5 Ways Offices Can Help Compensate for Staffing Shortages

Labor shortages have hit nearly every industry, and dentistry is no exception, with the ADA suggesting, “The shortages have caused an estimated 11% reduction in dental practice capacity.” Because of this, practices have been finding ways to do more with less. 

One powerful solution? Electronic billing. We're looking at four ways paperless billing helps your team get more done (even if you’re not short-staffed). 

1. Save time and get paid sooner 

The average practice spends 62 hours per month¹ contacting patients to collect outstanding balances. That doesn’t even take into account time spent printing, prepping, and mailing paper statements. Electronic statements reduce speed of collection by up to 14 days.² The best RCM tools allow practices to generate and send statements via text, print, or email.  

2. Encourage patients to pay you faster 

If you’re only sending bills monthly, some of your patients aren’t getting their statement until six weeks after treatment. That means you’re looking at 45 to 60 days before you receive payment — 90 if there are insurance delays. Not only have you waited three months to get the money you’re owed, but there’s a good chance you won’t get it at all: offices have less than a 15% chance of collecting patient accounts once they're more than 90 days past due.³ 

3. Eliminate the costs of paper bills 

Electronic billing creates an efficient, easy-to-learn process that simplifies an otherwise time-consuming task and allows offices to get more done with their existing team. This can save the office between more than $7 per statement versus mailing statements in-house. 

4. Get More Done 

Workflow improvements from paperless billing will give your team the time to perform other tasks that have been put on the back burner, like following up with unscheduled patients or overdue re-care, so you can bring in more revenue. 

Ready to learn more? Check out our full suite of revenue cycle management (RCM) solutions.  

¹ https://www.ada.org/en/resources/practice/practice-management/overdue-accounts   

² https://www.dentalclaimsupport.com/blog/increase-your-dental-practice-collections-percentage 

³https://www.pearly.co/dentistry-huddle/what-do-accounts-receivable-cost-dental-practices#:~:text=The%20accounts%20receivable%20(A%2FR,R%20measures%20your%20uncollected%20production.