Do you know what is happening in your practice? Do you know if processes are being completed properly? Many practice owners, office managers and really anyone in the administrative role of a dental practice were kind-of thrown into that position with very little, if any training. The clinical team has all kinds of training…they have to so they can properly care for the patient. They have been trained how to care for their patient’s clinical needs, as well as infection control and OSHA standards. Unfortunately, the same kind of training does not extend to the administrative needs of the practice.
We recently visited one of our newer client offices when the comment was made by a lady on the administrative team: “It is so nice to know how to do things correctly and when I am not. With all of the reports you are running, I now know that I am completing my tasks as I know they should be done. It is very reassuring.” Have you ever thought about this? I am doing this right? Of course! We all want to know we are doing things in the correct manner.
One of the single most effective ways we have found to monitor progress in a practice is by analyzing the reports for the practice. Now, it is simple to create these reports isn’t it? The question for a lot of people is: What do they mean? And what reports should we look at on a regular basis?
Let’s break some of these reports down in to manageable, bite-sized pieces:
Daily Reports
Day Sheet—every office should be running a report at the end of the day that provides the production, collection and adjustment numbers for the day. The deposit should match the collection numbers and there needs to be a check to ensure that all patients were charged for the day. Practice owners need to verify all adjustments made to patient accounts as this is no longer collectable money.
Electronic Claim Reports—if you are sending your claims electronically, you will receive a report as soon as the claims went through. This report contains very important information. You will be able to tell right away if a claim has been rejected and why, if the insurance company needs additional information and any corrections that you can make to ensure proper processing. Do not pass over these reports…correct your mistakes daily so you do not have to wait 30 days to find out the claim is not being paid.
Weekly Reports
Procedures not attached to insurance claims—most practice management software have some type of report that enables the user to determine if all procedures that have been charged have been submitted to insurance. Running this report on a weekly basis will ensure timely filing and that all procedures will be submitted.
Insurance Aging Report—we like to see this report run on a weekly basis as well so that it does not become overwhelming. Create this report with any claims that are over 30 days old. The insurance has 30 days to send you a response but most of the time they are paying well before that 30 day deadline so any claims that are out there should be called on to determine if additional information is needed to process the claim.
Monthly Reports
Billing Statements—I put this in the monthly category, but we do have a lot of clients that are sending statements on a daily, weekly or monthly basis…it just depends on the needs of the practice. However, they need to be sent monthly at a minimum.
Patient Aging Reports—Show Me the Money! Here we will see all patients that owe the practice money. Many times this list is created along with the statements and collection calls are made from here.
Practice Analysis Reports—we need to know how to look for the month don’t we?! Here we are looking for our total production, collection, adjustment and new patient numbers for the month. We will also want to look at this report by provider to ensure all services and monies have been properly allocated. This report is going to show us if we are hitting our goals and what we need to do to improve the numbers if necessary.
Understanding these reports is sometimes difficult but you just need to take the time out to break them down so you can comprehend the meaning behind the numbers. If you need help processing or analyzing any of these reports, we would be happy to assist you. Contact us at info@GTSgurus.com or 844-OMG-4GTS.
Janice Janssen, RDH, CFE, Consultant
At age 14, Janice Janssen got an after-school job working for her dentist. Twenty-something years later, she is the co-founder of Global Team Solutions and an expert in practice consulting. Besides hands-on experience, Janice has gained professional recognition for her hard work and commitment to excellence. She is co-author of OMG! Office Management Guide, the “bible” used in GTS training workshops. She is a member of the Academy of Dental Management Consultants (ADMC), and is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), which positions her as an expert in educating dentists to deter fraud and embezzlement in their practice.
Janice can be reached at: janice@gtsgurus.com