete. There are companies you can outsource to that will at least just make sure they're eligible. There are companies that'll do the whole breakdown for you. But if you can at least get a yes, they're eligible or the no, they're not eligible, you can call the patient and say, hey, do you have new insurance? Because that in itself is gonna save so much time.

 

Tiffanie (10:41.374)

And then Dana, I loved what you said about balances on the accounts. Will you, do you want to dive into that one? Because I think that's a good spinoff from the insurance space, making sure that's clean so that we don't have balances, but when we do Dana, what do you train and coach your practices to do with that? Yep.

 

Dana (10:57.726)

Yeah, before we jump into that one just really quick tip on insurance is I had a practice and I thought it was genius that not on their confirmation but on their like reminder like hey, remember you scheduled this appointment they put on there if there are any insurance changes, please call our office with new information. Right. And that's just like an easy automated step to be proactive.

 

Tiffanie (11:02.528)

Mmm.

 

Tiffanie (11:09.826)

Yeah.

 

Tiffanie (11:14.947)

Oh, that is brilliant.

 

Dana (11:20.65)

That I thought was really helpful and it again just helped them prepare to have that information So they didn't even have to check eligibility. They knew it already changed ahead of time. So But yes, I love going through I think when you're doing your insurance verification You're auditing your appointments making sure everybody is scheduled for the correct things So everything that is in there are they due for that, right? Is it correct? Like is this a perio maintenance patient right or is this an SRP patient?

 

Tiffanie (11:23.159)

I love that.

 

Tiffanie (11:29.342)

I love that.

 

Tiffanie (11:46.939)

Mm-hmm. Oh my gosh. Yes.

 

Dana (11:48.994)

So I think auditing and a part of auditing then too is looking at patient account balances and saying, hey, are any of these patients coming in with an existing balance that we need to collect and who will have treatment done that will have a balance as well? And that's like, I know then the existing balances when they come in at check-in, I'm addressing their existing balance.

 

Tiffanie (12:00.643)

Yeah.

 

Dana (12:11.35)

For those that are going to have a balance from today's treatment, we're addressing it at checkout, and we're ensuring that we collect or you can collect both of them at the same time at check in, it doesn't matter. But identifying who has the balance so we know one it has to be addressed to especially those checkouts, we can oftentimes be like, all right, Mr. Smith, we'll see you next time. And then Mr. Smith heads out and you're like, but wait, I'm here at checkout and you have a balance.

 

Tiffanie (12:15.799)

Mm-hmm.

 

Tiffanie (12:32.09)

Yeah. Yep. I love when my hygienists do that, right? Dana, I can speak to you on this because I love the hygienist. It's like, you're all set. You're great. So you have no treatment. I'm so excited to see you in six months. Bye. And they're like, awesome. And they walk out and I'm like, under the counters up here and I'm like at my desk and I'm like, wait, Joe. Wait. I need to collect $200 from you that you don't know. Oh, yeah, I love that.

 

Dana (12:39.262)

Yes.

 

Dana (12:44.33)

Yeah.

 

Dana (12:52.582)

Come back!

 

Dana (12:59.326)

Yeah, yep. So I think just notating that even in the appointment, taking it to morning huddle, I think that's another way to be proactive, like so that you can look at hygienists like me and say, do not let Mr. Smith leave today.

 

Tiffanie (13:08.894)

Yeah. For sure. Yeah, yeah. I love that. Good. Okay, so I love those ideas. I love the one week reminder. That's brilliant. I wrote that one down. And then prepping the points with the audit. So I love the auditing codes because again, like, I want you guys to always think if when I do this, what is it going to save on the back end? So I don't know how many times

 

periomaintenance patients have gotten walked out as a pro-fee. And then we don't collect on the front end their copay for their periomaintenance and oftentimes billing doesn't catch it. And then six, nine months later, six months, nine months, 12 months, we've got pro-fee, pro-fee. And then the hygienist is like, they're a periomaintenance. Well, how am I supposed to collect from them now that I have been billing for, or tell the insurance that I've been billing for...

 

how many other times, profis, and they're actually a periomaintenance. So those chart audits are huge, and I also implore upon you to make sure that x-rays that they're eligible for might be in there. Check your doctor's codes as well. I don't know how many times crowns get locked out without a buildup, and it's not always caught on the back end. So if we're looking ahead at things and we're seeing what could this patient get done that day, what should they have done?

 

We're proactively doing that and a little plug to my hygiene team. If we're scheduling, you guys should be scheduling your next appointments, build your own schedules. If I were a hygienist, I would build my perfect day and I would put in ahead of time, the type of cleaning that they need, make sure it's correct. And then any x-rays I know I didn't take today that are going to need to be taken next time, because when I keep building recalls in there, I would hate, I could be alone in this to walk into a day.

 

and see every patient that I have, surprise, as I take them back, because nobody audited either, they need x-rays. I'm not prepped for it. I have six patients who need bite wings and PAs, and I've got to go find the stupid sensor, and I've got to track it down, and the doctors always have it, and I'm rushing around like a mad woman, and my day is behind. But if I could build my schedule to see, okay, you know what, I already have three out of six patients who need x-rays, I ain't doing any more x-rays that day.

 

Tiffanie (15:31.19)

I'm going to move into a different day and I'm going to build those days. So that's my, that's my schedule building plug. But if you guys can go in and audit those codes ahead of time, it seriously helps hygiene. It helps billing. It helps everything. So think if I do this now, what am I saving later? We're saving a ton of billing work you guys. And if we can save time in the billing department on little things like that, they can actually work on things like appeals when an insurance denies something that shouldn't have been denied.

 

making sure protocols are set, helping you guys with free care and unscheduled treatment calls because they're bored and have nothing to do. Could you imagine a billing department that was bored and had nothing to do? Let's create that. And then you're auditing the balances. I think that's huge. And again, that billing department is really, really going to love you for that. And so will your patients because even I love Dana that you said like, if they have a balance, talk to them at check-in because I feel like

 

I don't know. I feel like I had a lot of patients and I would watch it and I'd be like, okay, as a dental assistant, I'd take my patients up there and they'd stop at checkout and they'd be like, oh, you just have a balance from last time. And they're like, well, what is that from? Like they're angry now. And they're like, you just let me have an entire appointment and now you're going to corner me and tell me I owe you money. Whereas I could have made a different, which they wouldn't have made a different decision because we would have talked to them about it, but they feel like the option wasn't given to them.

 

So if they have a previous balance, that discussion needs to happen. It should happen proactively as soon as the balance is seen on the account, we should be calling and sending statements. But if it's still on the account when they come in, you guys, you have to be proactive about it. The biggest reason people leave practices is because of billing mistakes. And oftentimes, it's not a mistake, it's a conversation that should have happened differently. It's a surprise, exactly. Yeah, but your patients, right, Dana, they're gonna call it a mistake and they're gonna go, they're gonna go and they're gonna tell everybody about it. They're gonna say, this was a billing mistake.

 

this practice doesn't know what they're doing and don't trust them. They're only here for money. Like how many times have we seen those Google reviews and we're like, oh, we got to bury that sucker and we got to talk to whoever's doing the billing about some protocols. So I love that. Where else do you think, Dana? We've got, I love the one week reminder. I put down like verifying those insurances two to three days in advance just to be safe and making the phone calls you guys when it's not eligible so that we're not shocked with it.

 

it's auditing the balances. I mean there's programs out there where we can send paperwork ahead of time, right? So I hope they're doing that. And just making sure, making sure it's all like buttoned up. Like what if you were a patient, and Dana I think you work on this a lot with your practices actually because I've seen it. If you are a patient walking into your practice, what would you expect? And Dana how do your patients, how do your clients go about figuring that out?

 

Dana (18:25.741)

Mm-hmm.

 

Dana (18:33.121)

Yeah.

 

Dana (18:48.362)

One I think it is the biggest area when it comes to new patients is you not having everything that you need from them to set yourselves up for that great experience. So it's proactively checking every new patient to make sure that one you have their new patient information, you have their insurance information, you have that records released to get those radiographs, you have and then

 

Tiffanie (19:00.24)

Yeah.

 

Dana (19:15.594)

obviously following through on all of that information, but the not worst thing but Going into a practice as a new patient and then be like well I need this and I said you feel like they're scrambling That's an easy way to add anxiety to an Appointment that can sometimes already come with anxiety So I think the biggest thing to do is proactively ensure that you have what you need to take care of that patient

 

Tiffanie (19:29.648)

Yeah.

 

Tiffanie (19:33.392)

Yeah.

 

Tiffanie (19:38.374)

for sure.

 

Tiffanie (19:45.863)

I love that.

 

Proactively ensure you have what you need to take care of that patient. I love that. And I think that spins background to that control factor. I've had a lot of, I don't know why this keeps coming up recently. It always comes in waves, right? It's like everyone has the same thing every single time. But recently it's been, well, we're waiting on the paperwork. Like the patient has to get it back to us or we're waiting on this or we're waiting on the lab. And I'm like, why are you waiting? So we sit there and wait for information to come to us when most of the time we can proactively ensure

 

actively go get the information ourselves or take care of it. And I feel like it makes me feel better if I'm like, actually, I can just handle that. Like, it's gonna take me way less time. I hate sitting and waiting on somebody, someone or something else. I don't want to wait for the information to come back to me if I can go get it myself. So I love that you said that. So you guys, I think that right there, like that's a huge action item. Where do you see you can be super proactive to do

 

your patient because ultimately it's gonna be better for you and it's gonna be better for all of your teammates too. I love, I'm gonna put this in here as an action. I love that one week reminder.

 

if insurance has changed. And again, it's not that two to three day, it's the one week reminder or even further out. If insurance has changed, please call us. I think that's huge. Prepping the appointments and auditing your codes. Make sure your codes are accurate in the appointment so when it's set complete, you don't have to worry about anything later. And auditing your balances, you guys. Those are three easy ways, making sure the insurance is accurate prior to the patient coming to the appointment, auditing your codes in your schedule, and then auditing your balances before patients get there.

 

Tiffanie (21:27.584)

easy ways to level up your proactivity, decrease your reactivity, and make everyone's lives so much better. Dana, I know we talked about a lot. Do you feel like there's anything else in there that we need to add as an action item?

 

Dana (21:43.346)

No, I think that's good. I think the biggest thing to hit is make sure that you're prepared to be able to take care of patients that walk through the door.

 

Tiffanie (21:49.25)

Yeah, yeah, and I think on that note too, like, if I'm not prepared, I can't expect my patient to be prepared either. That's unfair.

 

I love it. All right, guys, go do the things. Another jam packed session, Dana. Thank you so much. I know I thought we could squeeze in a third one. But no, we had a lot to go on this. And that was so much fun. So thank you for being here with me. You guys. Thank you for being here, whether you're a current client, a future client, or someone who just loves to listen. We love all of you all the same. And we're just so happy to have you. So thank you for being here and we'll catch you next time.