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ADA RENEWS BACKING OF WEBMD ENVOY FOR ELECTRONIC TRANSACTIONS
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 ADA RENEWS BACKING OF...
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The Association and its for- profit subsidiary in April signed a new five-year agreement endorsing WebMD Envoy as the ADA-backed electronic transaction service provider—a move that ADA officials say will help member dentists save money and boost practice efficiency.
The agreement renews a 1997 ADA endorsement of WebMD Envoy as an "ADA Member Advantage" service provider. The agreement includes a revised royalty incentive plan expected to generate nondues income for the Association and endorsing state societies.
Thirty-three state dental groups currently endorse WebMD Envoy as their electronic data interchange, or EDI, service provider. The new agreement includes a promotional plan to bring more states onboard and to expand the use of electronic claims processing.
Research from the National Dental EDI Council and other sources shows that dentists who automate key business functions reduce the time spent on billing by 50 to 75 percent and save more than $200 a week on average.
"This agreement provides services that ADA members can use to speed the handling of transactions and to lower their costs of doing business," said James H. Sweeney, chief executive officer of ADA Business Enterprises Inc., the Association’s for-profit subsidiary.
"For the ADA and participating states," he added, "our partnership with WebMD Envoy will provide royalty-based financial incentives related to the growth of EDI transaction volume, which can help curb reliance on dues dollars. Everybody wins."
Central to the new agreement—and absent from the old—is an incentive plan that includes the endorsing state associations, as well as with the ADA.
"By including the states in the royalty-incentive plan, this agreement benefits the tripartite—the larger family of organized dentistry," said Dr. James B. Bramson, ADA executive director. "It sends a message that our overriding goal of providing services that our members want and need is a cooperative venture, a team effort."
WebMD officials addressed the ADA Board of Trustees at the Board’s April meeting.
"Through the many services we provide, we are positioned to assist you at ADA/ADABEI to strengthen your relationships with your members," said Roger Holstein, WebMD Corp. president. "We offer services that will help your members build more productive and efficient dental practices, and that will reflect positively on your organization."
Added Philip Hardin, president of WebMD Envoy’s Dental Services, "We are committed to increasing EDI utilization and to finding innovative ways to serve you and your members."
New Jersey-based WebMD Corp. notes that WebMD Envoy is "the leading provider of electronic data interchange services for health care providers and commercial health plans." Within the dental community, WebMD Envoy processes more than 70 million dental claims and has electronic claims links with 280 dental benefits payers, including "real-time" connections with more than 40 payers.
In early May, the ADA and WebMD were talking about other possible agreements, including one that would involve the Association in providing dental news and information targeted to consumers for WebMD’s vast Internet-based health-information portal.
ADA RENEWS BACKING OF...
