In this episode, Susan Laine, from 180 Dental, gives us her three best tips for a smooth and easy billing process!

‍

1. Determine Your Business Type - You can register as a sole proprietor, s corp, or pc business. If you are planning on having associates, it may be beneficial to incorporate, rather than use your social security number for tax ID!

2. Input Incoming Associate Data - If you have an incoming associate, getting their tax and credentialing information in your practice management software as soon as possible will offer the smoothest transition!

3. Inactivate Old Providers - This can be a handy way to transition practice ownership in software such as Dentrix, Eaglesoft, or Open Dental. Inactivating the old provider when bringing in the new provider, allows them to pick up where you left off in a seamless schedule transfer!

‍

Listen in on Michael and Susan's conversation to get more in depth on these three topics and more!

‍

You can reach out to Susan Laine here:

Instagram: @180dental

Facebook

180 Dental Website

‍

Other Mentions and Links:

Dentrix

Eaglesoft

Open Dental

Sole Proprietor

S Corp

PC - Professional Corporation

Lori I Owens

NPI - National Provider Identifier

‍

If you want your questions answered on Monday Morning Marketing, ask me on these platforms:

My Newsletter: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/newsletter/

The Dental Marketer Society Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2031814726927041

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

Thank you for supporting the podcast by checking out our sponsors!

‍

Michael: Hey Suzanne. So talk to us about medical and dental billing. How can we utilize this, or what advice or suggestions can you give us that will help us with doing medical and dental billing?  

Susan: I have some ideas, some suggestions. That is for any office. Mm-hmm. , you know, my company, we specialize in Dentrix, Dentrix.

and my company goes in and we do a lot of transitions. So what I'd like to pinpoint today are three key things that will help a startup or somebody who is thinking about bringing in an associate to make sure that, one, they're getting paid. Two, the associate is getting paid and they can track their numbers. So, . The three things that I really wanna highlight, one is how you're setting up your company as a pc, an S corp, or just a sole proprietor. You know, as a new dentist comes in, they have a choice. Mm-hmm. , it is recommended and you know, I think Lori Owens and some of the other people out there would definitely agree.

setting up your company, which is your dental practice as an S corp, has specific tax advantages, and it also gives you some long-term down the road advantages because if you set yourself up as a PC or an S corp, you're not using your social. as your tax identification number. You're also, able to set it up as a type two N P I, and that is very beneficial, right from the startup.

But again, even if you're already in your practice, you've had your practice for a while, you're looking for an associate, if you set up your tax ID as having a type two m. , you can bill under that entity and then your provider can change. For instance, like if a female dentist needs to go on maternity leave and she has a locum tenants come in for six, eight weeks, they can bill under the tax ID for the corporation, the type two n p.

With the new locum tenants provider, and there could be a contract in place for that specific timeframe. Hmm. And it doesn't need additional credentialing. It doesn't need W nine sent for each and every claim during that six to eight week period. Or you know, I had a, I had one of my clients who was an avid golfer, he ended up needing back surgery and was out for five and a half weeks and in a back brace.

Mm-hmm. and came back very slow. So he had a contract for a locum tenants and it was still bill out under his type two. And it worked out very well. As long as you have your contracts in place to do it that way, there's a lot of legal. loopholes that you can use. But I do suggest that you always, and this is a startup or a, you know, an individual practice that's already going seek good legal advice.

I'm not a lawyer, but there are really good people out there that can advise you in that is just a suggestion. you know, with that in mind, when you have somebody come in and you're paying them on either, collections or product, You wanna be sure that you are paying them what they should be paid.

And in Dentrix well and Eaglesoft and Open Dental, you wanna set that person up before they ever enter your practice and see a patient. , for instance. Um, a transition. This is what my company does quite a bit in transitions, is when we know that there's negotiations, we will get the credentials of the incoming dentist, his N p I license, d e a.

We set it up in Dentrix and we can build his schedule and build it up. months before he ever sets foot to see patients so that there is a smooth transition. Your schedule is full. You have, you know, no lag in production. Well, you're gonna have that here and there. The sooner you set up a new provider in your system, the better it is with scheduling, the easier it is to get them paid in a timely manner and know exactly.

how they should be paid. Figuring out, you know, if they want, if they want 35% of collections, what is that per day? You wanna look at that backwards and do the calculations mathematically to make sure that you have the production on the schedule. The third point, I'm just gonna close with today. is, I wanna talk about, the process within inactivating old providers in Dentrix, which is where my love for software came from, is with Inactivating, that old provider, you can reactivate a provider after you move the patients over. I just did this again for another office. They purchased on 1231, brand new dentist came in. We set up the transitioning senior dentist as an associate, and we closed everything out and moved all the patients to the new purchasing doctor. We reactivated the seller as an associate, and now all of. Finances cuz he purchased the ar.

Mm-hmm. are under the corporate, the schedule is under the new doctor. And this can be done in Eaglesoft, in Open Dental. It's just understanding the software, understanding how you wanna structure your business. So those three things are really gonna help out any dentist, whether you're a startup transitioning with a senior doctor that is moving out as retirement encroaches, or if you're bringing on a brand new a.

you wanna look at those three key things to really help set yourself up for success. Gotcha. So  

Michael: these three things, how do, I guess, how does that ease the process? Also with the billing part?  

Susan: With billing, especially with the N P I. Mm-hmm. , you can credential your type two. , and again, when you have a locum tenants come in, it continues under that tax id, and you don't have that lag in claim processing as long as you have it set up so that you have it in writing and you have that temporary doctor coming in and everything is already on the claim for that provider.

So, , it helps get you paid timely without having to delay and say, who's this? We don't understand who this person is. Mm-hmm. ,  

Michael: what are some of the most common mistakes when it comes to utilizing Dentrix or, or, or doing this right here? When, when it comes to like the, the yang of the, uh, I guess like the three processes that you mentioned.

Susan: I have had to go in and run audits on some offices that have utilized a sole proprietor's social security number when they have somebody come in temporarily and one, you're paying the taxes for all of that income. , that's a negative. You don't wanna have to pay self-employment taxes on all of that income.

Two, the provider that does the service legally has to be on that claim. Mm-hmm. , you cannot legally do it any other way other than listing that provider. So I've had to go back through and audit for the insurance companies in the past, and it is, an infraction, and there are fines involved and it can be construed as fraud.

Mm-hmm. , but I hate to say that word because it really scares people, .  

Michael: No, it's true. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it can be construed. It's true. It can be construed as that. What else?  

Susan: Yes. . So with setting things up in your system for the way Dentrix does it, you can also utilize block scheduling for multiple providers. and you can really help your office flow. And meet or exceed your goals consistently on a daily basis. So if you have your providers set up correctly, you can actually implement that into Dentrix on a daily basis, and you can go home at the end of the night and feel like you have really accomplished a good day and that you met your goal.

Michael: Yeah. Yeah. The block scheduling I think works pretty, pretty real, really well. You know what I mean? When we know how to utilize that. This is really good. We want to understand how are you setting up your company right from the very GetGo, uh, L L C you said, right? S corp. What  

Susan: was that one for? A pc?  

Michael: Yes. Pc, yeah. What would you recommend when it comes to those three, the best? Depending on their goals.  

Susan: Depending on their goals. if they never wanted to bring an associate, you can set it up as a sole proprietor. , I would advise talking to a C P A to see if there's probably a tax advantage for being an S-corp over all of that self-employment tax.

So me, I suggest always going with an S-corp and then credentialing that S-corp. Now, credentialing and contracting are two different things. What's the differe? Credentialing is that background check that the insurance company does to say that you are a licensed dentist in the state that you are wanting to practice. That you have an active license that has no infractions against it, and that you are operating in the scope of that license. So that's the credentialing process. That's why you have to give them your malpractice insurance, a copy of your license, your photocopy of your id, your dea, e. All of that is credentialing and you can be fee for service.

But you still have to credential so that you can get paid. They need that W nine with your tax id. They need to know that your tax ID matches your I R s confirmation that you're gonna pay taxes on the income, cuz they're gonna issue you a 10 99 from the insurance company based on that tax id. with.

all of that information, I really think that you're gonna see the best results by being an S-corp.  

Michael: Gotcha. Okay. So S-corp, if, if anything, right, like right now we're like, okay, we wanna have an associate, you know, we wanna do all these other things that you mentioned. We wanna have an S-corp have the associate in Dentrix as well, right?

Yes. Whenever you start bringing them. And  

Susan: then And market. Yay. Marketing. Yeah. Yeah.  

Michael: And marketing. Inden.  

Susan: yes, open dental, Eaglesoft. They all have the ability now to text, email, do campaigns. They can put it out on their website and do a blast. There are so many opportunities to get information out there now, of all the transitions that I've seen over the course of the last, you know, almost two decades that I've had my company.

what has been detrimental is not informing people, not letting them know that there is a doctor that is retiring or that the office is selling. they get a feeling of betrayal a little bit. , they get their feelings hurt when there's not transparency there. So I, I'm a huge advocate for marketing the new incoming provider at any stage, you know, even, even if a doctor's, you know, going out for surgery or a doctor is going out from maternity leave.

They wanna be included. Not just your staff, but your patients. They wanna feel a little bit of a connection.  

Michael: Gotcha. Yeah, I a hundred percent agree with that. Like you wanna, you know what I mean, like let them know you're part of the family kind of thing, you know, so. Exactly. Gotcha. Okay. So in a nutshell, these three steps and processes or methods help out specifically how with our, our medical and dental.

Susan: getting you paid, you want paid, how are you gonna get paid? You wanna get paid fast, have things in place so that that happens. Mm-hmm. , these three things will help you get there.  

Michael: Get paid. Gotcha. Get paid. Awesome. Awesome, Suzanne. Thank you. I appreciate your time and if anyone has further questions, you can find her on the Dental Marketer Society Facebook group, or where can they reach out to you  

Susan: directly? My website is, 180 dental.net. I'm also on Instagram at 180 Dental and Facebook at 180 Dental. Awesome. So they can reach out to me on any social media platform and I primarily work with other dental referrals. I don't have a marketing campaign where I solicit.  

Michael: that's good.

Referrals is like the best way. You know what? It  

Susan: really is. It is. I love, I love what I do and I love my clients. Nice. Wonderful. My team is very good at cleaning up Dentrix databases after a transition or before to get your numbers. So they're real. Yeah, they're trustworthy.  

Michael: Gotcha. Awesome. So guys, that's all gonna be in the show notes below.

If you wanna reach out to Suzanne and Suzanne, thank you for being with me on this Monday morning marketing episode. Thank  

Susan: you. I appreciate it.

‍