Michael Cole, vice president of insurance plan management at Sarasota, Fla.-based Dental Care Alliance, discussed his career, leadership advice and details about the current dental insurer industry on “Becker’s Dental + DSO Podcast.”
Here’s what Mr. Cole had to say about how insurers in the dental industry have been affected by COVID-19:
- Appointment availability has decreased greatly. Providers can’t see the same amount of patients on any given day. Nationally, dental providers are seeing one less patient per day, whether the provider is a hygienist or dentist.
- It’s been difficult for providers. A lot of plans have programs with metrics that are all inaccurate now, meaning all the plans have to change.
- The most disappointing thing to Mr. Cole, personally, was the lack of consistency with personal protective equipment support. DCA did what they could to enhance reimbursement to compensate for lack of PPE support.
