Last week, we focused on what was important or the “best
practice” for your daily protocol. Today,
we want to move to your weekly systems.
I teach my offices about practicing on the business side of dentistry
the same things you preach to your patients in the clinical side of dentistry .
. . “prevention will help keep you out
of emergency situations.” Living in a
preventative rather than reactive frame of mind will reap tremendous benefits
to your practice.
What I mean by that is putting systems in place and carving
out time in your busy schedule to work your reports, follow up with patients
and communicating with your specialists on a weekly basis.
·
Treatment
Coordinator – Your main focus is case management and following up with
patients who have unscheduled treatment.
When patients walk out of the office without scheduling the crown on #30,
you can’t expect them to call, you need to follow up. The treatment coordinator should be working
three reports every week. You will need
to carve out at least 2-3 hours a week of uninterrupted time for this.
o
Treatment
Manager Report – This is your chart audit. I know some of you are still printing the Unscheduled
Treatment Report … stop doing it! The
Treatment Manager is your go-to report for managing unscheduled treatment and
one of the reports for keeping your schedule full. For more details on this report, CLICK HERE.
o
Referred
TO Report – When your clinical team is treatment planning and attaching
the referral to a procedure code, that patient is automatically added to this
report. Anytime your patient must
complete a procedure (i.e. implant placement, root canal, perio surgery) before
they can return to your office for the restorative treatment, someone must be
making a follow-up call to make sure that treatment is getting completed so you
can move forward with that patient care. For more information on how to track
referrals, CLICK HERE
o
Unscheduled
List – This list should be worked by the hygiene coordinator and the
treatment manager. Follow up with these
patients and get them rescheduled. Don’t let them sit on this report for more
than six weeks. For more information on
this report, CLICK HERE
·
Hygiene
Coordinator – Your main focus is following up with patients who are
past due for their recare visit. Yes,
you should have some kind of automated system for sending email, text messaging,
and postcards. However, you will still need to pick up the phone and make some
calls. Also, you might want to consider
having a patient reactivation system for those patients who are severely
overdue. So how do you keep tight reins
on your recare patients?
o
Continuing
Care List – This is your go-to list for finding patients who are
overdue. To make this task more
streamlined, create yourself some custom lists so you can filter down your
lists and it is easier to delegate.
CLICK HERE for more information on this report
o
Unscheduled
List – Just like the Treatment Manager, you must work this list on a weekly
basis and keep it current. Don’t let
your recare patients sit on this list forever. Follow up with them and delete
them off the list if they are not returning your call. For more information on this list, CLICK HERE
·
Financial
Coordinator – You have a big job … collecting the money. Your team depends on you for results. If you are not collecting 100% on the day of
service, then your accounts receivable needs attention. There are two reports you must manage on a
weekly basis.
o
Insurance
Aging Report – This unfortunately is the only report in Dentrix that
you have to print (keep sending in your Enhancement Requests for an interactive
report). Insurance companies should pay
you within 30 days . . . period! This
will require you to follow up on unpaid claims.
For more information on this report, CLICK HERE
o
Collection
Manager Report – Contrary to what you might hear, the Aging Report is
NOT your best report for managing patient accounts receivable. The Collection Manager is much more
interactive and will give you more up to date results of your true A/R. For more information on this report, CLICKHERE.
·
Clinical
Team – There are definitely things in the clinical area that need
attention on a weekly basis, such as ordering of supplies, stocking rooms,
maintenance of equipment and managing your in-house lab. However, you can definitely help with some of
the reports I shared above.
o
Continuing
Care – The hygienists can assist with calling patients who are past due
if you have an opening in your schedule.
o
Referred
TO Report – The dental assistants can help follow up on patients who
have been referred to specialists, especially if it requires ordering parts or
scheduling lab time.
o
Lab
Case Manager – If you are using the Lab Case Manager, you could make
sure cases are set to come in on time or use it to track lab fees. For more information on the Lab Case Manager,
CLICK HERE.
Read back on last week’s article and put it together with
this one and I can almost guarantee your monthly reports will be right on
target. This is how you manage a
practice … by having systems in place for your daily and weekly tasks then you
can celebrate when you review your monthly reports.
My next blog will focus on the monthly systems and my
favorite reports in Dentrix.
Dayna Johnson, Certified Dentrix Trainer
Dayna loves her work. She has over 25 years of experience in the dental industry, and she’s passionate about building efficient, consistent, and secure practice management systems. Dayna knows that your entire day revolves around your practice management software—the better you learn to use it, the more productive and stress-free your office will be. In 2016, Dayna founded Novonee ™, The Premier Dentrix Community, to help cultivate Dentrix super-users all over the country. Learn more from Dayna at www.novonee.com and contact Dayna at dayna@novonee.com.