Improve Profitability through Clean Claims

With almost 11 ADA recognized dental specialties and having a burgeoning market share, the specialty dental business is here to make significant gains in the coming years as we take a cursory glance on the latest trends of the dental industry.

Listen to Ryan Arnold, Principal, Wisdom Teeth Guys as he explains the possibilities that lie ahead for Dental Specialty business and how he has paid attention on patient care,technology adoption and brand management to further sustainable practice growth for his specialty.

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Creating Sustainable Specialty Dental Businesses

Dentistry's Inner Circle Podcast

A series of podcasts from practice owners on how they navigated the change and successfully transitioned to CareStack. 

How Dr. Williams' Practice Optimized Growth with CareStack

Case Study: How Dr. Williams' Practice Optimized Growth with CareStack

Expanding Dental Care beyond the Clinic

Expanding Dental Care Beyond the Clinic

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Embracing Change To Grow Your Group

Enable Dental Completes Its Migration To CareStack

Enable Dental Completes Its Migration To Industry Leading Cloud Based Dental Software

Beatrice

Ishtiaq Rouf

Dana Veach

Dr. Himesh Kana, DDS

Himesh Kana

 Penny Filipe

Promoted to Manager, Now What

Promoted to Manager, Now What?

Top Trends in Dental Software for 2025

Top Trends in Dental Software for 2025: What Practices Should Prepare For

Brand Guidelines for Dental Offices to Attract and Retain Gen-Z Patients

Reducing patient no-shows and cancellations begins by accepting that 

it’s impossible to guarantee that your patients will always keep their appointments

. Once you accept that this falls outside your control, you can pool your efforts on the aspects that are within your control, and which help reduce no-shows and cancellations.

missed appointments cause a ripple effect

 that impacts your schedules, revenues, and the effectiveness of treatments. It strikes a serious blow to your bottom line. But with that said, there are 

effective safeguards you can put in place

 to address this issue. Before we explore these safeguards, let’s examine the key reasons behind no-shows and cancellations. 

Typically, patients miss their appointments when they:

Don’t understand the importance of keeping their appointments

Misunderstand when their appointment is scheduled

Self diagnose and decide to skip their appointments

Worry about bad news and try to avoid the situation

Have a shallow relationship with the provider

There is a wide range of reasons for patients to miss their appointments, but most can be mitigated with improved patient-provider communication and by implementing the following safeguards.

It became widely accepted as a care delivery method after the 2020 pandemic, but thanks to the convenience offered to patients, 

 is here to stay. Outside the initial check-up and actual treatment, consultations and routine post-op visits can be performed remotely. The virtual interactions offer patients the opportunity to 

receive treatment in the comfort of their living room

 or office. The added benefit of leveraging teledentistry is it adds one less reason for patients to rethink or opt out of their dental appointments. 

Another approach that has gained traction is using 

 to collect vital patient information. E-forms are a key feature of modern practice management software (PMS). This feature is now used widely to stay in line with the COVID-19 safety protocols. With this new norm, practices have completely replaced the clipboard and embraced digitization. Another fact that supports this approach is that 

98% of patients who take time to fill out online forms commit to their appointments

COVID-19 has added fuel to the fire of dental anxiety among patients. The risk of exposure is a valid fear. The best way for you to 

 is with communication and education. Ensure you convey the safety protocols and measures followed at your practice to reduce the risks from COVID-19. Launching targeted email campaigns, and updating relevant information on your practice website and 

convey your commitment to patient care and safety

 and encourage patients to follow through with their appointments.

When you provide your patients with the option to make payments in advance, it reduces the instances of no-shows and benefits your collections and accounts receivable. Get paid upfront instead of having to wait for 2-3 months. Paying cash in advance leads to 

. You can provide this option during patient checkout, especially when both you and your patient agree with the importance of scheduling the next appointment.

Offering upfront payment at this stage is apt, as the patient is likelier to take action and commit to their oral health. Another way to make it easy for them to pay is by providing an 

. Make sure that you inform your patient about your prepaid payment options. Market it through your campaigns, newsletters, and phone scripts.

Reminders are an effective way to reduce patient no-shows. Plan your 

and decide on a frequency that works best for your target clientele. Start off with a postcard, followed by email and text reminders. Add a phone reminder a few days before the scheduled appointment. Ensure that you cut down on reminders once you receive confirmation from your patients. Practice management software aids you to launch, coordinate and track your recall campaigns effectively.

reward patients who keep their appointments

. The reward initiatives can include discounts or gift cards. The benefits of such an approach are twofold. You encourage your patients to follow through on your appointments and 

convey how much you value their participation

. Moreover, curating such experiences helps you retain your customers.

Sometimes, patients simply forget an appointment. Send 

 that can include a “We missed you at the practice” message. Follow this up with a phone call to encourage them to reschedule immediately.

It is crucial that your patients know the impact of your treatments on their oral health. If your patients are not invested in the outcomes of your treatment plan, it is unlikely that they will uphold their commitments. 

 before every appointment. Remind them of the benefits of the procedure and the progress they’ve made so far. 

 of the scheduled appointment and ensure that they are fully onboard. A phone reminder before the appointment will help refresh what they already know about the 

Patients skip appointments because they owe your practice money or are worried the procedure will be too expensive. When this happens, it’s time to 

. It’s important that payments never come as a surprise to the patient. This causes anxiety in the patient, especially when they expect hidden expenses from each visit. When 

 and benefits are discussed upfront and agreed upon, patient no-shows due to financial concerns can be avoided. 

 allows you to effectively educate and communicate with your patients. Automating tasks like appointment reminders or confirmation/cancellation emails, filling last-minute openings, and sending online forms and other notifications to engage patients, practices can drastically cut revenue loss and staff workload while reducing patient no-shows and cancellations.

Eliminating No-Shows and Cancellations at Dental Office

For a dental practice, revenue cycle management is the equivalent of the body’s circulatory system and the heart of a practice’s financial success. The revenue cycle incorporates data capture, claims and denials management, and the collection of payments from both patient and insurance receivables. A healthy system works in concert with industry best practices and technical solutions to optimize efficiencies, identify “leaks” and improve operational workflows. As every practice is unique, it is difficult to prescribe a “one size fits all” approach. However, there are key performance indicators, which can and should be followed to measure practice performance. There are several potential KPIs which provide valuable insight into the collection’s performance and financial health of practice including, but not limited to: Collections percentage, Production growth, Aging accounts receivable, Days sales outstanding, Adjustments percentage, and Credit balances. 

Since 2011, the dental industry has experienced a steady and upward trend in aging receivables, with the majority of balances aged greater than 90 days. The good news is that CareStack offers a solution that combines modern technology, effective processes, and industry expertise to kick start the heart and breathe life back into the revenue cycle.

Revenue Cycle Playbook for Dental Professional

Revenue Cycle Playbook for Dental Professionals

From small, solo practices to large, multi-location clinics, these case studies demonstrate the versatility and value of CareStack in improving the patient experience and driving practice . 

Amidst the economic uncertainties of the pandemic, many 

 have found a solution to cutting costs and optimizing operations through outsourcing their revenue cycle management.

Outsourcing improves profits by up to 10 per cent in net collections, boosting team morale.

Keeping this context in mind, let’s examine the benefits of dental billing outsourcing and how it can benefit your practice management team.

Understanding the needs of your dental practice, such as “Should I outsource my 

 operations?” is a question that more and more dentists and practice owners are asking themselves. The answer often varies and is generally dependent on these three crucial factors.

Assessing the needs of your dental practice is determined by the volume of tasks, billing workload, and requirements for scalability.

Choosing a service that specializes in your area can ensure compliance with specific coding and billing practices. Some practices may only need help with specific aspects of billing, such as coding or claims follow-up, while others may want to offload billing tasks completely.

Reduce overhead costs associated with hiring, training, and maintaining an in-house 

 team. Therefore, staying updated with regulatory changes while ensuring that your practice benefits from advanced tools without the need for continuous investment.

Understanding the needs of your dental practice

 pipeline has on your revenue cycle, we must first consider the various 

 that your practice is currently incurring.

Benefits and employer fee, Clearinghouse fee, Statement fee, Direct claim costs,Hourly wages.

Claim rejections, denials, reduction in cash flow, and bad debts.The second consideration would be the safety of your patients’ data on outsourcing. This is crucial, and the outsourcing team should comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act HIPAA regulations.

Choosing the RCM Outsourcing Service type you need

A proper solution needs to be selected and implemented depending on your practice's billing requirements. Let's examine the two major types of outsourcing among the variety of 

 as the name suggests, outsources all of your billing tasks, including claim and denial management, to a team of experts. Most outsourcing firms offer this service, but it requires an in-house team at the service location to coordinate and handle processes such as patient registration and credentialing.

 delivers the whole package. It is when you hand over almost the entirety of your revenue cycle to an RCM team. These 

 involve the provision of software or technology tools that work in tandem with a team of experts. They cover almost every aspect of the billing cycle and may even provide practice consultation.


 Basic outsourcing Fullstack outsourcing Claim management Yes Yes Rejection management and claim re-working Yes Yes Denial management Yes Yes Financial reporting Yes Yes Handling patient statements Yes Credentialing Yes Eligibility verification Yes Claim research and follow-up on A/R Yes Dental coding services Yes Charge submission Yes Practice Management Software (PMS) Yes No extra clearinghouse fees Yes No need for fulltime billing staff Yes


 doesn't necessarily mean the team should be disbanded; instead, they can be delegated to contribute more to other projects. An example would be creating a financial counselor or finance trainer so your patients can better understand benefits and other claim-related concepts within the 

CareStack offers CareRevenue RCM Solutions

, a fullstack outsourcing collusion that offers eligibility and benefit verification, dental claims billing, receivables and denial management, payment posting and reconciliation, and medical billing for dental procedures. The service is designed to ensure that dental RCM processes in an office are optimized, while driving efficiency and profitability. Customers have reduced their day sales outstanding by upto 50% after they started using CareRevenue.

Reduction in accounts receivable days from 20 days to 12.

Central Billing Team to manage claims and payments at all offices

Avg Broken Appt Rates, going as low as 2% (Against National Average of 18%)

Learn how we can help you reduce claim rejections and denials.

Book a demo with us!

Optimizing Your Dental Practice IT with Cloud-Based Software

Whether you're looking for e-Books, webinars, podcasts, or articles, CareStack® Resources are full of helpful & informative topics to improve your practice.

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