18 November 2022

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Dr. Travis Campbell, Dental Insurance Guy interview Part 2

Mary Guiden

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Dr. Travis Campbell has been a practicing dentist since 2009, after graduating from the Baylor College of Dentistry in Dallas, Texas. He is also an author, trainer, speaker, dental coach and consultant. Having gained a reputation as a resource for other dentists in the complex area of dental insurance, Campbell has become The Dental Insurance Guy with an extensive online presence and membership program. From understanding insurance to developing strategies to accelerate practice growth, Campbell delivers practical, actionable content that dentists and team members can use immediately.  His best-selling book, “Understanding dental insurance: a guide for dentists and their teams” is available through Edra Publishing. This is the second part of the interview. If you missed Part 1, read it on Dentistry33. 

Q: Where do in-house membership plans fit into the industry picture?

A: Membership plans have been around for decades, since before I was a dentist. They’ve gained a little more traction in recent years. More offices are offering them than ever before, as a functional alternative to dental insurance. These plans are great alternatives for patients who need mostly preventive care, and they can reduce costs for patients. They also reduce the rules, regulations, and stipulations of being in-network. State dental organizations are working with the American Dental Association to see what they can do as a state, with thousands of dentists to see if they can make membership plans effective on a larger scale. But insurance is here to stay in some form or fashion, whether you call it insurance or a discount coupon. It’s not going anywhere.

Q: Let’s talk about your book from Edra Publishing. What can readers expect to learn?

A: The target audience is anybody who wants to understand more about dental insurance. The book includes a lot of case studies for dentists, claim completion and submission specifics for the front desk, documentation sections for hygienists and assistants. There’s an opportunity for everyone on the dental team to gain information.

Some of what I go into and that I’ve never seen anywhere else is providing an understanding of the insurance company itself. Most people don’t necessarily want to learn this, but if you understand where they are coming from, and why problems can happen, then you are better armed to avoid difficulties.

The textbook can take a dentist or team member from knowing little or nothing about dental insurance to knowing more than what most training programs out there are going to give you. I tackle topics people don’t want to tackle. I investigate the specifics of insurance contracts and state and federal laws, and how they relate to us as health care professionals.

I still work clinically, so the entire book is written from the perspective of what clinicians do in the office every day, what we are dealing with in terms of roadblocks, how to take that information, and make it practical and useful.

Q: What do readers find at the end of the book?

A: The last section is the fun section, where I share real clinical cases and how to approach similar patients' dental claim cases in your own practice. This section references everything covered previously in the book, providing details and specifics.

Most cases involve a real-world combination of topics I've covered in three, four or five different chapters in the book. The book was designed originally to read once as training and then use on an ongoing basis as a reference guide.

If you just want the fun stuff, go to the back, see the cool cases and documentation from amazing dentists across the country who shared their case experiences for the benefit of their colleagues. 

Q: What resources are available on the Dental Insurance guy website and how can dentists tap into your expertise? 

A: I created this online platform to supplement my written advice. My book is comprehensive and detailed. Some of us are very adept at learning from a book and applying the concepts to our daily job, but dental insurance is a complex arena. So, for others, even with the book in hand, absorbing the vast amount of information required to process insurance claims and applying it to sometimes messy real cases in front of us is not always that easy.

The online platform includes video-based education training modules, answers to FAQs, articles on current issues and challenges, and the latest laws for every state. Resources are constantly being added or refreshed. Members have access to dental insurance expertise for their day-to-day questions and concerns while dealing with insurance cases, from complex claims and EOBs to questions on how to manage the entire process.

I created the site so that my colleagues would have easy access to an expert.

I get questions every day from members on insurance topics, EOBs, claims people are having issues with. They get instant help. It’s been fun. I enjoy solving insurance challenges, looking into details, figuring out difficult claim cases.

Dentistry is hard, we provide great help for our patients every day. Processing Insurance is how we get paid or if you’re not in network, how your patients get reimbursed. It’s massively important to make sure the process is done well, and in a way that’s not detrimental to our patients or our office. In most cases, it doesn’t have to be.