The advancement of artificial intelligence has helped dental practices improve operational efficiency and patient outcomes, but one dentist is hoping that this technology can soon enhance the RCM process even further.
Krista Kappus, DDS, of Fitch Mountain Dental in Healdsburg, Calif., recently joined the Becker’s Dental + DSO Podcast to discuss what she would like to see AI accomplish in the future to help dentists.
Note: Responses were edited for clarity and length.
Question: What are you most excited about when it comes to dentistry right now?
Dr. Krista Kappus: As AI grows and gets more intelligent, I have a feeling we’re going to have a more cohesive dental software that ideally will merge better with our insurances, be able to do copays better, better insurance verification and be just more connected in general. Right now, we work with Pearl, which is imaging software, so I think that’s been really helpful for our hygienists and our dental assistants and patient education, pointing out areas where there’s potential decay, but it doesn’t integrate to our current software, so I think as we start to see more of this AI in the dental world, ideally we’ll get some sort of cloud-based software that can integrate these all a little bit better, versus having your 10 separate applications you have to open up.
Q: What else would you like to see AI technology help you out with on the dental side?
KK: There’s so much out there, but nothing that’s really integrated together … You have a company for this, a company for that, and I think if there was an integrated software that combined [everything. For example,] we’ve got our note-taking AI, we have our Alexa sort of thing in every room, where you’re doing your patient explanation and at the end of the appointment, it summarizes your notes … integrating your dental imaging software, integrating our insurance verification software, and having better ways to access your insurance portals. Right now, we have about 9,000 different insurance portals, and everyone has a different password and different ways to get into it. We’ve got the CAQH for updating your information for all of the insurances, and I think [we should have] something like that for dental insurances in general, just some sort of cohesive dashboard … To submit our insurance, we have a company, Remote Lite, that sends it to Vyne, that sends it to the insurance, and I think just having one cohesive unit to do that, so we don’t have 10 different companies we’ve got to make sure we’re updating and everything is working correctly to make sure we get paid, would be ideal.
At the Becker's 5th Annual Future of Dentistry Roundtable, taking place September 14-15 in Chicago, dental leaders and executives will gain insights into emerging technologies, practice growth strategies and the evolving landscape of dental care delivery, with a focus on innovation, patient experience and operational excellence. Apply for complimentary registration now.
