February 2016

News You Can Use From Delta Dental of Michigan 

Celebrate children's oral health!

February is National Children’s Dental Health Month, a perfect opportunity for you to talk to your young patients about the importance of brushing, flossing and eating balanced meals.

Dental care has been identified as the largest unmet health need among children in the U.S. While student health is a strong predictor of academic success, too many children go to school each day with preventable health problems. In fact, children in the U.S. miss 51 million hours of school each year due to oral health issues, and children who have dental problems are four times more likely to have a lower grade point average than children without dental problems.1

To spread awareness of the importance of children’s oral health, we will be posting messages on our Facebook and Twitter accounts throughout the month. Additionally, we hope to take Twitter by storm on Wednesday, February 10, by tweeting about children’s oral health all day with the tag #childsmiles. You can join the national conversation by using #NCDHM, too!

Join the conversation February 10, and download the guide and sample messages today

You can also help celebrate National Children’s Dental Health Month on Facebook by “liking” the Delta Dental of Indiana Facebook page. For each new “like” Delta Dental of Indiana receives on its Facebook page during the month of February, Delta Dental will donate one child-sized toothbrush to the St. Mary’s Mobile Dental Clinic for its young visitors. If you haven’t already, make sure you visit www.facebook.com/DeltaDentalMI to “like” Delta Dental of Indiana today!

In addition to our social media efforts, Delta Dental of Michigan and the Delta Dental Foundation have a number of events planned in the community.

To encourage better children’s oral health during the month of February, we invite you to download “Drool to School” and Rethink Your Drink brochures for your dental office. Both brochures are available on our website in both English and Spanish. 

1. McMillen Center for Health Education. "Dental Decay Impacts School Success." Brush! Early Childhood Oral Health Curriculum: 7. Print.

Grow your practice with TriState Advantage

Increase the number of patients you serve by joining Delta Dental’s new TriState Advantage network.

TriState Advantage, which serves government-sponsored programs and Medicare Advantage plans in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana, has the same great Delta Dental service and fast payments as our national networks. Delta Dental remits benefit payments directly to participating providers, and 98 percent of claims are processed within 10 working days.

As with other Delta Dental programs, you and your staff will have access to the Dental Office Toolkit® and DASI (Delta Dental’s automated phone system). All claims in the TriState Advantage network must be submitted electronically and will be paid by electronic funds transfer (EFT). Participating dental offices will need to sign up for EFT if you have not already done so. Paper claims will not be accepted in the TriState Advantage network unless the claim is subject to an electronic claim submission exception in the Administrative Simplification Compliance Act.

Members with plans that use the TriState Advantage network will be required to receive services from participating TriState Advantage network dentists. Participating dentists will be listed in our closed-panel directory, making it easy for potential patients to find you.

Reimbursement to participating dentists for covered services rendered to members is based on the Delta Dental PPOSM fee schedule.

Contact your Delta Dental professional relations representative for more information or to participate in the TriState Advantage network.


Action required: Medicare opt-in or opt-out

A change in the Medicare Part D prescription program requires dentists to take action by June 1, 2016 . Any physician or professional who prescribes Part D drugs must either enroll in the Medicare program or opt out in order to prescribe drugs to patients with Part D prescription coverage after June 1, 2016. If you have not already done so, make sure you either opt-in or opt-out of Medicaid Part D. 

View a bulletin outlining your options


Required training for TriState Advantage network

Thank you for 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


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