Podcast: Estela Vargas dives deeper into dental practices getting paid for oral cancer screenings

In the latest episode of "The DrBicuspid.com Podcast," Estela Vargas, CRDH, followed up on a recent article delving into the importance of oral cancer screenings and how dental practices can get paid for them.

Estela Vargas, CRDH.

Vargas recently wrote this article detailing what every dental practice must know about getting paid for oral cancer screenings. The article generated a lot of buzz and readers, so I wanted to follow up with Vargas to dive a little deeper into the subject.

During our conversation, which you can hear by clicking below or by simply clicking here, she explained the process of submitting claims to dental and medical insurers, including the use of International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) codes and Code on Dental Procedures and Nomenclature (CPT) codes. Vargas emphasized the need for dental practices to educate themselves on medical coding and stay up to date with changes. She also highlighted the importance of having conversations with patients about oral cancer and the risk factors involved.

Vargas also encouraged dental practices to make oral cancer awareness a year-round focus.

Key takeaways from the podcast

• Dental practices can get paid for oral cancer screenings by submitting claims to dental and medical insurers.
  
  
• It is important for dental practices to educate themselves on medical coding and stay up to date with changes.
  
  
• Having conversations with patients about oral cancer and the risk factors involved is crucial.
  
  
• Oral cancer awareness should be a year-round focus for dental practices.

Key quote from Vargas

"The majority of the time, that (denial from insurance) is where it stops. They (insurance coordinators) get that denial from dental and that's where they leave it."

Chapters

00:00: Introduction and the importance of oral cancer screenings
01:43: Submitting claims to dental and medical insurance
02:26: Challenges and limitations in getting paid
03:17: The importance of education and staying up to date with medical coding
04:39: Conversations with patients about oral cancer
06:06: Making oral cancer awareness a year-round focus

Again, you can hear our entire conversation by clicking below. Make sure you are subscribed to "The DrBicuspid.com Podcast" on your favorite podcast platform.