ADA to Launch Centralized Dental Provider Credentialing Site

The American Dental Association this week said it will launch a new centralized web portal to allow payers to obtain complete provider information from a single source.

The new dental provider credentialing database will mean dentists no longer have to respond individually to each payer request for such information. Instead, they’ll soon be able to log into a secure web portal on ADA’s website.

“Through conversations with our dentist members, the ADA determined that responding to multiple requests for the same credentialing information from different dental payers is a time-consuming and costly administrative burden that takes away from time spent on patient care,” said ADA Executive Director Kathleen O’Loughlin, DMD, MPH, in a press release. “Building a centralized, comprehensive database as we are executing solves that issue.”

The database is a partnership with Wonderbox Technologies, part of Skygen USA. O’Loughlin said Wonderbox was chosen for its technology and its long history working with both the provider and payer sides of the dental industry.

Once the database is operational, it will be free to ADA members. Dentists who are not ADA members can also use the service for free, however they will have to pay a fee for the data verification service. Payers will use a separate ADA portal to access the information as raw or verified files for a “nominal fee,” the ADA said.

The securely designed database will be maintained by Wonderbox on ADA’s behalf and will interface directly with the ADA’s website. The data input form will be comprehensive and include all the requirements of each state, guaranteeing that any payer will be able to obtain complete and provider information instantly.

“No dentist gets into the profession with the desire to get bogged down in administrative paperwork,” said Craig Kasten, board chairman and founder of Skygen USA, in the press release. “…Our whole business is focused on solving problems for providers and payers in all areas of healthcare, and with our long legacy of work in the dental industry we thought it was an important solution to be shared with everyone.”

The new database will initially launch this month as a pilot program in three states — New Jersey, Nevada, and Kansas. The full 50-state rollout is expected to be completed later in the summer.