When you assign insurance to a patient in Dentrix, be sure that you understand the different options and features you can access from the Insurance Information dialog box.

With a patient selected in the Family File, double-click the Primary Dental Insurance block to open the patient’s Insurance Information.

If this patient is the subscriber of their own plan, click the Subscriber search button and select the Current Patient button. If the patient is a dependent to another family member’s insurance plan, click the Subscriber search button and select the family member and plan. This will load the insurance plan details as they were entered under the subscriber family member.

Use the Carrier search button to find the insurance carrier to assign to the patient, and click OK. Then enter a Subscriber ID # for the patient. You’ll need this to properly submit claims and avoid denials or rejections.

Under Signature on File, select the following options as needed:

• Release of Information – When selected, “Signature on File” prints on insurance claims for the subscriber to authorize release of information.
• Assignment of Benefits – When selected, this authorizes insurance payments to be sent directly to the provider rather than to the patient.

Verify the Relation to Subscriber setting, based on the relationship between this patient and the insurance subscriber.

The Insurance Data button will open the Primary Dental Insurance Plan Information window where you can view or edit information pertaining to the plan. However, be aware that making any changes here will change the insurance plan information, affecting all other patients who are assigned to this plan.

In Dentrix G7.4, a new Benefits/Coverage button has been added, which opens a new Dental Insurance Benefits and Coverage window with several new features and options you can read about in an article in Dentrix Magazine titled, An Easier Way to Manage Patient Insurance Details.

When you are ready to assign the insurance to the patient, click OK at the bottom of the window.

Bonus Tip

To have one less thing to worry about when assigning an insurance plan to a patient, you can manage how you want the Signature on File options to be set by default for new subscribers.

In the Office Manager, go to Maintenance > Practice Setup > Preferences.  Under the General Options tab, in the bottom right corner of the window, you can set the Default Signature on File for New Subscribers for both Dental Insurance and Medical Insurance.

Click OK to save your changes, and the next time you assign insurance to a new patient, those default options will already be selected for you.