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Articles
One Client Tells Why They're Still
with Us 35 Years Later
Delta Dental Promotes Peggy Marvin to
Assistant Vice President of Claims
PANDA Program Fights Child Abuse
Claims, Customer Service Performance
Quality Remain High in 2003
2003 Client Report Card Released
Golf Classic Reminder
Wheaton Industries chose the fledgling Delta Dental
Plan of New Jersey to provide dental benefits for
its employees in 1969. Thirty-five years later, despite
many changes to the business, their relationship
with Delta Dental endures. David Slack, director
of Health and Welfare Plans at Alcan Packaging Pharmaceuticals
and Personal Care (the new name for Wheaton Industries),
knows why.
"We've looked at other programs over time, but what
has kept us with Delta Dental is good service, good
pricing, a good network, and the ability to design
the program the way we want to design it," says Slack. "You've
been very flexible and very cost effective."
Slack has administered the Delta Dental program for
the past 25 years. He thinks his predecessor, his
father Neal Slack, may have signed the original contract.
Alcan Packaging, based in Millville, New Jersey,
employs 2,200 employees. It has been acquired twice
and gone through multiple name changes in the past
six years. "Delta Dental has certainly changed as
our needs changed," says Slack.
He adds, "You keep doing things right. I'm not a
person who makes changes quickly or easily, but I
do make them when there are good reasons. I'm a very
analytical person. I've always found that Delta Dental
hasn't made mistakes that have forced me to look
elsewhere. You've always maintained a program that
is attractive both operationally and financially.
"It's been a good relationship. Nobody has given
me reasons to look elsewhere, and when I have looked
to see if you're the best deal, you're still the
best deal. Congratulations for a wonderful 35 years!"
Delta
Dental Promotes Peggy Marvin to Assistant Vice
President of Claims
Delta Dental announces the promotion of Peggy Marvin
to assistant vice president of Claims.
Ms. Marvin began her career with Delta Dental in
June 1998 as director of Claims, responsible for
the Pre-Edit, Data Entry and Dental Audit Departments.
During her tenure, claims grew from 1.85 million
to 2.95 million claims annually, which represents
a 59 percent increase. She also assisted in the implementation
of U.S. Department of Labor regulations, American
Dental Association's CTD procedure codes and Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability (HIPAA)
privacy policies.
Prior to joining Delta Dental, Ms. Marvin was employed
by Chubblife America as a claims manager. Before
that, she worked for four years at Aetna in health
and dental claims processing.
"Peggy has been instrumental in keeping our claims
operation functioning efficiently, which has been
imperative, especially during a period of substantial
growth," said Walter VanBrunt, president and CEO. "She
is integral to ensuring Delta Dental Plan of New
Jersey is current with all industry standards and
regulations, and will undoubtedly continue to contribute
to the company's success in the future."
During her career, Ms. Marvin has taken coursework
to advance her knowledge and status within the industry.
She earned professional designations such as Health
Insurance Associate (HIA), Associate Life and Health
Claims (ALHC) and Managed Health Care Professional
(MHP).
PANDA
Program Fights Child Abuse
Would you be able to recognize an abused child?
The signs aren't always obvious. That's why the
Delta Dental Foundation offers its PANDA (Prevent
Abuse and Neglect through Dental Awareness) educational
program to those who are in regular contact with
children.
PANDA was originally created for dentists, who are
well positioned to detect child abuse. Two out of
three injuries occur to the head, face, and neck
areas, which are readily visible during a dental
exam.
The PANDA program recently expanded to include medical
professionals, teachers, school nurses, youth group
leaders, and other community group leaders who can
assist in the fight to combat devastating patterns
of abusive behavior.
PANDA presentations provide detailed information
on physical and behavioral indicators of child abuse
and neglect. They teach how to report suspected abuse
and how to deal with the sensitive issues involved
in filing a report.
The PANDA presentation is a one- to three-hour slide
program and workshop conducted by trained professionals.
If you are interested in attending a presentation
or scheduling one for your group, please call (973)
944-4555.
Delta Dental Supports Blue Ribbon Campaign Against
Child Abuse
Delta Dental is an annual sponsor of the Prevent
Child Abuse-New Jersey (PCA-NJ) Blue Ribbon Campaign,
which takes place each April during National Child
Abuse Prevention Month.
PCA-NJ, with the help of hundreds of volunteers,
distributes more than 250,000 blue ribbons throughout
New Jersey. The ribbons remind people of the tragedy
of child abuse and what they can do to help prevent
it.
For more information on PCA-NJ or to learn about
becoming a volunteer for the Blue Ribbon Campaign,
please call (732) 246-8060 or visit PCA-NJ's Web
site at www.preventchildabusenj.org.
For information about other programs to prevent child
abuse, visit the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services' National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and
Neglect Information at http://nccanch.acf.hhs.gov/.
Claims,
Customer Service Performance Quality Remain High
in 2003
Delta Dental processed a record number of claims,
while continuing to maintain excellent service levels
in 2003, according to the company's 2003 Operations
and Customer Service Reports. Here is a glimpse at
some of our 2003 statistics:
Number of claims processed
Nearly 3 million (nearly 4% more than last year)
Average claim cycle time
9.1 business days (7.51 business days for electronic
claims)
Customer Service call volume
Nearly 892,000 calls
- 634,000 handled by Customer Service agents
- 258,000 handled by automated voice response system
Despite growth in claims and the number of subscribers,
call volume is down 3.5%. A growing number of dentists
and subscribers use Delta Dental's Internet site
for answers to their benefits, eligibility and claims
questions.
Accuracy rates
Key accuracy measures--clerical accuracy, payment
accuracy and dollar accuracy--all 99% or higher
Dental network size-New Jersey
- 6,076 DeltaPremier participating dental office
locations
- 3,712 Delta's Advantage Program dental office
locations
- 3,023 DeltaPreferred Option dental office locations
Dental network size-Connecticut
- 2,416 DeltaPremier participating dental office
locations
- 1,077 DeltaPreferred Option dental office locations
Dental network growth-New Jersey
Added:
- 511 DeltaPremier office locations
- 394 Delta's Advantage Program office locations
- 369 DeltaPreferred Option office locations
Dental network growth-Connecticut
Added:
- 323 DeltaPremier office locations
- 199 DeltaPreferred Option office locations
2003
Client Report Card Released
Delta Dental's "Client Report Card" identifies
satisfaction levels for five key plan attributes.
We are pleased to report that the overall satisfaction
level was 95%.
This report is based on the findings of a mail
survey conducted during the fall of 2003. Surveys
were distributed to 5,800 randomly selected subscribers
nationwide who had filed a claim with Delta Dental
Plan of New Jersey within the previous 12 months.
From the pool of 5,800, 1,402 subscribers, or 24
%, responded to the survey.
SOURCE: Brownstone Information Resources (February
2004)
Golf
Classic Reminder
Please join us at the 14th annual Delta Dental Golf
Classic! It takes place on June 23, 2004, at Fiddler's
Elbow Country Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. The
event benefits Special Olympics New Jersey (SONJ).
SONJ is a non-profit organization that provides athletic
training and competition for children and adults
with developmental disabilities. We hope to see you
there!
Call (973) 285-4059 for more details. The invitation
and registration form are available online at www.deltadentalnj.com;
click "Brokers," then "Schedule of Events" and "Registration
Form."
Delta Dental Helps Special Olympics New Jersey
Delta Dental supports Special Olympics New Jersey
all year long. We hosted a concert for athletes at
the 2004 Special Olympics New Jersey Winter Games
in February and will host the Delta Dental Golf Classic
in June.
Delta Dental's contributions in 2003 allowed more
than 13,500 athletes in New Jersey to train in 23
sports and compete in more than 140 events completely
free of charge.
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