Dental/dental hygiene trainees discuss treatment costs, access to care, and managing patient expectations. (2023)
One thing that stuck with me was the people who work on insurance and payroll here in the school. Oh, there are a lot of people [that] specifically work here in the school just to dig deep into insurances, so meaning… You guys mentioned commute a four-hour distance, three-hour distance. These people, their jobs are just to dig into the insurance and reach out and see how much they can help the patient even more, like they can pay for gas. A lot of times, they told us that the patient doesn’t even know about that. So, for me, yeah, I just watch slides in a lecture, but when I go to clinics, I can tell all this to the patient. I can tell them, “Hey, there are opportunities here.” I can relay that back to the patient and tell them, “Well, what’s your insurance? Go ask or call, give me your number,” that kind of thing, so he would also know that things can be easier and those barriers can be lowered. You know?