Dental billing is the process of creating bills and managing payments for the services you provide to patients.

This process may include steps like verifying insurance coverage, calculating fees, submitting claims, and following up when a patient has an outstanding balance.

The goal of dental billing is to provide patients with clear and accurate information about the costs of their care, while also making sure your practice is paid for the services you provide.

Dental billing can be complicated, especially if a practice is using outdated practices or software.

Some of the more challenging factors include insurance coverage verification, getting accurate and complete patient information, and dealing with outstanding balances.

But the right dental billing platform can make this process easier and more efficient. Clearworks automates many billing tasks, such as tracking payments and sending payment reminders—so you can focus on your patients.

Dental billing processes involve several steps. Those steps help determine insurance eligibility and how much of the cost is the patient’s responsibility.

Here’s a high-level overview:

• Gather patient information, such as insurance coverage and medical history.

• Verify the patient’s insurance coverage and submit a claim. The insurance company will review the claim and decide whether to pay a portion of the fees or deny it.

• Collect payment for the remaining balance from the insurance company or patient.

Some dental billing services, including Clearworks, make it easy to set up monthly payment plans. These plans spread the cost of treatment out across several months. That timeframe can make treatment more affordable for patients.

Medical dental billing refers to the process of submitting claims to medical insurance companies when a dental treatment is medically necessary.

With traditional dental billing, you bill for services that aren’t related to medical conditions. But when a dental procedure is required because of a medical condition (such as sleep apnea or xerostomia), you bill the insurance company using medical codes instead of dental codes.

Medical dental billing requires a different set of skills and expertise. But it can decrease the amount of money a patient owes and increase a claim’s chance of acceptance.

Dental billing coding is the process of assigning codes to dental procedures in order to bill and process insurance claims.

These codes are standardized within the industry, which means other dental practices and insurance companies use the same billing codes. Each code corresponds to a specific dental procedure or service.