11
Volume1 Issue5
|
CDA
at
W
ork
THEELECTRONICFUNDS
TRANSFER
IMBROGLIO
What is the latestnewson theEFT
situation inCanada?
Insurancecarriers realizeda fewyears ago
themagnitudeof their cost savings if they
movedaway frompaper payments for all
facetsof their operations. Theyhavedone
sowithother occupations andnow they’re
lookingat dentistry.
Theproblem is that eachcompany ismaking
the transition in itsownway. Someusea
verygoodmodel from theoutset. Others
startwithamodel that doesn’twork too
well andhas tobe refined. Finally, other
companies are trying to forcedentists touse
EFTsby imposing fees for paymentsmade
bycheque.
CDA feels that carriersdon’t realize the
burden thisplaceson somedental offic-
es.Whenyour practicedealswith several
insurancecompanies that eachhandleEFTs
inadifferentmanner, it canbeburdensome.
Weneed tofindaway to simplify the land-
scape,making sure that EFTs areall sent ina
consistentmanner and that reconciliationof
payments is convenient.
HavedentistscontactedCDAabout
this issue?
Yes,manyhave. The reasonswhy someden-
tists can’t easily switch toEFTs arequitevalid.
It canbeas simpleas living ina remote
communitywhere Internet access is
veryexpensiveandnot reliable, or their
office isnot equipped toallow for EFTs.
We’vealsohadonedentistwithhealth
issueswhocannotworkat thecomputer
for longperiodsof time. Dentistshave
the right todecidehow they’regoing to
manage their ownoffice. Carriers shouldnot
attempt to force theadoptionof theirmodel
by imposingunjust feesondentists.
What isCDAdoingonbehalfof
Canadiandentists?
Every timewehear of acarrierwanting to
switch toEFTs,weencourage them tofirst
openadialoguewithus.Wealert them to
theproblemswe’veexperiencedwhenoth-
er carriershave introducedEFTs. Theseprob-
lems canbe related toaprocessdeemed to
be toocomplicated, registration that doesn’t
allowdentistswhoworkout of several offic-
es to receivepaymentwhere theyneed to
receive it, or confidentiality issueswhere the
wrongpeople see thewrong information.
Sometimes, it’s simplyaproblem that the
systemhasbeendesignedwith thepayor in
mind, not thedental office.
Whathasbeen theoverall response
of thecarriers?
Overall, theirwillingness toadapt hasbeen
quitegood. Theproblem resides in the few
caseswherecertaincarriers arewilling to
compromiseon someaspects, butwant to
keepunilaterally imposingEFTs. That simply
doesn’twork for all Canadiandentists.
We’recurrently indiscussionswithone
carrier that is adamant aboutwanting to
impose fees todentistswho receivepaper
payments. That samecompanyacknowl-
edged that somedentists cannot receive
EFTs and thereforecreatedanexemption
system,meaning that dentists canapply to
bedispensed frompaying the fee. InCDA’s
Frustration is growing
among dentists as some
insurance carriers
now insist on sending
payments through
electronic funds
transfers (EFTs), and
charging fees to dentists
who opt for paper
cheques and account
statements. Dr. Benoit
Soucy, CDA director of
clinical and scientific
affairs, explains the
issue.
BenoitSoucy
Every timewe hear of a carrierwanting to switch toEFTs, we encourage
them tofirst openadialoguewithus.We alert them to the problemswe’ve
experiencedwhen other carriers have introducedEFTs.
