Accounts Receivables in a Transition
Buyers and Sellers – One of the things to look out for in a dental transition is Accounts Receivables. What should you be looking for? Megan Urban, Practice Transition Advisor with OMNI Practice Group, will get you started:
Tips to Avoid Fraud and Embezzlement
We see embezzlement in the dental office all too often. The average embezzlement amount REPORTED is over $100,000 in a dental practice, and we know most is not reported or ever discovered. Please review the following tips to avoid embezzlement, as well as signs from employees to be aware of.
-Limit access to dental software to make adjustments, and format software to disallow deletions or changes after the close of each month. Assign passwords to each employee. Ensure the software company understands that you are the only person that can make changes to the software.
-Clearly set expectations and protocol for making adjustments.
-Train on reading insurance Explanation of Benefits and making accurate insurance adjustments. Verify random EOBs and accounts on occasion.
-Review daily reports for adjustments, provider production (ensure there are no “zero” charges), collections, over-the-counter collections, and audit/deletion. Ask questions and research as appropriate.
-Review and confirm the accuracy of daily reconciliation of deposit, petty cash, and cash drawer. Confirm monthly bank reconciliations.
-Input and use appropriate adjustment codes.
-Review accounts receivable aging reports each month and research any accounts as appropriate.
-Do not allow team members to purchase things for the office and be reimbursed.
-Match up all accounts payable checks with statements and confirm accuracy. Watch for vendors or names you don’t recognize or come up frequently.
-Confirm all bills and credit card statements are accurate.
-Never sign a blank check for a team member, patient, or vendor.
-Ensure checks are in numeric order and keep all voided checks.
-Look for trends, such as missing checks, incorrect deposits, missing charts, increased adjustments, and patient complaints.
-Review the details of each team member’s paycheck and year-to-date numbers.
-Perform background checks according to state law.
-Have your dental-focused CPA involved with your bookkeeping.
-Implement a comprehensive written Office Policy and Employee Manual.
Potential Employee Warning Signs
- Resistance to change or having your dental CPA or consultant view additional practice information
- Collections have slowed with no justified reason
- Daily deposit reconciliation is not being done timely or is inaccurate
- Adjustments increase with no justified reason
- Team member refuses to take a vacation, wants to take work home, has a financial crisis, and/or resents your income and lifestyle
Increase Collections Without Spending Money
By Megan Urban, Transition Specialist
After working with hundreds of dentists for many years, we want to share the top 5 areas of missed production/collection. With small changes to your everyday routines, you can increase collections to put towards new equipment and technology, as well as savings and retirement.
1. Patient Retention
Everyone worries about current new patient flow, but what about all the new patients you have seen? If you have 1,500 active patients, you should complete at least 2,550 codes 1110, 1120, and 4910. On average, we see at least $30,000 per year in missed collections in hygiene (patient retention) and that doesn’t include collections from potential treatment diagnosed in hygiene. Small changes to your hygiene program can help you capture more of this missed production.
2. Referrals
Most dentists report they ask for referrals, but do you really? Most dentists state they talk about it at team meetings or huddles, but who is asking and what exactly are they saying? With comfortable scripting and a plan, you can successfully ask for referrals.
3. Incomplete Treatment
How do you and your team urge your patients to complete treatment? How does your team follow up on incomplete treatment? Do you know exactly what they say when they call? We often see about $100,000 in incomplete treatment that can be scheduled by using solid scripting.
4. No-Shows and Short-Notice Cancelations
On average, we find at least $40,000 per year in missed collections due to missed appointments. It’s much higher if it’s large production cases. With proactive scripting at scheduling and confirmations, this can be reduced.
5. Accounts Receivable
At least $90,000 is the average of uncollected production. Setting solid financial arrangements from the beginning will minimize this issue, and I’m not talking about simply stating what their balance will be. Financial arrangements and collections is also customer service. Remember the old saying, “the worst fitting pair of dentures are the ones not paid for”!
Please contact me for a complimentary analysis of these items in your practice to locate areas of opportunity.
503.830.5765
Read MoreExit Planning in the COVID Era
Are you ready to transition?
Is your practice ready to transition?
What is the market like?
These are all key questions to ask yourself. When is a good time to start thinking about all of this? The real answer is as soon as you buy or start your practice, but the more practical answer is dependent on you. If there any chance you will want to transition in the next five years, you should start working on your transition today.
Personal readiness and practice readiness are both more important than current market conditions; however, considering the COVID crisis, I am going to focus on market timing.
If any of the following sounds even slightly familiar, raise your hand:
I was ready personally, and my practice was ready in August 2019. I choose to wait because (pick one or more):
- I have a kid with one year left in college
- I have one year until I can draw Medicare
- There is one more room in the house I would like to finish
- My spouse retires in a year
- I pay off my house in a year
- I turn (insert round number like 60 or 70) next year and I would like to wait until then
- Etc. …
Now, for those of you that raised your hand, consider the reality of August 2020. How does that August 2019 decision to wait look? Questionable at best.
My intent is not to beat up on those of you that this struck a chord. Rather, I want to emphasize the need for starting early and getting help.
Transitioning is a difficult process. Do not go it alone. Contact an experienced, qualified transition specialist and get the ball rolling. We are here to help.
Do you have more questions? Attend our Practice Transition webinar on Thursday, 10/1 at 6pm ET/ 3pm PT, presented by Corey Young, DDS, MBA, and Katie Collins, CFP. Reserve your spot today at omni-pg.com/register.
Read MoreThe 4 P’s of Your Dental Practice: Performance, Productivity, Profitability, and Patients
All dentists want a practice with high performance, productivity, and profitability. These three P’s represent the standard by which successful dental practices are measured. There is, however, another “P” that many dentists forget, which is arguably the most important – Patients.
Happy patients lead to positive outcomes and accelerate the other Ps. Enhancing customer service and public relations are vital to running a thriving dental practice. To accomplish this requires dentists to devote more time to patients and provide them with what they need to complete their treatment recommendations. By incorporating current, proven, safe, and secure technology into the dental practice, staff can focus more on patient care.
Performance indicators The recall program is the performance enhancement engine of most dental practices. When patients commit to and show up for regular recall appointments, dentists can diagnose potential issues early. These appointments allow time for patients to express their concerns and discuss what needs to be addressed with their teeth. In order to have an effective recall program, the practice needs a good hygiene program to encourage patients to return at six-month intervals. This means the practice has enough staff to see both recall patients and those coming in for more time-consuming dental treatment.
If the one-on-one time with the staff decreases, performance may suffer, and patients may become uneasy about accepting the recommended treatment that was not effectively explained to them. Enhancing patient communication internally and externally during this pandemic time will help to ease patient fears and build trust with being treated at the practice.
Productivity indicators A full patient schedule, along with healthy collections, is indicative of high productivity. In fact, according to the ADA’s Practical Guide to Expert Business Strategies, “Controlling the schedule requires constant vigilance, commitment, and training. It is the foundation for the success of the entire practice. (Ref 1) It takes valuable staff time to maintain this schedule and work with patients and insurance companies to collect payment. When staff is concentrating on reminding patients about appointments, preparing monthly invoices, and communicating with insurance companies, they are not focused on patient treatment and business-building tasks.
Here are several signs that the practice is busy, but not productive:
- The main objective is to keep the schedule full rather than focused on patient care.
- Both the hygiene and dentist schedules are booked for weeks or even months, forcing patients to wait long periods of time for even routine procedures.
- There is no consistency in the procedure schedule—patients are booked for 30, 60, or even 90 minutes.
- Staff skips lunch breaks to catch up.
- There is low patient retention.
- Revenues are flat. (Ref 1)
Using or adding technology can help staff maintain a full patient schedule through automated email, text, mail, and phone call reminders to help patients with their appointments. These software programs also provide practices with essential statistics, such as appointed and completed versus missed appointments, to increase productivity.
Another productivity indicator is the number of patient referrals. Satisfied patients refer others to the practice. Happy patients believe the staff truly cares about their dental care and goes the extra mile explaining treatment options. Happy patients = more referrals! (Ref 1)
Poor performing dental practices experience a myriad of problems. For instance, there may be staff issues that lead to high turnover. High turnover results in reduced efficiencies within the practice since dentists spend more time training new employees and less time with their patients. Patients notice the constant staff changes and increased waiting time.
To have a high performing, productive, and profitable dental practice, focus on the fourth “P”—patients. The solution is having your staff focus on practice building work and less time on busywork that can be automated.
Omni Practice Group has been helping dentists for over 15 years to maximize the value of the practice and provide smooth transitions for dentists as they retire.
References 1. American Dental Association (ADA). The ADA Practical Guide to Expert Business Strategies: Advice from Top Dental Consultants. 2014.
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