Bureaucracy likely is the last thing on a person’s mind when they take a trip to the dentist.
Dental benefits providers want to make a person’s trip to the dentist as fast and efficient as possible.
The San Diego Business Journal’s List of Dental Benefits Providers ranks dental providers by the number of subscribers in their programs for San Diego County as of Dec. 1, 2000.
“There’s a constant battle trying to upgrade technological systems to keep up with the services we’re offering,” said Gregg Holdgrafer, district manager of Guardian Life Insurance Co., No. 7 on The List.
He credited Guardian’s jump to 79,824 enrollees in December 2000 to the improvement of services in their plans.
“The goal is to reduce the time response on the phone or Internet in processing the claims,” he said. “Each enrollee needs the highest quality of care and not be treated like a number.”
Technology for its telephone systems and Internet constantly need to be upgraded to be state of the art. With these upgrades, it provides faster response time and lower rates to the public in the long term, he said.
– Ensuring More Time With Patients
One of the programs Guardian has introduced is a system called, “Chair-time Dental Reimbursement,” according to Holdgrafer.
Holdgrafer identified one problem for dentists is attempting to see as many patients as possible and then rushing dental care.
The program sets a target time allotment for certain dental care for dentists serving their patients in the office. If a time allotment has been exceeded, then the program will reimburse the dentist for the extra time spent on the patient.
“Dentists shouldn’t be rushing their care on one patient just to quickly serve more people,” Holdgrafer said. “This unique idea allows dentists to fully serve the patients without worrying about losing money with not seeing enough patients.”
In June 2000, Delta Dental Plan of California, No. 1 on The List, joined a holding company called Dentegra Group, Inc., which is a nonprofit entity based in San Francisco formed by Delta Dental Plans of California and Pennsylvania.
Other affiliated companies included in the holding company are Delta Plans of New York, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. Its operations will span 16 states and the District of Columbia.
This alliance administers 16.2 million members in the United States with annual projected revenues this year at $3.5 billion. Each Dentegra Group company will retain its separate financial assets and individual licenses.
– Nearly 12 Million Enrollees Nationwide
In San Diego County, Delta Dental Plan of California had 563,138 enrollees in 2000, a decrease of 3 percent from the previous year. Its statewide figures reveal almost 12 million enrollees.
“The ultimate goal is to provide better and faster services for our purchasers,” said Gary Radine, president and CEO of Dentegra Group and CEO of Delta Dental Plan of California. “With this alliance, we can move with technology through several states faster by reducing redundancy.”
He described this dental alliance with several companies as a “step for everyone to head in the same direction.” One of the solutions is to take companies’ best practices as a procedure for every dental company in Dentegra to adopt as its own.
For example, Delta Dental Plan of California has set up an Internet Web site, (www.deltadentalca.org), which allows subscribers to adopt electronic billing; look up the dentist list directory with information in their languages, wheelchair accessibility and personal Web sites; and check their dental benefits and billings online.
“Previously, each group before the merger had to set up their own Internet system,” said Jeff Album, a spokesman for Delta Dental Plan of California. “Under the new alliance, Delta Dental Plan of California can share its Internet technologies with other companies.”
– Implementing Electronic Billing
Album said other companies already began integrating its Internet technologies to their Web sites. He also said a plan for one single access Web site will be implemented in the future.
In an exchange of technology, Radine said Delta Dental Plan of California would receive real-time processing technology of allowing electronic billing from the dentists’ offices. He said over 1,000 dental offices in the eastern United States have already adopted this technology and can be easily adopted in California.
“There’s no profit for every company to head in different directions,” Radine said. “By adopting best practices from every company, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel over and over again.”
