Projects to address for a strong practice
As the end of 2022 approaches, how are you preparing for 2023? Are you doing anything to prepare for the new year and start out in the right direction?
If you are like many others, it is difficult to realize the tasks that would help you because you are busy seeing patients and trying to keep the schedule productive, along with collecting money.
There are many areas of the practice that could be reviewed and updated.
Here are a few ideas to get you started and possibly spark some other areas that could be looked at as well.
Update employee manual – we like to see our offices review, and possibly update, their employee manual once a year. Sometimes there may not be any changes, but what better time to do this than when starting a new year? Read through your manual and see if anything is outdated.Is there anything you need to add for the upcoming year? You will want to get those changes made and then presented to your team.
Expired supplies and medications – when was the last time you looked at the expiration dates for your supplies and medications? Many offices have outdated materials that just don’t get used very often. Go through the cabinets and clean those items out. It reduces the clutter, as well as gets rid of materials and medications that should not be used.
Schedule OSHA and HIPAA trainings for the next year – your best bet is to get this on your calendar now so you do not forget about it later in the year.
Fee schedule increase – the beginning of a new year is the perfect time to do a fee increase in your practice. It will be easy to remember when the fees changed and now is definitely the time to increase your fees if you haven’t already. Dental supplies and expenses have all gone up, shouldn’t your fees go up as well?
Clean up database – Last, but not least, cleaning up your practice management’s database is a great way to start the new year fresh. However, this is not always that easy, so you may have to take it in pieces. Some of the areas to investigate are:
Active patients – decide a date for a patient’s last treatment and begin inactivating patients that have not been seen since that date. We would say a patient is inactive if they haven’t been in for the past 2 years, but it would be good to go back a little further this year since we had the Covid shutdown and many patients were nervous about coming to the dentist for a while.
Employers – duplicate employers are very common in a database. See if there is a way to merge the duplicates. You will also want to delete any employers that are no longer attached to patients.
Insurance companies – the same thing occurs for insurance companies as does with the employers. Cleaning the obsolete insurances out only makes your job easier in the end. It can be a lengthy process but look into how you can get that accomplished.
Accounts receivables – if there are old/uncollectible accounts on your accounts receivable, now is a great time to make the adjustments needed to get those uncollectible balances out of your database.
Credit balances – if you have patients with a credit balance, they need to be contacted to see if they are wanting to receive a check in the mail or if they would like to keep that credit on their account for future treatment. Document these conversations in the patient’s account.
Hopefully this gives you a good idea of tasks that can be completed as 2022 is coming to a close so you can start your 2023 off with a bang. If you need further explanation, or assistance, with any of these tasks, please contact us at info@GTSgurus.com.
We would also love to hear any other tasks you completed to start the new year off…send us your suggestions.
We are sincerely grateful to have all of you in our community. Have a wonderful holiday season!
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