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Articles
Brokers Give Delta Dental High Ratings
in Survey
Patients Can Download, Print ID Cards
Golf Outing Results Announced
2005 Annual Report Published
Staff Spotlight: E.J. Sebelle
Online Consultant News Delivers More
Info to Your Desktop
Nationwide Delta Dental System Posts 26th Consecutive
Year of Growth
Importance of Dental Visits Increases with
Understanding of Greater Connections between
Oral, Overall Health
Delta Dental
this year launched our first Broker Survey to learn
more about our brokers, find out how we compare
to our competitors, and learn what brokers value
most from dental benefits insurers.
Delta Dental
ranked highest in broker satisfaction among nine
major dental carriers, according to the survey.
This was true for all group sizes. More than 9
out of 10 brokers are satisfied to very satisfied
with Delta Dental overall. Delta Dental scored
more than 20 percentage points higher than the
next highest competitor.
Brokers gave
us high marks on most attributes. Areas where we
scored the highest were:
- Knowledge
of their Delta Dental account executive
- Implementation
of new groups
- Ability
to obtain accurate rates
- Reputation
- Claims
processing
- Ease of
program administration
- Ability
to resolve problems
- Member
and client satisfaction
- Claims
processing
- Ability
to locate a network dentist
Surveys were
e-mailed to nearly 300 brokers in New Jersey and
Connecticut. More than 100 brokers responded.
Plans are
underway to make this an annual survey. If you
were not contacted for the 2006 survey and want
to take part in future surveys, please send your
contact information, including e-mail address,
to dbelle@deltadentalnj.com.
Patients
Can Download, Print ID Cards
Delta Dental
doesn’t require ID cards, and many employers
do not issue them. However, many dental offices
ask for ID cards anyway. Many members told us they
wanted the option of getting ID cards if they needed
them.
We listened.
Delta Dental recently launched online ID cards
for members. This enables them to print ID cards
as often as they need.
Members can
access their online ID card through Benefits Connection,
the secure area of our Web site where they can
also obtain detailed information about their dental
benefits. They just need to click the icon on the
top left of the screen after registering for Benefits
Connection. The card is then presented to them
for printing. The ID card includes their name,
group number and the Delta Dental program in which
they are enrolled.
This service
will be available to all members except those enrolled
in Delta Dental Patient Direct and DeltaCare. DeltaCare
members needing replacement cards should call DeltaCare
Customer Service at (800) 722-3524.
Golf
Outing Results Announced
The Sixteenth
Annual Delta Dental Classic raised $53,000 for
Special Olympics New Jersey (SONJ). The Classic
took place in June at Fiddler’s Elbow Country
Club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Over the past 16 years the Delta Dental Classic has
raised more than $553,000 for SONJ.
SONJ helps those with mental disabilities become
physically fit, productive, and respected members
of society through sports training and competition.
Special thanks to all of our participants and sponsors.
2005
Annual Report Published
Delta Dental’s
2005 Annual Report, called “Ordinary People
Doing Extraordinary Things,” highlights many
of the community service projects supported by
Delta Dental and our employees. It also highlights
our business achievements. In 2005 we:
- Retained
95% of our customers.
- Processed
a record 2.8 million claims for $418 million.
- Added coverage
for brush biopsy, a procedure that helps detect
early stages of oral cancer.
- Launched
a dental access plan called Delta Dental Patient
Direct for uninsured residents of New Jersey.
To order your
free copy of Delta Dental’s 2005 Annual Report,
visit our Web site at www.deltadentalnj.com.
Click “Our Company” on the left navigation
bar. Then click “Annual Report.”
Staff
Spotlight: E.J. Sebelle
E.J. Sebelle
joined Delta Dental even before graduating from
Montclair State University in 1999. He remembers
thinking, “It’s a great place to start
my career.”
It’s
a good place to advance it, too. E.J. was recently
promoted to Market Research Analyst, a new position
for Delta Dental.
His job includes
analyzing competitive intelligence about other
dental benefits carriers. He looks at how other
dental networks and plan designs compare to Delta
Dental’s.
“DDPA
[Delta Dental Plans Association] does this on a
national level,” E.J. explains. “I
focus on the New Jersey and Connecticut marketplace.”
E.J. is a
member of the Society of Competitive Intelligence
Professionals. He works with Mark Nadeau, vice
president, Marketing, and John Gumkowski, director,
Sales and Marketing, to analyze the New Jersey
and Connecticut markets and research market potential
in each state.
“I’m
very excited about this opportunity to help our
company grow,” says E.J.
Online
Consultant News Delivers More Info to Your Desktop
If you have
e-mail, you can subscribe to Delta Dental’s Consultant
News.
Consultant
News is a free e-mail newsletter Delta Dental
periodically sends to brokers and consultants
who subscribe. It’s in addition to Broker
News, which Delta Dental prints and mails
free to brokers twice a year.
Consultant
News keeps you up to date about our products
and services. Recent articles covered everything
from national trends in dental benefits coverage
to how our Web site can simplify work for you
and your clients.
If you would
like to subscribe to Consultant News, please
visit our Web site at www.deltadentalnj.com, click “Brokers” and
enter your e-mail address in the “Consultant
News” subscription box. You may unsubscribe
to Consultant News at any time.
If you ever have comments about Consultant News,
or have a question or topic that you want to see
covered, please contact our editor at dbelle@deltadentalnj.com.
Delta Dental does not sell, rent, or disclose e-mail
addresses to third parties. Therefore, you will not
receive unsolicited e-mail ("spam") as
a result of subscribing to Consultant News.
Nationwide
Delta Dental System Posts 26th Consecutive Year
of Growth
The nationwide
Delta Dental system posted its 26th consecutive
year of financial gains and member growth in 2005,
serving one million more dental-benefits members
than in the previous year.
In 2005, the Delta Dental system:
- Posted
approximately $12 billion in premium revenue
during fiscal year 2005, the system’s 26th consecutive
year of financial gains.
- Served
47 million members, or more than one-quarter
of the estimated 159 million Americans with dental
insurance.
- Saved groups
$4.4 billion through cost-control activities.
This is $500 million more in savings over the
previous year.
- Processed
more than 69 million claims – nearly 1.3
million every week –
with an accuracy rate of 99%.
In addition,
the network of Delta Dental Premier dentists is
the country’s most extensive, with approximately
118,000 dentists – more than twice the amount
of any competitor’s PPO network. Also, more
than 81,000 groups across the nation sponsored
dental benefits through the Delta Dental system.
“It’s
gratifying to see such growth in the number of
members, the size of our networks and the savings
resulting from our cost management strategies,” said
Tom Dolatowski, vice president of marketing for
Delta Dental Plans Association. “These
numbers show that we’re making great progress
in bringing affordable care to more people.”
Importance
of Dental Visits Increases with Understanding
of Greater Connections between Oral, Overall
Health
Heading to
the dentist’s office? Your visit may double
as a private health investigation.
As research
continues to uncover links between the health of
our mouths and the rest of our bodies, regular
visits to the dental office are becoming all the
more important.
“Routine
dental visits can uncover a number of things about
our health, and put us on the path to preventing
and managing bigger health issues for ourselves
and our families,” says Dr. Scott Navarro,
dental director, Delta Dental of New Jersey.
Here are some
diseases and the clues they leave in our mouths
for oral health professionals to discover.
Upper respiratory
disorders. Viral infections in the lungs
of sufferers can produce lesions or sores inside
their mouths.
Acid Reflux
and Hiatal Hernia. Sufferers who repeatedly
burp bile into their mouths can experience eroded
tooth enamel, sensitive teeth and a bitter taste
in their mouths.
Diabetes. Clues
left in the mouths of diabetics include inflammation,
infections, dry mouth, burning tongue, persistent
gingivitis, and multiple lesions. Even patients
who know they have diabetes may require special
care. They may be taking medications that inhibit
their ability to produce saliva, an important ally
in the fight against cavities and gum disease.
Kidney
failure. Dentists can also find evidence
of kidney failure. Retarded tooth development
in children, dry mouth, odor, metallic taste,
ulcers on the tongues and gums in adults may
lead the dentist to suggest a visit to a medical
doctor to check for properly functioning kidneys.
Anemia. Some
of the earliest signs of anemia, where our bodies
don’t produce enough oxygen-carrying red
blood cells, are oral. These signs include burning,
fiery red tongue, inflamed mucous membranes and
difficulty swallowing.
Osteoporosis. As
part of standard first visits, dentists and their
staff take x-rays of the mouth area to spot oral
health problems, typically no more serious than
cavities. However, in some cases these x-rays show
jawbones that have eroded and become thinner, a
symptom of osteoporosis.
So what does
this potential for finding other conditions mean
for people heading to the dentist?
For dentists,
the emphasis remains on protecting and promoting
oral health. But as part of that commitment, patients
are finding their initial and follow-up exams to
cover health topics outside their mouths. Dental
professionals often inquire about medical history,
discuss medications the patients are taking, and
may measure vital signs. All of this is a part
of diagnosing the oral health of patients and developing
treatment plans.
“There
are many factors that contribute to the state of
our oral health and our bodies. Patients can expect
the contemporary dental professional to take a
systematic approach to protecting and promoting
their oral health. That’s what works best,” says
Dr. Navarro. |
