PAGD Keystone Explorer Summer 2021

Keystone Explorer | Summer 2021 17 It started with a call... Dr. Ryan Buehner from Hershey Dental Associates has been a member of the Dental Cooperative since 2015 and is one of the original five dentists involved in a feasibility study to bring the Dental Cooperative to Pennsylvania. During the COVID forced shutdown in 2020, Dr. Buehner called the Cooperative’s Director of Insurance Fee Maximization, Erica Gordon, to review the preferred carrier (dental insurance) partnerships available through the Cooperative. Some big changes had happened at Hershey Dental Associates through the years, and Dr. Buehner needed to review his contracts and carrier options with a trusted dental insurance expert. He needed some assistance evaluating which carriers he was currently contracted with, whether those were feasible for his practice, along with what other profitable carriers he could potentially start accepting, for which carriers was he eligible for a potential fee increase due to his Dental Cooperative membership, and which carriers he may be considering terminating. There was a lot to unpack and review, but through the process with Erica, this is what Dr. Buehner discovered and presented at the PAGD PEAK meeting in Harrisburg in May 2021. AND RYAN CARRIER REIMBURSEMENTS By Ryan Buehner, DMD, FAGD and Erica Gordon, Director of Insurance Fee Maximization, Dental Cooperative The article below is for educational purposes only. Names of carriers have been changed and are not intended to reference actual PPOs. In addition, the fee schedules quoted in the article are fictional.