Streamlining not only helps to improve efficiency, but it also helps to reduce frustration.

And that’s just what the American Dental Association (ADA) hopes its new ADA Credentialing Service will do for both dentists and payers.

Prior to last week’s national launch of the service, dental providers had to file an application for each payer network that they would like to join. For instance, if dentists wanted to join 20 different insurance or payer networks, they filed 20 separate and time-consuming applications for each one. Also, every three years when dentists have to become re-credentialed, they must update their information with all of their existing payers.

“Dentists or their office managers are constantly filling out paper applications and send them back—and generally with the same information each time,” said Mike Lessila, director of credentialing services at Wonderbox Technologies, which developed the software that powers the new service. “There’s this constant cycle of going through the credentialing process where every insurance plan is asking roughly the same questions, and it’s a very large administrative burden.”

But Lessila said it’s also a burden on the insurance side, since they constantly have to mail applications out and then wait for them to come back—only to find out they’ve been completed incorrectly.

Now, with the new ADA Credentialing Service, dentists only have to enter their professional credentials once. The system will save the information, and it will also allow providers to update the information as needed. That way, when it comes time to submit applications to payers, the ADA service will automatically populate the applications with already-submitted credentials, making the previously labor-intensive application process almost effortless.

The process is also easier for payers, hospitals, employers, and third-party administrators who want to obtain provider information. And because payers don’t have to follow-up with each provider, this process now takes a matter of minutes rather than several weeks.

“The launch of the new ADA Credentialing Service gives dental providers and payers a technology-driven, ‘one and done’ alternative to the tedious, repetitive approach that has been used previously,” said Craig Kasten, board chairman and founder of SKYGEN USA (of which Wonderbox Technologies is a business unit) in a press release. “It is a perfect example of how moving from manual processes to cyber benefits saves time, reduces costs, and improves workflows.

ADA is currently providing complimentary use of the ADA Credentialing Service to both member and nonmember dentists.

(iStock/Thinkstock)