Love it or hate it, insurance is something many of us deal with when it comes to dental coverage. To serve our patients well, it’s vital for us to understand the ins and outs of insurance, including the details of what’s covered and not covered by specific plans. After all, when patients come to us for treatment, one of the first questions they inevitably ask is, “Will this be covered by my insurance?”

Working in a dental office requires us to learn the basics of insurance. However, many offices go too far by focusing the entire framework of their patient relationships around the insurance details.

This is where the difference between Insurance driven and Insurance Savvy comes into play. In our dental office, this means knowing how to solve problems related to insurance and being able to maximize treatment coverage according to patient’s dental needs. An insurance-driven office becomes mired down in insurance details that it becomes their main focus, instead of the patient being their main focus. An insurance-driven office is making decisions based on insurance payments, not on what’s best for their patients.

We become familiar with common policies. We help patients understand how their plan works. We accurately estimate what insurance will cover. We then are willing to help a patient appeal a denied claim.

We’re here to take care of patients and give them the best dental care possible, not to let insurance dictate their treatment. To be honest, do you think the insurance company is looking out for the best interest of the patient? That’s OUR job. We focus on the patient’s care and relationship first and the insurance second. That’s being insurance savvy, not insurance driven.