October 2001: Dental Provisions #17

General anesthesia and/or conscious sedation certificate
Does your office administer general anesthesia or conscious sedation? Regulatory WAC's 246-8170 and 246-817-175 require dentists who administer general anesthesia or conscious sedation to possess and maintain a current license and a permit of authorization from the Quality Assurance Commission (DQAC).

In order to ensure proper certification of dentists for our members, we are requesting a copy of your permit so we may keep a permanent and confidential file for our records. Once we have a copy of your permit/certification on file, we will not ask for renewal updates. This requirement applies to all dental providers who submit claims to Regence BlueShield.

Claims with dates of service on or after January 1, 2002, will be suspended and/or denied until we receive proof of certification. To avoid delays, please mail or fax a copy of your permit/certificate today to:

Regence BlueShield
P.O. Box 21267, MS S513
Seattle, WA 98111-3267
Fax: (206) 287-5415

Thank you for your assistance in helping us prepare for this upcoming change.

House Bill 1364
As you may be aware, House Bill 1364 is a state bill that requires general anesthesia coverage due to medical necessity for dental procedures. This change will be added for group medical and dental plans that are issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2002.

Back to Dental Provisions #17