Webinar Recap: Five Payer Strategies to Power Dental for the Digital Age

We’re not done talking about dental strategies for the digital age yet!

Talk about a success! SKYGEN recently partnered with the National Association of Dental Plans (NADP) and Heather Kane, CEO of Dental at UnitedHealthcare, to present the webinar The Digital Advantage: Five Payer Strategies to Power Dental for the Digital Age. For those who haven’t seen it yet, the strategies are:

• Aim for continuous automation to drive efficiency, scalability, and compliance
• Drive digital dominance with on-demand technologies
• Engage members and providers to drive better results
• Elevate performance using analytics
• Leverage industry expertise and limit costs through outsourced services

The webinar attracted a record-breaking number of registrants! Not only was it well-attended, it also generated lively discussion in the Q&A session afterward, which you can hear at the end of the replay. So much so that our panelists didn’t have time to answer the last three questions. Since they were good ones, we decided to answer them here.

With increased regulation around network adequacy, the burden is placed completely on carriers. Do we expect any requirements to be placed on the providers to update this information? How can we make it easy for providers to update?

Yes, there definitely will be increased scrutiny and requirements placed on providers. As with most things, regulations tend to affect medical providers initially, then eventually trickle down to dental. For example, many urgent care centers/clinics are beginning to post their wait times online. It’s been rumored that will eventually be a regulation. To make something like that easier for all providers regardless of specialty, SKYGEN has functionality that will allow providers to update their own demographic information through a web portal. As information is updated – names, office hours, locations, appointment availability, etc. – this information will be available in real time via the payer’s website or through an app. Eventually it will include wait times too.

Which engagement tools do you think are most effective to get members to better manage their own oral health?

Since members are more likely to use their smartphone or tablet to find information, it’s critical to have self-service web portals available to allow for easy access to benefit information. Mobile-first member portals bring benefit information, EOBs, and EOPs right to members’ devices. And because members can find answers by logging in to the portal at any time, payers are likely to see a reduction in member calls to customer service and an increase in member satisfaction.

How does your technology platform support integrations with legacy technology?
SKYGEN’s Enterprise System is modular and flexible enough to support integrations with disparate legacy systems. The same is true for our individual, on-demand solutions such as our provider Credentialing Service. In fact, the Enterprise System was designed from the beginning to enable multiple integration points across all lines of business – medical, dental, and vision – on a single platform.

Whether you’re well on your way toward moving your dental plan to the digital age or just getting started, be sure to watch the replay of the full webinar.