A Dental Service Organization is a corporation, major company, or entity that owns multiple dental practices. (OR) contracts with dental facilities to manage their administrative, operational, financial, and marketing matters.
A Dental Service Organization (DSO) is responsible for all the non-clinical operations for practices. From HR to dental billing and IT to procurement, etc., they do it all, allowing dental specialists to do what they are best at: the provision of quality care.
What is a Dental Service Organization?
Having a centralized structure, a DSO is a helping hand for dentists. After acquiring a dental practice, they are responsible for every non-clinical task, including dental billing and ensuring dentists receive full and timely reimbursements for the provision of healthcare services.
They don’t send a dentist or oral hygiene specialist into your practice. They take over your office and every laborious admin task that can tie down a dentist. Normally, they own a dental office or surgeon’s facility, the equipment, and are responsible for employing a non-clinical team, i.e., front desk staff.
According to the Association of Dental Support Organization, DSOs “allow dentists to maximize their practice with the support of professional office management. The DSO model enables dentists to focus on the patient while delivering excellent dental care.”
Why Is The Trend of DSOs Growing In The US?
As a dentist or dental practitioner, running a dental practice on your own is as hectic as it gets. It takes a lot out of you. Managing dental billing, staff management, working on business expansion goals, and providing exceptional quality dental services to patients can be a tough ordeal.
It can result in burnout, compromised patient care, increased overhead costs, more cost-to-collect revenue, financial mismanagement, failure to achieve marketing or advertising goals, inability to communicate and guide patients regarding treatments, and much more.
You start leaving money on the table in the form of revenue leaks, lack efficiency, experience more stress, and patient complaints start pouring in. Above all, you are left behind on the technology and automation frontier, which eases the way you operate.
- More than 10% of all dental practices are affiliated with DSOs, reports ADA.
- Compared to traditional private ownership, a DSO increases dentists’ take-home pay by $50000-$100000 annually.
- They help reduce supply expenses by 15–25%.
- A practice spending $4,000 monthly on supplies could save roughly $600–$1,000 per month.
- They relieve dentists and other clinical staff from the work that is outside their regime.
- DSO helps reduce 15-20 hours of a dentist’s time per week spent earlier on administrative tasks.
- Dentists and oral surgeons affiliated with a DSO work 40-45 hours per week compared to 50-60 hours for dentists in private practice.
- Claims rejection rates typically drop by 40–60% due to specialized, expert management.
- 18% of dental students plan to work in DSO immediately after graduation, says the American Dental Education Association (ADEA).
Smart Supports Modern Dental Practices Can Rely On
A Dental Service Organization is designed to provide end-to-end administrative support to their partner practices. A DSO carves a strategy for dental practices wanting to transition from solo or independent service providers to financially stable and administratively advanced partners.
Apart from the clinical matters, they take care of everything! They run the business aspects, create far-reaching marketing strategies, look after the advertising conundrums, manage HR, handle staff management, procurement, and above all, take care of RCM and billing matters.
They free up your time and ensure that you pocket every single dollar you deserve against the provision of unparalleled dental services to your patients. Here’s how a DSO assists partner practices.
Human Resources
They take up the HR duties, relieving you from time-consuming tasks like job posting, shortlisting, interviewing, and onboarding. They also manage payroll, training, and the complexities that come with managing clinical and non-clinical staff.
Marketing & Advertising
Most DSOs in the US focus heavily on marketing and advertising and have a strong team for it. They run marketing campaigns to attract new patients and, based on them, expand business operations. By investing in print, social media, SEO, and other channels, they ensure the dental practices are easily found by patients.
Streamlining Revenue Cycle
They pay close attention to every aspect of the revenue cycle and ensure that the billing process is optimized. They either have an in-house dental billing and RCM team or outsource dental billing to a firm that takes on matters like billing, dental coding, insurance verification, denial management, and more.
Financial Transparency
Apart from providing reliable dental billing and complete revenue cycle services, DSOs are adept at payment posting, financial management, and reporting. They ensure that the dentist and their staff get paid on time and exactly what they deserve.
Managing Operations
By relieving dentists and clinical staff of the critical tasks, they tackle all the complex and time-consuming day-to-day processes. These include patient communication, appointment scheduling, office supply management, updating equipment, ensuring compliance with regulatory bodies, and much more.
Integration of Latest Tech
Just like other tasks, they implement the latest dental technology and use equipment that improves patient care and improves practice efficiency. They automate processes, integrate the latest technology like dental billing software, EHR, and AI in medical billing for the best results.
Do DSOs Handle Dental Billing?
Yes, they do! If a Dental Service Organization acquires your practice or you partner with a DSO, they’ll provide you with complete dental billing solutions. This is one of the main reasons why most dental practices across the US prefer partnering with large DSOs.
Trusting a DSO with your dental billing and financial matters is the same as outsourcing your RCM to a dental billing company. They do everything on your behalf, starting from patient registration, documentation, claim creation, and coding to following up on insurance claims and payment posting.
Another benefit of affiliating with a DSO is its expertise in dealing with complicated matters and exposure to successfully handling RCM for dental practices of all sizes. They have access to all major private and federally backed insurance companies.
Their acquaintance with payor plans and fluctuating regulations allows them to network with the right insurance firms that benefit the dental practice. The professionals working for DSOs have the ability to negotiate fee schedules with various payors and simplify the credentialing process, too.
Benefits Of Getting Associated With a DSO
Partnering with a renowned DSO gives dentists the freedom to take their eyes off administrative burdens like HR, billing, marketing, and IT. They can pay attention to patient care and clinical improvement.
Here are some notable advantages for dental practices, surgeon offices, and facilities.
Reduced Administrative Burden
DSOs manage non-clinical tasks such as payroll, HR, compliance, and insurance on your behalf. As a dental professional, you can focus on patient care, achieve optimal results, and reduce burnout.
Enhanced Profitability
Partnering with a DSO offers immediate as well as long-term financial security, in the form of fewer denials, improved cash flow, reduced financial risk, and timely, complete reimbursements.
Operational Efficiency & Technology
Dental practices gain access to centralized, cutting-edge IT systems, modern dental technology, and streamlined, efficient workflows. It allows them to provide advanced treatments to patients.
Purchasing Power
Owing to their affiliation with multiple practices, Dental Service Organizations leverage economies of scale to negotiate better rates for supplies, equipment, and services. This way, dental practices can save a hefty amount on equipment and other items.
Marketing & Growth Support
You have direct access to marketing teams who specialize in dental care marketing. Their expertise assists you with SEO, social media, website development, and patient acquisition. It helps to expand the practice.
Professional Development & Support
Dentists and their clinical teams can leverage the industry’s latest training and mentorship programs for professional development. They have endless opportunities to benefit from peer collaboration within a larger network.
Improved Work-Life Balance
With a DSO handling management responsibilities, dentists can enjoy more flexible schedules, less stress, and reduced hours. They have peace of mind, a better social life, and time to freshen up, which ultimately helps them provide better patient care.
Do DSOs Require Dental Billing Help for Acquired Practices?
The simple answer is yes, they do. If they don’t have their own billing support, they outsource it to dental billing firms. Their collaboration with dental billing firms empowers the services they provide to dental practices. Their infrastructure and management, combined with the powerful RCM support from a top dental billing services provider, means a win-win situation for everyone.
A third-party medical billing can integrate the industry’s finest dental billing practices to streamline RCM for acquired practices. By ensuring every step of the billing process is optimized, practices enjoy enhanced productivity, increased profitability, and prevention (denial).
I-Med Dental, The Go-To Billing Support Partner for DSOs
There are very few dental billing companies that are capable enough to tackle the challenges DSOs have to deal with. One dental RCM company that stands out from the crowd is I-Med Dental. In the last few years, we’ve revolutionized the way DSOs operate.
Our result-oriented large-scale dental billing solutions help large organizations enjoy better financial outcomes, fewer claim denials, better payor relations, and streamlined operations. From flawless claim creation to breakdown of benefits and precise CDT coding to impeccable claim cleanup services, I-Med Dental’s RCM services are tailor-made for maximum revenue and minimum leaks.
Why are we the ultimate solution? We have a large team of highly trained and qualified RCM professionals specializing in every aspect of dental billing. They ensure flawless billing operations, resulting in a predictable and continuous income stream.
I-Med Dental’s reliance on a combination of technology and manual processes allows us to lead the RCM industry. Our state-of-the-art infrastructure and HIPAA-compliant dental billing are the perfect match for every DSO looking for reliable and profitable services.
