Michigan’s Healthy Kids Dental (HKD) program will expand on October 1 to cover Medicaid-eligible children under age 21 in all of Michigan’s 83 counties, increasing the total number of eligible children to 930,000 statewide.
As part of our push to get families to make regular dental visits, Delta Dental will be reaching out to all parents of current HKD members who have not utilized their benefits to encourage them to find a participating provider and schedule dental visits for their children.
On October 1, Delta Dental will be launching a statewide multi-faceted marketing campaign designed to increase utilization of HKD by spreading the word about the program and encouraging those who have HKD to use it.
All of this means that you may see an increase in calls to your office asking about HKD!
To help you prepare for this, Delta Dental will be mailing all HKD participating providers a special HKD Campaign Kick-Off Kit that will arrive prior to October 1 and contain a variety of items that can be used to promote HKD and your participation in it. Included will be brochures, posters, window clings and access to a special online toolkit of other helpful materials that you can order from Delta Dental free of charge.
Preventive and regular dental care is essential to a child’s oral and overall health and school success, and by participating as an HKD provider, you can help make sure children have access to the important dental care they need to thrive.
As always, it is important to verify eligibility on the date of service for each HKD patient as eligibility for HKD can change frequently. If you fail to do this and deliver services to an ineligible patient, you will not receive reimbursement from Delta Dental, nor can you bill the patient for the services.
If you are not already an HKD participating provider but would like to learn more about joining this valued network, please contact your professional relations representative today.
The American Dental Association reports that the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has extended the deadline for dentists to either enroll as a Medicare Part D ordering or referring provider. The deadline is February 1, 2017, but registration is available now and CMS encourages health care providers to submit their choices as soon as possible.
If you are a participating provider, a letter was mailed to your dental office with instructions on becoming CMS compliant. If you have not received this information and still need to take action, please contact your professional relations representative.
Your patients’ oral health extends beyond the dental chair. With our line of oral health fliers and Rethink Your Drink brochures, you can provide your patients with access to important oral and overall health information.
Preview and select oral health fliers on topics ranging from back to school, sealants, diabetes, flossing, tobacco use and much more. Or, discuss the dangers of sugar-sweetened beverages and tooth decay with our Rethink Your Drink brochures.
Available in English and Spanish, all materials are available to your office at no charge. Place your order here.
Community-based oral health programs and organizations are invited to apply for Delta Dental Foundation’s 2016 Brighter Futures Community Grants program.
This year, $150,000 in grants will be awarded to organizations across Michigan, Ohio and Indiana that focus on providing and promoting oral health care and education for children and adults, particularly in underserved or at-risk populations.
Applications will be accepted until September 30. You may apply and review the guidelines here.
Delta Dental introduced its Brighter Futures initiative in 2012 with a mission of improving oral health for all children and adults through early education, advocacy and philanthropy. In particular, Delta Dental is committed to increasing awareness about the importance of good oral health and its connection to overall health and well-being.
Delta Dental was notified that an Ohio dental office received a call from a person that indicated she was calling on behalf of Delta Dental inquiring about electronic funds transfer (EFT) registration.
Remember that a Delta Dental employee would never call your office and request banking information over the phone. If banking information is required, we encourage self-service on the Dental Office Toolkit®.
If you receive a call that you believe to be fraudulent, please report it to our anti-fraud hotline by calling 800-524-0147.
To assist us with our quarterly records review, all participating dentists will receive quarterly mailings asking you to confirm dental office information, or to make corrections or additions as needed. If a participating dentist is added or removed from a practice, it is important that you contact us so we may keep our provider records accurate.
When submitting claims for payment, please remember that all claims must indicate the treating dentist’s information, not the billing or dental entity. As stated in your participating Uniform Requirement B-4, “the license number of the treating dentist must be included on the claim form.”
Remember, only licensed dentists may submit a claim for an exam. Don’t put your practice at risk—submit completed and accurate claims.
When you must include X-rays with a dental claim, remember these quick tips to allow for more efficient processing.
Two Delta Dental Foundation grants will help address the oral health needs of up to 8,000 children in the Flint area.
The grants, totaling $204,302, were awarded to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and will fund two school-based fluoride programs.
As a result of the water crisis, children in Flint – especially those under the age of 6 – are drinking more bottled water and may be drinking more juice and sugar-sweetened beverages, which don’t include fluoride. The new programs are designed to help Flint-area students receive the daily benefits of fluoride to protect their teeth from cavities.
The first – Swish and Spit – is a school-based fluoride rinse program which began on June 1 for students enrolled in Flint Community Schools’ summer school program. Starting in September, Swish and Spit will expand to other schools in the Flint area.
The second is a fluoride varnish program, which began in July and will serve children attending Head Start programs in Genesee County. Both programs will be coordinated by Mott Children’s Health Center and will be evaluated for effectiveness by the University of Michigan Child Health Evaluation and Research Unit.
Thank you to those who have completed the required Medicare Fraud, Waste and Abuse (FWA) training for the 2016 calendar year. As a reminder, all TriState Advantage network participating dentists are required to complete FWA training once each calendar year, as stated in the TriState Advantage participation agreement.
Once training is completed, one person in the practice must acknowledge completion of the training for the business entity by completing the FWA Training Acknowledgement Form. Training is tracked by the business tax identification number (TIN).
To find the training module and acknowledgement form, visit the Dental Office Toolkit® (DOT) or www.deltadentalmi.com/CMScompliance.