Amidst today’s modern challenges of rising healthcare costs, a fiercely competitive market and larger-than-ever consumer expectations, the dental industry is feeling the pressure – and whether those within the larger dental ecosystem are ready or not, pressures to modernize, adapt and find new ways to meet administrative challenges aren’t going away any time soon.
Technological enablement might be the only way for payers and providers to stay competitive, and yet, many are unable to see a clear path forward. Nearly half of payers in a Deloitte survey revealed that the lack of a clear vision or prioritization of projects has hindered their digital transformation journey. Among the five technology platforms of clinical, core administrative, analytics, engagement and customer service, just two of survey respondents indicated that their organization had fully modernized one.
While the journey to full digital transformation might be slow going, there is undeniable evidence from industry data and research that supports the move to digital enablement both from an efficiency and opportunistic standpoint. According to Data Bridge Market Research analyses, the digital dentistry market is expected to undergo a CAGR of 8.7% by 2029, while a 2022 Member Survey conducted by Becker’s Payer Issues overwhelmingly supports member preference for digital tools.
As a result, those that want to come out on top will need to be deliberate about embarking on technological enablement.
A methodical assessment of technology
With so many technologies on the market to choose from, payers and providers must take a careful approach toward their digital transformation. It’s not just about adopting technology but choosing the right technology that blends modern communication, collaboration and efficiency, while also demonstrating its value across the entire payer-provider-patient sphere.
In other words, technology that offers holistic benefits – addressing both an immediate need to streamline communication and workflows, as well as meeting the long-term patient need for digital innovations and better quality of care – is vital.
SKYGEN, a leading software-as-a-service (SaaS) and third-party administration (TPA) technology and services company, created the Dental Hub as the answer to help payers, providers and dental practices enable digital transformation. An online platform designed to streamline dental business interactions, communication and collaboration, as well as centralize payer and provider information, SKYGEN’s Dental Hub is the holistic tool for modernizing the way the dental industry does business.
Driving efficiency
In addition to modernizing common business transactions that occur between the payer and provider, the Dental Hub is an intuitive platform that offers everything a dental office needs to maintain operational efficiency in a single place.
Consider a typical payment exchange in a dental office:
- Member checks into dental office for routine tooth cleaning.
- Dental administrator submits claim via paper, a clearinghouse, or through any number of payer portals.
- Claim goes through several different steps after filing, including adjudication, reconciliation and validation, all before the patient even sees the final bill or payment.
This multistep administrative process can take anywhere from one to three weeks. This means that dental offices are not getting paid, and payers are losing valuable time to close out this claim with the provider. As claims administration and adjudication constitute the largest category of payer administrative expenses outside of general administration, this represents significant losses in time and resources.
With SKYGEN’s Dental Hub, though, claims are adjudicated in real time, indicating payment and patient responsibility information and enabling collection of the amount due while the patient is still in the office.
Improving collaboration and communication
SKYGEN’s Dental Hub enables collaboration for all individuals involved in the patient journey. For instance, inaccurate provider directory information and staff turnover are common struggles for dental offices. Within the Dental Hub platform, payers can communicate instantly with their network of providers and subscribe to a specific provider’s information, so that their directory is automatically updated. New administrators and businesses can access this information without needing to be trained extensively on manual, outdated paper procedures. In the Dental Hub, SKYGEN has created a single point of connection that payers, providers and businesses can access at all times.
Marketplace advantage for payers
By embracing technology in an industry that is generally still lagging, payers gain a strategic advantage.
By streamlining common administrative tasks, including claims adjudication, updating provider data and checking member eligibility, dental practices and payers can focus more on creating a true member-centric experience. Through the consolidation of typical administrative tasks that might take time away from the member, payers and providers save time and costs on claims adjudication on the back end, while dental office administrators gain peace of mind through faster workflows. This in turn leads to better access to and an understanding of members’ care.
Finally, with almost 40,000 users accessing the rapidly growing Dental Hub, this presents a valuable opportunity for payers and providers to connect with dental practices through a unified, streamlined platform.
To keep up with a transforming industry, the dental industry must modernize the way they do business – and this begins with choosing a technology partner and the right technology that will set them up for success now and in the long term.