Benefits of Electronic Claims Submission

Provides rapid notification of claim receipt, status, and payment
Delta Dental and the clearing house send you timely reports indicating what claims were received, and accepted or rejected, giving you control over your claim submission and billing, and the opportunity to respond immediately. Electronic claims also are subject to automated error checking, which results in fewer rejected claims and the "back-and-forth" mailing associated with paper claims.

Reduces clerical paperwork
Electronic claims are processed in half the time of paper claims. Your staff doesn’t have to maintain an elaborate paper claim follow up or tracking system, because with electronic claim submission you receive comprehensive, timely reports that do the work for you. Your staff is free to handle other important tasks, such as making recall appointments and conducting patient follow-ups.

Reduces staff time spent on follow-up and tracking
Knowing which claims are outstanding is easy! Most vendors provide reports that tell you the status of your electronic claims submission - which claims were received, accepted, rejected, and /or are past due. Your staff no longer has to spend hours handwriting paper claim forms; hold up claim submission in order to obtain patient signatures; or produce and maintain paper follow up files. Your electronic claim forms are on their way to Delta Dental almost immediately after you treat your patients, relieving your staff of the cumbersome paper claim follow up and tracking system, allowing them to be more productive.

Eliminates cost for postage, envelopes and forms
Compute the "hard" costs of paper, envelopes, stamps, and office supplies. Now add the "soft" costs - the salary you pay your staff and the time they spend on generating and tracking paper claims. Compare this to the cost to submit electronic claims, and you’ll see why thousands of dental offices are submitting their claims electronically.

Improves cash flow
Your electronic claims reach Delta Dental within 24 hours. Paper claims must be mailed, opened, sorted, and scanned before being processed. Electronic claims are processed in half the time of paper claims.

Lowers outstanding receivables
Within the same period of time, Delta Dental will receive and process more of the claims you submit electronically than claims you submit on paper. This means you’ll receive payment on your electronic claims sooner than your paper claims, lowering your outstanding receivables.

As an example, you treat a patient on Wednesday. The claim is generated electronically that evening from data you already entered in your computer, and Delta Dental receives it Thursday. The claim processes electronically, and the check is issued. Your accounts receivables decrease.

Or, you treat a patient on Wednesday. The claim is generated on paper either by hand or from your computer. You mail it Thursday. Delta Dental receives it Monday and then opens, sorts, images, and scans it before being processed. Then, a data entry operator keys in additional data to process it. Your accounts receivables grow.