In your dental practice, it’s important to provide accurate estimates to patients whenever possible. That way you don’t surprise patients with an unexpected bill once their treatment is complete and their insurance has paid. This would be unpleasant for the patient, and your office might then need to wait to collect an unbudgeted payment from the patient on the balance due. Presenting inaccurate treatment plans can also result in inflating your office’s accounts receivable, which can affect your cash flow.
Several Dentrix features are available to help ensure that you are providing your patients with the most accurate treatment plan estimates possible.
Fee Schedules
Be sure to assign the correct fee schedule to the patient. Dentrix looks in three places when assigning a fee schedule to use for a patient. The first is in the Family File, the second is in the Dental Insurance Plan Information dialog box, and the third is in the Provider Information dialog box. Read this post for additional information on Understanding How the Fee Schedule is Used in Dentrix.
Be sure to update fees for outstanding treatment plans regularly so when your office fees increase, you can be sure your most current fees are being used.
Maximums and Deductibles
Always update any dental insurance maximums used and deductibles met outside your office. If a patient has already used $1,000 of their $1,500 maximum because they were seen at a specialist office, their treatment estimate will look very different than if they had not used any of their insurance maximum.
Payment Table
The Payment Table is an invaluable tool in Dentrix that can help you provide patients with the most accurate estimates. The payment table allows you to record the actual dollar amount paid for a procedure code, which will then be applied to all patients covered under that same insurance plan. This is a great feature to use for downgrades on procedures like posterior composite fillings or exceptions on procedures that aren’t covered. You can update the payment table in the insurance window or while posting insurance payments. I advise offices to update the payment table, unless a different amount was paid for a patient specific reason (such as if a filling was paid at a lower rate because a patient’s deductible was applied).
Allowed Amounts
The Allowed Amounts feature is a helpful tool for offices that bill their full office fee to the patient’s Ledger for insurance plans they are in-network for, and then make an insurance adjustment once the insurance has paid. By entering the allowed amount, Dentrix will take into account that the office will be making an insurance adjustment and calculate the patient estimate accordingly.
Treatment Estimate Text
If you aren’t sure why Dentrix is calculating patients’ treatment estimates a certain way, you can refer to the estimate text in the Treatment Planner. This text will let you know if Dentrix is applying the deductible to the procedure, if a payment table entry amount is being used, if a secondary insurance payment is being estimated, and so forth. This is a useful reference, so you don’t have to look in other areas of Dentrix to find this information.
Providing your patients with accurate estimates is important so patients aren’t surprised by an unexpected bill after their procedures are complete. Providing accurate estimates also allows your practice to maintain healthy cash flow since patients will be paying their portion at the time of service and won’t be billed weeks later.
Learn More
For additional information, read the following:
- Understanding How the Fee Schedule is Used in Dentrix
- Updating Treatment Plan Fees
- Entering Deductibles Met/Benefits Used
- What is the Payment Table and How Can I Update It?
- What Happens if I Enter an Allowed Amount for a Procedure?
- Understanding the Treatment Plan Estimate
By Charlotte Skaggs
Certified Dentrix Trainer and The Dentrix Office Manager columnist
Charlotte Skaggs is the founder of Vector Dental Consulting LLC, a practice management firm focused on taking offices to the next level. Charlotte co-owned and managed a successful dental practice with her husband for 17 years. She has a unique approach to consulting based on the perspective of a practice owner. Charlotte has been using Dentrix for over 20 years and is a certified Dentrix trainer. Contact Charlotte at [email protected].
