Zentist Debuts Pilot of Real-Time Dental Claims Payments

Automated dental insurance claims processing platform Zentist has rolled out a financial pre-funding pilot program for the U.S. dental industry, the company announced Monday (Nov. 8).

The program applies machine learning models to dental insurance claims data, and will allow dental service providers with several locations to be paid on certain types of claim submissions in real-time.

Under the program, there should be less insurance reimbursement risk, better liquidity and more robust near-term financial health. This will allow dental service organizations to do better work to fund operations and invest more in future growth.

According to the press release, the Zentist proprietary revenue cycle management platform will have a higher degree of confidence on dental insurance payments predictions. Then, it will pre-fund the accounts receivable of dental service organizations (DSOs) and other affiliated practices.

With the new capital, the company will be monetized by the DSO or dental practice to meet bank loan covenants and accessing more growth. The release adds that DSOs can use the revenue boosts for things like issuing intercompany loans, paying off debt, attracting new employees, funding renovations or expansions to the office, marketing campaigns to attract patients and buying new suppliers.

Sina S. Amiri, Zentist’s vice president of business development and partnerships, said the company was “bridging the gap between production and collections using artificial intelligence so U.S. practices are just as profitable as their Canadian counterparts, which today pay their dentists a higher percentage of collections due to lower adjusted production and less bad debt write-offs.”

PYMNTS writes that there have been several innovations in oral care over the pandemic, including more focus on buying products to take care of teeth and the mouth.

Read more: Oral Care Sales Stuck in Retail Channels Despite Push From D2C

According to Simon Enever, CEO of quip, a direct-to-consumer oral care brand, customers have taken a renewed interest in their oral health since the pandemic began.