Dentistry has been forced to accommodate change during the COVID-19 era. One accommodation is teledentistry. But you might be wondering if you can adapt it to your practice management platform - such as Open Dental.
More on how teledentistry works with Open Dental in a moment…but first let’s clarify teledentistry’s benefits.
What teledentistry is and how it’s creating a new normal
Contactless patient interactions were once one of those accommodations made for specific circumstances. Now, teledentistry is among the leading ways to integrate contactless consultations into your normal patient care routine.
Teledentistry provides a secure, video-driven, real-time interaction with patients. It’s also useful for specialist consultations alongside a variety of other relevant benefits.
- Review your patient’s health history with them
- Interact virtually around your patient’s questions and details related to their current dental issue or general oral health
- Diagnose patient condition(s) and recommend next step(s)
- Schedule an in-office appointment for treatment or further hands-on diagnosis
- Provide guidance on prescriptions and related details
- Follow-up on your patient’s previous treatment including ortho, specialist referrals/procedures, etc.
Remember…seek confirmation from your state/region dental organization prior to using or promoting teledentistry as a service.
Applying teledentistry within your Open Dental practice management platform
Set up Open Dental for teledentistry
Creating an interface for teledentistry within Open Dental will enable you to seamlessly schedule your patients.
- Access “Setup” then “Advanced Setup” then “Show Features”
- In “Show Features” scroll down and “check” the “Public Health” box and click “OK.”
Now you’re ready to begin following the essential teledentistry protocols within your Open Dental platform.
Use the required teledentistry codes
Two primary codes are to be applied to your teledentistry patient consultations.
- The Synchronous code (D9995) is used for real-time patient communication.
- The Asynchronous code (D9996) is utilized when sharing patient information outside of a real-time patient interaction.
List and track your coding and accounting functions for teledentistry within your Open Dental accounting system. Also, the ADA provides guidance for all things billing and coding related to virtual patient consultations.
Chart your procedures for teledentistry within Open Dental
When conducting virtual/remote procedures you’ll need to switch your “Place of Service” to “Telehealth.”
- Go to your “Procedure Info” window and click on the “Misc” tab. This will activate only if you’ve turned-on “Telehealth” as your “Place of Service.”
- Use the drop down menu and select “Telehealth.”
- At the appropriate time set the “procedures complete.”
Create and send your claim for each teledentistry appointment
Follow your routine claim delivery process. The exception now is that you’ve applied the required and designated code for the particular teledentistry consultation (synchronous or asynchronous).
Improve your teledentistry workflows within Open Dental by utilizing an easy-to-use, comprehensive teledentistry solution
Teledentix is an innovative, turn-key teledentistry solution created by Virtual Dental Care. The all-in-one platform will enable you to adapt teledentistry (using your Open Dental platform) to your patient care and extend your services beyond the walls of your dental practice.
- Teledentix provides an easy-to-use video conferencing tool that’s secure, HIPAA compliant, and specific to dentistry.
- Teledentix Basic is a perfect starting point. Begin with a free trial and then transition to a very low monthly fee. You and your patients can join unlimited video conferences including screen-share, file-share, video-share, and real-time chat communications.
Contact us about Teledentix and discover its easy interface with your current dental practice management platform, including Open Dental.
FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding and applicable uses for teledentistry. We believe this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.
