Episode : #1,196: Automate the Busywork and Get Your Time Back

Podcast Description

Tiff and Pam talk about the current intersection of technology in the practice, and how using and understanding AI as a tool for busywork means you can focus on the tasks that really need that human touch. They talk about why training AI could be just as critical as training humans, where to look first when incorporating the software into your practice, how a staff member can serve as quality check for automated tasks, and more.

Episode resources:

Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast

Schedule a Practice Assessment

Leave us a review

Transcript:

Tiffanie (00:01)

Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Tiff back with you here on the podcast. And we are in the studio today. I have myself and I have Miss Pam with me. And Pam is one of our prize possession consultants here at the Dental A Team. We have had Pam on our team for a little while now. And if you are special enough and blessed enough to work with her, you know exactly who she is and you have some solid foundational systems. Pam is a systems guru. She busts them out.

And she holds accountability like I’ve never seen before. And when she learns something, she learns it forever. And I love getting to watch you, Pam, progress in your Dental A Team journey. I watch you like taking notes all the time on the systems that we, you know, hold tried and true. Yesterday Dana was talking about a couple of systems during our collaboration and I was like, gosh.

She’s just over there feverishly writing and I love it because I know exactly what’s gonna happen. You’re gonna like go back, you’re gonna relearn

Pamela (00:54)

I was. Yes, I was.

Tiffanie (00:58)

it, and you’re gonna teach it. And it was just really cool. So I love that, Pam. Thank you. And I love that you have these skill sets that you’re able to then take and you help so many practices implement the same skill sets, like not just our systems, but how to retain it. You know how you retain it.

But then you’re also looking for how are other people retaining the things that they’re learning so that you can help them grow in their learning as well. So it’s just really cool to watch, Pam. Thank you for everything you do and thank

Pamela (01:27)

Thank you.

Tiffanie (01:28)

you for being here today. How are you?

Pamela (01:31)

you know, I’m doing fabulous and thank you. I appreciate all those kind words, Tiff. That was very nice. I think it’s a unique and great time to be in dentistry. So v we’ve seen a lot of changes over the years and now we’re to a stage that is changing very, very quickly.

Tiffanie (01:50)

I agree. I I love that you said that, Pam, because something that I think we’ve said in dentistry for a long time is that dentistry is really progressive in a lot of ways. I think there’s a lot of things in dentistry that haven’t changed and haven’t progressed, like Rick canals, things like that are still being done similarly to how they were thirty years ago. But so much in dentistry is so progressive and it’s changing all the time. But I I think we’ve always said that. But I think in the last five, six years that has

Like us saying that before doesn’t even make sense anymore. Like the progression we’re seeing now is wild.

Pamela (02:26)

It’s it’s crazy. you know, I was thinking about this, and there are so many systems that we have done for years that we’re not perfecting, right? That we still could perfect and are in addition to any AI stuff we have. But the interesting thing is is that now something that has been in scarcity our entire human existence or now or soon will become like an abundant commodity, which is intelligence, right?

Tiffanie (02:53)

Yeah. Yeah.

Pamela (02:55)

So

I think that it’s really wild to be thinking about that intelligence is a commodity and we can buy it.

Tiffanie (03:03)

Yeah, I think that’s amazing. That was a great perspective. And you are not wrong. I listen to a lot of

Pamela (03:07)

Yeah.

Tiffanie (03:09)

podcasts and I know you do too that speak to that same thing. And I think both of our households house many conversations around that same thing. I think we we share that.

Pamela (03:18)

That is so true. It’s so true.

Tiffanie (03:22)

Yeah. So with that, Pam, I think that’s a great start. What are you seeing? expand on that for me. Like what are you seeing as far as I love that like intelligence is is a

purchasable at this point. What are you seeing with your practices or just the research you’re doing and the things you’re hearing and and listening to within the dental world, narrow that down for us. What are you seeing from your perspective how that’s changing dentistry?

Pamela (03:48)

Yeah,

well I I think the the question is is how do we react to that reality, right? And a lot of practices are have not gotten into the AI and are now saying, okay, I want my insurance verification done, I want, you know, RCM done, the revenue cycle management done by AI, but it is a little daunting. Right? It is like I had one practice say

yo well we have this company that’s doing our RCM and and I said do you are you like what are you doing with it and they said nothing they do it and I’m like dear goodness gracious like there are you have to manage it unfortunately I think we’re at a real a space where we’re not the Ironman like Jarvis runs everything

Tiffanie (04:43)

Yeah.

Pamela (04:43)

you know stage we’re at the

Alexis and we have a lot of really smart AI tools. Most of them, I’m well, they’re all sitting on top of separate systems and what we are contributing. I don’t think we’re pardon me quite to the point where it’s an operating system as opposed to, you know, pieces. So I’m seeing practices now take those pieces, try to learn them, and then develop their skills even more in the stuff that they were doing.

So what I mean by that is how are we, how are they actually doing at clean claims, right? Are they

Tiffanie (05:23)

Yeah.

Pamela (05:24)

getting the clean the claims clean before they send them in? how are they doing on you know managing the online scheduling? Are they reacting to that? And is all the patient’s insurance information accurate before it goes to the AI?

So that’s that’s what I’m seeing. That’s a s a little bit of a struggle.

Tiffanie (05:47)

Yeah. I think something you pointed out there was that a lot of people a lot of people seem to be jumping headfirst and just like handing the keys over rather than allowing it to be a tool that they use still with oversight. And I noticed recently, even just on my chat GPT that I use down at the bottom, it’s like, Hey FYI, these may be inaccurate. Like this is not to be taken as truth. Yeah. And I’m like, well

Pamela (06:11)

Yes, I j I saw that, yeah. So true.

Tiffanie (06:16)

We need that reminder though, kind of like the McDonald’s coffee cup that now has, you know, since nineteen ninety or whatever it was, says that the contents are hot. Like humanity needs those reminders ’cause I think we’re so it’s like a it’s a catch to me too, ’cause I do think we’re so quick to jump onto things and try them. But

Pamela (06:34)

Mm-hmm.

Tiffanie (06:34)

at the same time we’re like second guessing and

thinking we can’t and thinking they don’t work, but we do latch on to certain things where we’re just like, wait, that was expected. I expected to be able to drink my coffee as soon as you handed it to me. You know, that it wasn’t gonna be scalding hot, that I could just just go. And same with the AI. I think there’s so many aspects of it that we just expected all of the truth to be on the internet somewhere. We’ve been primed that the truth is on the internet and

we just expected it to be true that now chat is like, hey, wait a second, like, hey, I’m just like your buddy who did the research online, the same as your friend next door. Like this

Pamela (07:09)

Right.

Tiffanie (07:13)

could be wrong. And I think it’s an interesting thought because to your point of view, handing over your cycle management, your your revenue and all of that data, handing that over to AI and expecting it to just be perfect from here on out with no mistakes is wild.

Right, but we’re doing it. So many of us are doing it. Similarly to the online scheduling. I know we have a lot of practices and we have some doctors that have spoken for us at our events. we had one last September that our doctor focused on AI, and she pointed out the facts of needing to train their AI the same as they’re training a human. Like you get a

Pamela (07:51)

Yeah, yes. Yes.

Tiffanie (07:54)

result and you’re like, you got that result, you’re fired, you’re done, we give up.

You say, actually,

Let’s tweak it to be what we want it to be. So we’re saying yes and okay, cool. And let’s do it this way. Let’s move it this direction. with that statement, you also said insurance verifications, making sure they’re accurate. And it made me think too, we’ve always said, you know, good information in is good information out, bad information in is bad information out. And I think

That’s the same with any of it, with any of the AI tools or any of it, right? The it can only scour the internet for so much information and find so much truth. With the good information in, that goes as far as everything. So whatever it is that we’re asking and training these systems and these tools to produce is what we’re going to get. So we’re not spending the time with the AI and we’re not spending the time saying, This is the result that I want, this is how I want you to get there.

we’re doing a disservice to ourselves just the same as so many people we were just talking about this. So many people are still misusing or underutilizing tools that we’ve had for gosh, at this point I always say 30 years, but at this point I think it’s going on like 40 years, right? Like we’ve had these tools for

Pamela (09:12)

Exactly, yeah.

Tiffanie (09:14)

a long time. We’re still

Pamela (09:16)

Yeah.

Tiffanie (09:16)

misusing them because I know both of us have walked into offices where they’re like changing the prices in the treatment plan.

And they’re doing all this math and there’s a calculator. I still have offices that have the calculators that have the tape, and I’m like, where are you even where do you buy the tape anymore? Right. But they do, they have this running tab. And I’m like, what are you doing? And they say, Well, it’s never right. We always have a balance. And I’m like, Okay, this is like a band-aid fix, right? So no matter what technology you have, there’s so much tech that saves us so much time. And that’s the point of this conversation is what kind of tech is out there that can

save our team

Pamela (09:52)

Mm.

Tiffanie (09:53)

time. And a lot of that time is for the administrative team, gives them the the chance to do other things, right? So automating things gets rid of busy work, allows them to do other things. But if we’re not utilizing the tool correctly from the get-go, it’s not saving the time because we’re going back and fixing it anyway. So maybe we’re saving time on we have an online scheduling app and it works. So our team maybe doesn’t have to answer as many new patient calls.

But then that same person is over here calculating by hand a treatment plan estimate. It’s like, cool, well, we just like took nonsensical

Pamela (10:28)

Yeah.

Tiffanie (10:29)

time and put it into a nonsensical time suck again. So, Pam, how

Pamela (10:33)

Yeah. Yeah.

Tiffanie (10:35)

are you helping the chain offices to really utilize the tools to actually save the time? And when they’re not, so like that situation, how do we how do we get to the bottom of it? Because for me,

When I see somebody calculating treatment plan estimates because they always have a bill at the end, I’m like, cool, that’s like a band-aid over this massive gash on your arm and it stopped the bleeding

Pamela (10:59)

Mm-hmm.

Tiffanie (11:00)

in that one spot, but it’s not fixed. Like you still need stitches. How do we get to the bottom of it? And how do you help practices really figure out what truly is going to save them time and how they can get there?

Pamela (11:14)

Yeah,

I think it goes back to basics. Before we layer on that AI piece of it, we have to have those basics in place. And you’re right, there are a lot of practices and you know that are struggling with that. They’re still doing things by hand. So, you know, have going back to the basics and having that correct verbiage, I think, is super important. to with the patient of knowing that.

There may be, it is an estimation, and there may be a difference when once your insurance pays. And you can offer to the patient, you know, if you would like to call, I don’t like doing predeterminations, pre-D, I’m kind of against them. A lot of people still do them for larger treatment. I understand that. but for if you are to, you know, tell a patient, look, if if it’s a credit.

we will get that credit right back to you within the month, right? have

Tiffanie (12:12)

Mm-hmm.

Pamela (12:13)

some sort of verbiage that gives you a little bit of out, but also be confident when you’re prevent presenting those numbers if you’ve done the homework. So I think that’s where it goes is back to the basics, making sure the basics are correct before you, you know, are giving that treatment plan to the patient. And then your verbiage is super important. And trusting it.

Tiffanie (12:36)

Yeah, I totally agree.

And trusting it exactly. Being able to trust the system is huge. So making sure I think you’re you’re like spot on back to the basics, right? So making sure your verbiage is in line and making sure that the information that we’re putting into the computer system is as accurate as possible. And you can use AI tools for that too, right? So we have

Pamela (12:55)

Right. Right.

Tiffanie (12:56)

AI tools this day and age that do insurance verifications and they upload it into the system.

They do all of the pieces. But then again, back to what we said earlier and how you said like this practice is like, we don’t even look at it, right? Same thing. Like if you’re if you’re paying for an AI bot to go scour, get the information, put it into your system, and then you’re turning around and you’re like, well, it’s always wrong, right? I I always have a balance or a credit. And so I calculate it just to double check, like, okay, maybe we need to look to see.

Further back, where is that miscalculation coming from? Because the insurance data in the system, the patient’s data in the system, the right fee schedules, all of those pieces are feeding the tech and the intelligence, the information that it’s spouting out to you. So it can only do so much. So if you’ve

Pamela (13:47)

Right.

Tiffanie (13:48)

got, you know, you didn’t mark the you didn’t you didn’t tell the bot that you needed to mark that there was a downgrade. So you’re you’re having

crowns come back and there’s two hundred dollar balance because it was downgraded, right? Well, stop hand calculating that and tell the bot to do it differently. Tell the system to do it differently. Whatever your system

Pamela (14:06)

That’s right. That’s right.

Tiffanie (14:08)

is, there’s a little button somewhere that you you click it and it says downgrades, right? Account for downgrades, etc. So utilizing those tools from the ground zero, I think is just massive and it’s something that’s been severely underutilized for a really long time.

that needs to be right first. Because then if we go in and we layer these AI bots on top of that, that data is what they’re working with. Just like Dentrix can only give you a treatment plan based on the information that you put in there. You put the fee schedule, you put the percentages, you put the treatment plan. You did all the buttons, you clicked and you put the treatment plan. It spouts out these numbers based on the information you put in it. The bot’s going to do the same thing. So I think that’s our soapbox bot.

Pamela (14:55)

yeah.

Tiffanie (14:55)

situation there,

like we go on forever. Go for it.

Pamela (14:59)

Yeah, no, I I agree and a lot. a lot of practices are struggling with this and they’re because they’re getting this AI and saying, Hey, it’s not worth it. Like I’m still having to call the insurance company, I’m still having to, you know, calculate by hand, right? And I think it it does go back, like we said, to the basics and really digging down on that. And I mean continue to use AI, but like you said.

it’s so interesting. You have to teach it, right? And you may not be able to look to say, this is the exact to the penny downgrade amount, but once you have taught it, you do need to trust it. Yeah. Yeah.

Tiffanie (15:40)

Yeah, I agree. I love

it. Okay, what kind of tools? I’ve I’ve got a few, you know, that I’m I’ve been seeing the online scheduling, I think, is finally making it headway. It’s been a tool that we’ve had for a really long time, but we’ve

Pamela (15:55)

Yes.

Tiffanie (15:55)

all been very afraid of it for good reasons. That’s fine. But what are some other tools that you’re seeing them implement? So AI bots, like what are what are your practices using them for that people could start looking at?

Make sure their foundations are correct. Start looking into how could we automate some busy work to give my team back time? What are you seeing out there in in dentistry right now, Pam?

Pamela (16:17)

Yeah.

definitely the RCM, the revenue cycle management. I think that AI does a really great job with that. But the thing I I spoke about earlier is I the and getting to the root of the problem, if you don’t want to have to manage it more, then you have to make sure your claims are clean. And what does that mean? And that’s going back to basics, truly, as well. Like, are we taking all the photos? Are we taking

you know, all the blood points when probing. Are we doing are we doing everything we can do to make sure that they have as much information as they have. So I think RCM is kind of the number one I’m seeing. insurance verification, where a lot of practices are moving there. I think there’s still a little struggle with that because we don’t get the patient information a as quickly. And you know, I think most of the most of them say put it in two days before.

Tiffanie (17:15)

Yeah.

Pamela (17:16)

Patient communication, so even filling the schedule, right? texting people to say on an ASAP list, you know, those kind of things are being utilized very well. schedule optimum schedule optimization as well. So I think there are programs out there that help you say fill that schedule and say, here’s the patients that would work in this hole, right? So I think it’s

We have to accept that AI is here, right? so I think very, very to your point is yes, training it, but also yes, we do have to learn it. And it it will be it’s one of those things. We’re kind of lifelong learners, people in dentistry, because we always have new things coming. And so we have to look at it like this. This is just a a piece to learn, and the more we can learn about it, the better.

that we are gonna get. We can’t just be afraid of it. I say dig right in, figure that, you know, whatever you’re using, figure it out. Call the company, ask questions, ask the right questions, you know, what what how do I get my insurance verification better? You know, and let them help you and tell you because they know everyone doesn’t know. And if you just like one and done, I’m leaving it alone, you’re probably not gonna have

as good of experience as you could have with it. Yeah. And so I think doctors

Tiffanie (18:43)

Yeah. Yeah, I love those.

Pamela (18:45)

need to be a little bit aware aware. It takes time to learn. It’s not just plug

Tiffanie (18:50)

Yeah.

Pamela (18:50)

and play.

Tiffanie (18:51)

Yeah. And to piggyback off that, it sounds like making sure we still have KPIs in place, there’s still somebody overseeing results, that somebody’s still verifying that that employee, right, is doing the job right is key because if we’re if we do have an AI bot that’s helping with revenue cycle management, and then we’re not looking at AR numbers, we’re not seeing, you know, our over ninety.

decrease or or is it increasing like we’re not watching those KPI points. That’s how it gets lost. Just the same as somebody with a great resume comes in and says, hey, I’m gonna clean up your AR for you. Pay me X amount of dollars and we stick them in a corner and never look at it. Right? It’s the same thing. So making sure those KPIs are in place. I think there’s a ton of AI style tools that have come out for front office administrative work, which makes sense. You know, that’s that’s where AI

is in the administrative world right now as the recording of this podcast at least but something that I see a lot of practices using too and I think you have a few that are using them the like Pearl and Overjet AI systems for that second opinion at least I know a lot of doctors are liking that second opinion which has helped it’s not I I think of it as busy work now but that like co-diagnosing space and really just that confidence

in what I’m diagnosing seems to come across a lot more from the doctors and those tools have been super beneficial as well. So I think there’s starting to be this massive shift in the AI tech kind of industry where there is going to be more coming out for the the back office as well. And I think Pam, a lot of insurances are actually using systems like Pearl and Overjet, those AI tools to read x-rays and process claims a lot faster too.

Which to your point then they gotta be super clean. You’re okay.

Pamela (20:45)

Well, yeah, and and sorry, I totally did not mean to interrupt you,

but that that brings up something that I’ve thought about and I’ve heard from practices, a lot of claims are being denied, right?

Tiffanie (20:58)

Yeah.

Pamela (20:58)

More. I think it’s up like by twenty percent over the last few

Tiffanie (21:01)

I agree.

Pamela (21:01)

years. And that’s probably because they are using AI to read the x rays, and

Tiffanie (21:09)

Yeah.

Pamela (21:09)

there is no way the human eye can be as good as

an the AI assistance, you know, the tech

Tiffanie (21:19)

Yeah. Yeah.

Pamela (21:20)

the the radiology it it it that is going to become an AI job. So just in general.

Tiffanie (21:25)

For sure.

Pamela (21:26)

And so reading reading X rays, they’re they’re proficient. They’re they’re extremely intelligent at it. And so we need to jump on that bandwagon to make sure that we are seeing everything too. But

yeah, that’s

Tiffanie (21:40)

Yeah, agreed.

Pamela (21:41)

very, very true.

Tiffanie (21:42)

Yeah. And the same as the other AI tools, they have their variances as well. And you train those

Pamela (21:47)

Mm-hmm.

Tiffanie (21:47)

tools too. And you train yourself to see like, okay, well, this variance of that is like that’s that’s pretty extreme. I’m not like my practice doesn’t diagnose that way. Cool, that’s a watch for you, right? But at least it’s being pointed out and you can compare. You can look at okay, what did last time look like versus this time? Which is super cool because that’s not something you can do.

with just our eyes of that kind of comparison.

Pamela (22:11)

Yeah.

Tiffanie (22:12)

So whether you’re diagnosing off of it or using it as a tool to see progress and change, train it, train it and train yourself just the same as you’re training your scheduling bots.

Pamela (22:22)

I I agree a hundred percent. And it it does have to be managed, right? It it does have to we have to learn it and we have to manage and it i it’s just not a one and done. Just yeah. So very sh very

Tiffanie (22:33)

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I love it.

There’s so much tech to be found. I think some key ones that we can kind of action item here to go explore at least. I love the online scheduling tools if you’re not using them yet. I think they’re worth it. they weren’t always. They have turned a corner. They are worth it. and Pam, I think even the scheduling

bots that answer, you know, new patient calls, things like that are taking over and they’re doing really phenomenally. And then I think I would push to make sure your insurance information is accurate. obviously, you know, Pearl or Overjet kind of tools, those are phenomenal too. But I think starting with those scheduling and those insurances, if you’re not using those tools yet, I think it’s worth looking into because I really do think that revenue cycle management, all of those pieces are

hugely beneficial at this point. So do your homework. Go ahead.

Pamela (23:30)

I agree and I think I think

it yeah, do your homework and I think it’s exciting what’s happening in with the voice activation. I don’t think it’s quite

Tiffanie (23:38)

Mm-hmm.

Pamela (23:39)

there yet, but that is something I know dental offices are very hungry for. I know it’s a little intimidating, but when it gets better, and I I think it’s developed huge amount from when I was in the office because it d had

Tiffanie (23:53)

Yeah.

Pamela (23:54)

just started. and you know, I think

Offices are really looking forward to that and doctors are looking for their notes to help with their notes, right?

Tiffanie (24:05)

Yeah.

Pamela (24:05)

So I think those are the two big areas that we want to watch

Tiffanie (24:08)

Yeah.

Pamela (24:09)

and really keep abreast of what’s going on and you know, keep automating and you can do it slow and it shouldn’t be intimidating.

Tiffanie (24:18)

Yeah, I completely agree. I think slow is fast these days. Everything’s changing so much. It’s worth it to do

Pamela (24:24)

Yeah.

Tiffanie (24:25)

your due diligence and make sure that you’re using it correctly and to its full extent. So I love it. Thank you so much, Pam. This was a lot of fun. I know that the AI tech world is your jam. you do a lot of introspective work on it and just it’s a big conversation topic for you. So thank you for

Being on here with me today and being willing to share your knowledge.

Pamela (24:49)

Thank you, thank you. I love AI and I can’t wait to buy a robot.

Tiffanie (24:54)

Yeah, no right. That’s what a our

we have an almost 13-year-old in the house and he’s ready to buy one, ready to build them, ready to go. I love it. I love it. Of course.

Pamela (25:02)

I know, it’s it’s very cool. Well thank you for the time, Tiffanie. It was great to talk about this.

Tiffanie (25:09)

Thanks, fam. Awesome. Okay, listeners, share this with a buddy. share some information you might have. You might be trying something in your practice now. Drop us a five-star review below and call that out. People do read through those comments.

or if you’re on our socials, put it in the comments section. You guys have some conversations about this. There’s a lot to be learned here and there’s so much to be shared. I know we had a doctor speaking on how she’s using AI, but then we also just had a massive conversation in our doctor’s only mastermind last Tuesday about AI tools, AI bots, kind of how different practices are using them. So it’s a huge conversation. Get it rolling in there, get on board with some other doctors and share these tools with each other.

[email protected]. If you need anything from us at all, we are always happy to share all of the knowledge that we have and we’re always happy to help you in your practice on your journey towards an amazing rest of the year. Thanks so much guys and we’ll catch you next time.