https://youtu.be/U7z2rjgdyTw

Carrie  Webber:

Happy new year. I'm your host, Carrie  Webber. I’m so grateful to all of you that follow along on our podcast community. For those of you that watch us on the Jameson Facebook page, either with us live today or on the recording, at a more convenient time for you, we are certainly glad that you take the time to connect with us, to learn with us and to be a part of the Jameson files community. As we kick off the year, I want to invite you if you haven't already done so to connect with us through the areas that you listen to podcasts, whether that's iTunes, Google Play, or Spotify, the Jameson Files is there. And we are continuously updating our podcast channels with these recordings of conversations with great opinion leaders and industry leaders in dentistry, as well as educational information from the Jameson team. So if you haven't already joined us on the podcast, I encourage you to do so, and please feel free to share that with others. We'd love to grow our community with more like-minded dental peers. The more we grow together, the better we're going to be in 2021. And that's the goal, isn't it? 

So to kick off our year, I am so, so excited to have a very special guest, a friend of mine and a friend of Jameson's Teresa Duncan of Odyssey management. Teresa, thank you so much for being with us today.

Teresa Duncan:

Oh my pleasure. It's so nice to see you! Happy new year.

Carrie  Webber:

Happy new year. And as a brief introduction—I feel like, Teresa, in dentistry, you really don't need an introduction—but, for those of you that may not know who Teresa is, Teresa is an industry leader and key opinion leader in dentistry. She has truly taken to heart helping dentists and teams manage their insurance or accounts receivables—the business aspect of dentistry. And she is a brilliant mind that I have had the pleasure of getting to know over the past several years. Teresa, before we step into all things insurance, which is what I hope that we can cover today. I'd love for you to share a little bit about your story. What led you down the path to where you are today?

Teresa Duncan:

Well, I was an accidental dental assistant. I kind of stumbled into the job and my boss graciously realized I wasn't a great dental assistant. And when I suggested moving up front, he was like, yes, that sounds good. So I know about dental assisting. I was sort of good at it, but not great. I was a much better admin person. And so that's where I made my journey, went to manager, and then on to consulting and speaking. And that's where I found my home. So I've met a lot of good offices and a lot of good managers and doctors along the way, but I realized when I started speaking that I could meet even more and help educate as well. So that's my story.

Carrie  Webber:

You know, one of my memories of your most recent years was being at the annual meeting for Aidan. Teresa has really poured into the office manager community, the Aidan community, and you were on a panel with an incredible panel of leaders in dentistry on the main stage. And I couldn't help but laugh because it felt like every single question was an insurance question for Teresa. “I have a question for Teresa. I have a question…” And then hammering you with some really challenging questions. And you had an answer for every question. I felt like, boy, what a gift to our community to have someone that has a passion for this in the way that you do and continues to help dental professionals. So my questions are all angled towards insurance. I hope you're okay with that.

Teresa Duncan:

I am! I am blessed to be able to answer these questions for everybody. And it has been an interesting couple of years—I'd say the last 10 years—because it has been a big change in what's going on in insurance. So, do you want me to just update you with what's new with regulations, or do you want to focus on something specific?