30 Jan Wisconsin Insurance Company Invests in DotCom Company
Delta Dental Plan of Wisconsin and Delta Dental Plan of New Jersey and announced an investment to complement the previous investments made by Aetna, Ameritas Life Insurance Corp., Delta Dental Plan of Michigan, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, MetLife and Dental Benefit Providers (the dental subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group).
These companies have joined together in a cooperative technology venture to enhance a platform that allows dentists to submit claims and pre-treatment estimates to all carriers at no cost. For some carriers, dentists can also check patient eligibility, benefits information and the status of submitted claims — all in real time. Additional patient and plan information from other carriers will be added, as the functionality becomes available. This service is open to every carrier . The goal is to increase nationwide electronic claim submission from its current 28% of all claims to 80%.
“We believe Dental Connect, Inc. has the potential to bring tremendous benefit to Delta Dental Plan of Wisconsin and all of the publics we serve,” said Dennis Brown of Delta Dental Plan of Wisconsin. “While we may compete in other arenas, we are very pleased to join with so many major insurers as investors in DCI. Collectively, we’ll bring better efficiencies and cost reductions to the purchasers, providers and consumers of dental care. Clearly, a goal worth pursuing.”
DCI currently offers a service closely matching the carriers’ vision through the dentalxchange.com website.