You may think that dental coding for hygiene services is easy. Well, think again.
Unless every single person in your practice is involved in the dental coding and billing for your hygiene services, from your dental hygienist to your practice manager, and has a mastery of the related code descriptors and their usage requirements – YOU ARE LOSING MONEY.
IMPORTANT: To make things even more difficult, effective Jan. 1, 2023, you’ll also need to master significant changes to code D4355 for full mouth debridement. Auditors are paying special attention to how you apply D4355, because of its history of being billed incorrectly. Even an innocent mistake can lead to allegations of fraud and significant penalties.
To make sure your practice is paid everything it’s due for dental hygiene services, your entire team must closely comply with the nuances of each related procedure code (including documentation requirements). As confusing as this process can be, there is help available.
This is where dental hygienist and practice management educator, Kathy S. Forbes, RDH, BS, can help. During her 90-minute online training session, Kathy will walk you through exactly how to get paid more of what you deserve for the services performed by your dental hygienists. You’ll receive actionable advice on how to improve hygienist dental coding accuracy, implement audit-proof documentation guidelines, and improve the overall reimbursement your practice receives.
Here are just a few of the dental coding strategies for hygiene services you’ll receive by attending this 90-minute online training:
- Comply with CDT 2023 code changes to D4355descriptor & requirements
- Choose correct “cleaning” code from 7 confusing options
- Audit proof charts with must-have hygiene services documentation language
- Better match procedures w/ American Academy of Periodontology disease classifications
- Avoid common coding mistakes for periodontal maintenance (D4910)
- Head off hygiene reimbursement miscommunications to collect more from patients
- And so much more…
Your hygiene services should bring in between 25% to 35% of your overall practice revenue. If not, you are leaving uncollected reimbursement on the table. You can take back control of your dental coding hygiene reimbursement by attending this upcoming online training. During this online training, you’ll receive actionable steps to help you improve the accuracy of dental coding for your hygiene procedures, reduce denials, and collect more of what you are due.
Don’t wait, register for this 90-minute online training today!
Kathy has been a dental hygienist, educator, speaker, author, consultant, seminar and study club leader for over 30 years.
She speaks frequently about the correct classification, documentation, treatment planning, procedure code selection and long-term case management for patients with periodontal disease. She is provides continuing education to state Dental Hygiene associations, the U. of Washington and Oregon Health Sciences University CDE programs as well as dental offices throughout the Pacific Northwest. Her engagements also include presentations to ADA/CODHA Annual Meeting, ADHA Annual Meeting and RDH Under-One-Roof.
Kathy is a contributing author for the Insurance Solutions Newsletter, a national publication for Dr. Charles Blair and Associates, where she addresses issues related to dental hygiene procedures and proper billing practices as well as articles on similar topics published in RDH Magazine.
She currently services on the Ad Hoc CDT Working Group for ADHA, reviewing current and potential procedure codes related to dental hygiene practice. During her long career in education she most recently taught the first year Periodontics curriculum and first year clinic in the Dental Hygiene Program at Pierce College in Tacoma, WA as well as the Teaching Practicum Series for the Eastern Washington University’s Degree Completion program (at Pierce College) for licensed dental hygienists seeking their Bachelor’s Degree.
Kathy and her husband recently moved to Colorado after spending 2 years in Southern California where she served on The California Dental Hygienists’ Association’s Task Force investigating and developing procedure codes and definitions which better reflect established dental hygiene treatment protocols.
