Curve Eligibility+ — Implementation Playbook (DSO)

Executive Summary

Curve Eligibility+ is a revenue-cycle automation platform that verifies patient insurance eligibility, identifies coverage gaps, and pre-authorizes procedures in real-time—reducing claim denials and accelerating cash collection for dental group practices. DSOs benefit from centralized deployment across multiple locations while maintaining local customization, creating economies of scale in staffing and compliance management. Most DSOs reach full operational deployment within 12-16 weeks, with measurable DSO collections improvements appearing within 60 days.

Pre-Implementation Checklist (Weeks 1-2)

Technical Requirements

Network & Systems Audit

• Confirm all practice locations have minimum 10 Mbps dedicated bandwidth (Eligibility+ uses carrier-grade API connectivity)
• Map current practice management system (PMS) integrations—Curve supports Dentrix, Eaglesoft, Open Dental, and Lighthouse natively; others require middleware configuration
• Document current claim submission workflows and identify bottlenecks where Eligibility+ will insert verification steps
• Conduct desktop sharing/remote access audit (implementation requires vendor access for 4-6 weeks post-launch)

Data Readiness

• Audit patient insurance data completeness across all locations—flag practices with <85% populated insurance fields for pre-implementation cleanup
• Identify custom fields in your PMS that capture pre-auth or denial tracking; document these for mapping to Curve workflows
• Run a 30-day sample of 500 claims per location to establish baseline denial rates by category (coverage gaps, eligibility mismatches, pre-auth failures)

Stakeholder Alignment

Executive Sponsorship

• Secure DSO COO/CFO commitment to dedicate one full-time Curve Champion per 5-7 locations (these are internal staff, not consultants)
• Establish DSO-level steering committee meeting bi-weekly through week 12; include PMS administrator, compliance officer, and top 2 revenue-cycle managers
• Negotiate Curve contract at DSO volume tier—typical savings are 15-25% compared to per-location pricing

Front-Line Buy-In

• Schedule 30-minute sessions with front desk and insurance verification staff at each location—frame Eligibility+ as reducing their manual eligibility calls by 60-70%, not replacing them
• Identify "super-users" (early adopters) at each practice; reserve 2-3 hours/week for them starting week 3 to become internal trainers
• Document current insurance verification process flows (how long eligibility verification takes, who does it, when in the patient journey it occurs)

Baseline Metrics to Capture

Revenue-Cycle Metrics (30-day snapshot, all locations combined)

• Total claims submitted: ___________
• Claims denied in first 30 days post-submission: ___________ (%)
• Denial reasons: coverage gap (%), pre-auth missing (%), eligibility mismatch (%), other (%)
• Days from claim submission to first payment: ___________ (average)
• Insurance verification turnaround time (manual): ___________ (average, in hours)
• Pre-authorization requests submitted manually: ___________ (volume/month)

Operational Metrics

• Staff hours spent on eligibility verification/week per location: ___________
• Manual phone calls to insurers/week per location: ___________
• Patient no-shows due to unexpected costs at chair: ___________ (%)

Pilot Wave (Weeks 3-6)

Location Selection Criteria

Select 2-3 pilot locations using these filters:

1. Operational Readiness (80+ points): PMS uptime >99%, staff turnover <15%/year, insurance data completeness >88%, no major system changes planned in next 8 weeks

2. Scale Advantage (benefit from efficiency)**: Locations with 200+ monthly claim submissions, 3+ insurance verification staff, or high denial rates (>12%)

3. Leadership Engagement: Practice manager and front desk lead have explicitly volunteered; no institutional resistance

4. Diversity (one location should differ from your "typical" practice): e.g., one specialty-focused, one high-Medicaid, one urban vs. rural—this surfaces configuration variations before mass rollout

Avoid: Locations undergoing leadership transitions, recent PMS migrations, or those with <100 monthly claims (insufficient data density to validate ROI).

Configuration and Setup

Week 3: Kickoff & Integration

• Curve onboarding specialist configures carrier connections (major insurers are pre-built; regional plans require 3-5 days additional setup)
• PMS administrator maps patient, claim, and insurance fields to Curve data model; test with 50 historical claims to validate data flow accuracy
• Enable real-time eligibility verification at the point of scheduling (front desk initiates eligibility check when appointment is booked)
• Configure pre-authorization triggers: e.g., "flag for manual pre-auth review if treatment code 00211 + patient plan = Plan X"

Week 4: Workflow Embedding

• Design 3 distinct workflows:
  • Workflow A (70% of patients): Real-time eligibility → patient notified of benefits → automatic pre-auth request submission
  • Workflow B (20% of patients): Real-time eligibility + manual review required (high-risk plans)
  • Workflow C (10% of patients): Manual verification (patients with employer-sponsored plans that don't respond to API queries)
• Document which staff member executes each step; embed Eligibility+ into PMS appointment notes and claim entry screens
• Configure alert thresholds: e.g., "notify insurance verification specialist if eligibility confidence score <75%"

Week 5-6: Testing & Training

• Run 500 live eligibility checks in pilot locations; measure API response time, match rates, and pre-auth success rates
• Conduct 2-hour in-person training (or virtual, with recorded fallback) at each pilot location:
  • Front desk: how to trigger eligibility check + interpret results (15 min)
  • Insurance staff: how to handle Workflow B overrides, pre-auth status tracking (45 min)
  • Clinical staff: how pre-auth data appears in patient records before treatment (15 min)
  • Billing staff: how pre-auth feeds into claim submission + denial prevention (15 min)
• Publish a 1-page quick-reference card for each role; laminate and post at workstations

Scaled Rollout (Weeks 7-16)

Wave Planning

Wave 1 (Week 7-8): High-Volume Locations (10-15 practices with 250+ monthly claims)

• Stagger by 3-4 days to prevent support bottlenecks
• Assign dedicated Curve success manager to each location during week 1-2 of go-live

Wave 2 (Week 9-11): Mid-Market Locations (20-25 practices with 100-249 monthly claims)

• Condensed training (use recorded modules from Wave 1)
• Peer mentoring: pair each location with a Wave 1 "champion"

Wave 3 (Week 12-16): Small/Specialty Locations (remaining locations + any with custom PMS integrations)

• Batch training; one session covers 3-4 locations simultaneously
• Expect 2-3 week extension for specialized configurations (e.g., oral surgery pre-auth workflows)

Change Management

Communication Cadence

• Weekly DSO all-hands email: wins from pilots, FAQ, upcoming location go-live dates
• Bi-weekly Curve Champion calls (30 min): troubleshooting, best practices, metrics review
• Location-specific kick-off meetings (2 weeks pre-go-live): explain "why," timeline, and what's expected of each role

Resistance Mitigation

• Frame Eligibility+ as "removing tedious work," not "job elimination"—emphasize staff will shift to higher-value patient communications and denial appeals
• Share pilot location metrics publicly (e.g., "Practice A reduced manual eligibility calls by 68% in 4 weeks")
• Offer optional "Curve Certification" badge for staff who complete advanced modules; tie to modest incentive ($100 gift card)

Support Infrastructure

Tier 1 (DSO-Level): Designate one full-time DSO Curve Administrator

• Daily standup with Curve support team during weeks 7-9
• Monitor all location dashboards for error spikes or claim