This time of year I usually get the same questions and concerns about the Year End process in Dentrix, and my answer is always the same . . . it is just like running a Month End. Whatever your routine is for running a Month End; either using the Month End Update or the Month End Task Scheduler, the steps are exactly the same. Now there may be some reports that you may run that could be different from your Month End routine because we all like to know how we ended the year. Here are some examples:
- Practice Advisor Report – This is one of my favorite reports in Dentrix and gives you a 37k foot view of your practice. If you want to see the key performance indicators and the health of your practice then this is the report for you.
- Analysis Summary Report – This report can give you a detailed summary of Production, Collections and adjustments for each provider. Just select 01/01/2021 through 12/31/2021 as your date range (I always select procedure date).
- Production Summary Report – This might be a good one because it can show you year to date totals for specific categories in Production or Collection and you could also filter it by procedure code. If you want to see how many dental implants you placed or how many quads of scaling you did for the year this report can give you that information.
- Adjustment Summary Report – Now the doctors probably don’t want to see these totals but it is reality and this is a good way to see where they are writing off money.
- Referral Reports – This would be a good report to see where your marketing dollars for 2021 might be well spent. This will show you how patients are being referred and if you should focus more on social media or the next Valpak ad. My opinion however, is internal marketing!
The Month End Process in Dentrix has changed over the past few Dentrix updates, however . . . in a good way. Back in the day, you would have to come in early or stay late to make sure all the computers were logged out of Dentrix in order to run your month end process. Not only can you now schedule the month end to run at a time that is convenient for you, but you also don’t have to log out all the computers from Dentrix. This is a huge benefit for the practice! However, I am still seeing many offices who are not managing this process properly.
For a visual of this new process, please watch my YouTube video. Let me know if you still have questions.
Another benefit to the new month end process is how you decide when the information in Dentrix is updated, locked up and moved into history. In the past, the month end process combined five very important tasks into one process. Now, the month end has separated these five very important tasks into individual items and you get to set the parameters for each.
Here is an outline of the five most important tasks. If you would rather watch a quick video, you can click on the video link below.
- Close Transactions – This process will move the patient ledger transactions into history and moves the ending accounts receivable balance into the beginning balance of the new month. This process also ages your account balances.
- Move Clinical Notes to History – You now get to decide when the clinical notes are locked up and moved into history. This can be separate from the ledger transactions.
- Move Perio Chart to History – This is a new task that was not included in the month end process in the past.
- Reset Insurance Benefits – This task will reset your patients used benefits back to zero if their plan renewal month is set accurately.
- Recalculate Totals – This utility has now been added to the month end process and it is important that you have set it in your month end task scheduler.
Another thing to point out with the new Month End Task Scheduler is to check the log on a regular basis. What I have found is that this is not being done because, once the month end process is set, it is not being followed up on. Remember to check the View Log to make sure all the tasks are set to complete and there are no errors during the process.
