dentists must pay private companies, often a few at the same time, for similar claims transmission services. Dental offices adopted the new service as dialup modems were phased out. In 2014, CSI created a company called instream that has the mission to eliminate the inefficiencies of claims submission and payment systems between Canadian dental offices and insurers. CSI, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of CDA, concentrates its efforts on serving CDA members and providing technical support to dental offices in their use of ITRANS while instream provides the technical skill sets to continue to improve ITRANS. In December 2005, when ITRANS was in its infancy, it transmitted about 75,000 claims a month. In April 2024, ITRANS transmitted about 4,200,000 claims! “ITRANS is a service that dental offices absolutely rely on,” says Valentine. “We’re proud that it is so useful and that we can offer it as a member service. CDA contributes a great deal to the claims market in Canada, and we do it with the ethos of ‘by dentists, for dentists.’” The Evolution of ITRANS CDAnet and ITRANS also provide CDA with anonymized data about claims transmission activities within the Canadian oral health system. “This data helps us monitor how well the claims system is being used and identify opportunities for improvement. We are constantly working with dental software vendors and claims processors ironing out issues and helping them improve their systems,” says Valentine. “As well, it provides us with information about the treatments that dentists are performing across Canada that helps us measure, track and ultimately improve the oral health of Canadians.” When the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted routine dental care in 2020, it was ITRANS data that was able to show how patients were returning to the dental office and what kinds of care they required during those challenging initial stages. Similarly, anonymized, aggregated data was invaluable in informing the federal government about the nature of dentistry as it worked to develop the Canadian Dental Care Plan. ITRANS continues to adapt and evolve as technology, privacy laws and the overall business environment changes. An updated ITRANS 2.0 version was launched in 2017; it boasts enhanced ITRANS services and provides opportunities for the automation of some routine insurance-related tasks. It also has heightened security features and makes the claims process more direct. Learn more about CDA ITRANS at: cda-adc.ca/cdanet CDA contributes a great deal to the claimsmarket in Canada, and we do it with the ethos of “by dentists, for dentists.” 14 | 2024 | Issue 5
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