Virus proof your account receivables
Since the coronavirus is on everyone’s mind, I thought I would address the relationship between the coronavirus and your business. This virus is affecting us in ways we couldn’t imagine. I know dental conferences and several different sport seasons have been postponed or cancelled. At times like these you may feel so many things are out of your control and there is an area of your practice you can be proactive about – your account receivables.
With so many questions surrounding the longevity of our current global situation, working your outstanding insurance claims report and patient aging is a must. If your practice is like most offices, you wait for insurance to pay first before sending a statement to your patient. If this is the case in your practice, please work your outstanding insurance report weekly. Post your checks daily and if there is any balance, please send a statement to the patient that day. Waiting any longer just elongates your wait time for payment.
After working your outstanding insurance report, next in line is your patient aging report. I like to refer to these two reports as “your money that is sitting on paper.” You have already done the dentistry and should be working these reports to get that money in your bank account.
I know it seems like common sense that this should already be happening in your office and it should. But think about this. Right now, your team may be focusing on keeping your schedule full due to our current situation. A lot of times these two reports are not the priority and I think, especially in these turbulent times, they require priority status. Hopefully items like prioritizing your account receivables will be one of those tasks that will remain a priority for you and your practice.