CDT Codes and Their Eligibility Verification

Hi, this is Amber Darst, Solutions Manager for Managed Outsourced Solutions and I’ll be discussing the importance of understanding CDT codes and verifying patient’s coverage for these codes before their date of service.

00:18 Importance of accurate CDT coding to report dental treatments

Accuracy in reporting CDT codes on claims submitted to dental insurance companies is crucial for timely reimbursement. CDT codes are used to report various procedures such as diagnostic, preventative, restorative, endodontic, periodontic, oral surgery, orthodontics and many more. So, as you can imagine, with all these different specialties and procedures comes a lot of insurance policies with different coverages, frequencies, and limitations. To ensure that there is a clear understanding of the patient’s coverage for these procedures, insurance eligibility verification is a very important first step.

01:02 Why verify patient eligibility

Insurance eligibility verification for each patient before their date of service is a key step to ensure that the dental insurance claims do not get denied. Verification involves verifying the patient’s information is up to date, that his or her benefits are still active, and what is or is not covered by their insurance policy. Also, the rules of their benefits such as frequencies and waiting periods must be verified.

01:31 How can a professional dental billing company help?

An experienced dental billing company can prove to be a valuable partner for busy dentists because they will proactively verify the patient’s insurance eligibility as well as other details such as policy status, plan exclusions, deductibles and the claim’s mailing address among others. Handing this task over to an experienced dental insurance verification specialist ensures that the dental practitioner can focus on what’s most important, which is providing high quality patient care, while also considerably reducing the overhead expenses they may incur if an in house billing employee is hired.

And that’s all for now on this. Thanks for listening in.