Dental Medical Billing and QPro have developed and will administer a first of its kind credentialing program for dental-to-medical cross coding and billing, according to the companies.
“Medical coders and their prospective employers have recognized and valued post-secondary certification for decades,” said Christine Taxin, CEO of Dental Medical Billing.
While not a formal educational requirement, the companies said, most healthcare providers in the medical arena will only consider candidates who can show they have knowledge and training in the highly specialized field of medical insurance coding and billing.
“I’ve trained thousands of dental teams to do dental-to-medical cross-coding,” said Taxin. “It has always struck me that there have been no certified credentialing programs to recognize this important skill set in dental professionals. It is gratifying to finally bring this type of program and standard to the dental industry.”
The credentialing exams are hosted and administered by QPro at qpro.com. To earn the dental-to-medical billing credentials, candidates must pass at least three exams including the requisite Qualified Medical Coder/Biller Exam.
From there, candidates can earn designations in nine specializations, such as dental implant coding, oral surgery, sleep apnea, sedation dentistry, and coding and reimbursement for CBCT scans.
“Working with Dental Medical Billing to bring this standard-setting, coding and billing credentialing program to dentistry is extremely exciting and very timely,” said LaMont Leavitt, CEO of Innoventrum, parent company of QPro.
“The convergence of dental and medical insurance plans continues to accelerate and so will the need to have trained and qualified coding and billing professionals in dental practices,” said Leavitt.
“Hiring credentialed coders benefits practice owners who must maximize reimbursements and avoid costly compliance mistakes,” said Taxin.
“The credential creates career opportunities for the billing staff by confirming that they have advanced training and expertise. Patients benefit as well because the dental office that knows how to maximize patient insurance benefits can increase access and affordability to services,” Taxin said.
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