In this podcast episode, Dayna provides a personal podcast playlist for different roles in a dental practice to listen to during the holiday break. She suggests episodes for financial coordinators, scheduling coordinators, clinical team members, and doctors/decision makers. The episodes cover topics such as accounts receivable management, patient retention, clinical documentation, practice numbers, culture development, and annual planning.
Takeaways
- Take the time to listen to recommended podcast episodes during the holiday break to improve your skills and knowledge in your role.
- Financial coordinators should focus on episodes related to accounts receivable management.
- Scheduling coordinators should listen to episodes about patient retention and scheduling techniques.
- Doctors and decision makers should consider episodes on protecting the doctor’s license, sharing practice numbers, culture development, and annual planning.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Homework
08:16 Clinical Team Members
11:40 Doctors and Decision Makers
15:01 Closing Remarks
Listen on Apple Podcasts . . .
Listen on Soundcloud . . .
Dayna (00:02.358)
Hey, welcome all my friends to the end of the year, right? Last week, I talked about how to close out your Dentrix software end of the year process. So make sure that you re-listen to that if you didn’t catch how to close out your month and close out your year. And so this is going to be my last podcast of 2023. I’m gonna take a couple of weeks off for the end of the year. So I’m gonna give you some homework, okay? So…
I’m hoping that you all are going to spend some precious time with your friends and family, your fur babies or your real babies and you’re going to unplug for a little bit. And while you’re unplugging, if you want to take some time to listen to some of my past podcasts, I’m going to give you a list of some of the best depending really on your job description in the practice. Okay. So, um,
If you have a piece of paper and something to write on right now, grab that because I’m going to give you a list that you can refer back to. And so download these episodes into your offline categories. So just in case you don’t have Wi-Fi or you’re on an airplane traveling, you can listen to these episodes.
and they relate directly to your job description in the practice, okay? So I’m gonna give you a little homework because I’m going to be off, I’m taking some time off, and I hope that all of you are as well. And then as soon as I come back, it’s gonna be 2024, and we’re gonna kick off the new year. So I’m super excited about that. All right, so your homework, if you are the financial coordinator,
or if you manage all of the accounts receivable, this list is for you, okay? So go back and I want you to write these episode numbers down and go back and re-listen to them. Or if you’ve never listened to these episodes, you’re gonna learn a lot of great information that you’ll be able to take back to your practice about improving the collections or the accounts receivable in your practice. All right, so the first one, number 26.
Dayna (02:24.246)
Episode number 26 is where in the blank, blank is my accounts receivable, my accurate accounts receivable. So I know that a lot of you don’t even know what your accounts receivable is. So if you go back and listen to episode number 26, I’m going to dive into where you can find the most accurate accounts receivable in your Dentrix software, because I know there’s about five different places.
that you can find your accounts receivable. And I’m gonna give you the most accurate number. All right, then go back and listen to number 61 and 62. Okay, so 61 is revenue cycle management is a team sport. So this is all about getting your entire team on board with collecting on the day of service.
Um, helping to make sure that your documentation is good so you can get paid, uh, from your insurance companies. And then 62 is all about verbal skills. So this is about teaching your, uh, entire team in, in addition to your clinical team on how you can improve your collections, improve your accounts, receivable, collect more on the day of service. So that is number 61 and 62.
on your list for your homework for over the holidays. Then I want you to listen to number 74 and 75. Those two are also specific to accounts receivable management. So number 74 is stop ignoring your accounts receivable. Okay. And so the reason I put this one in was because I had a conversation with a doctor and their accounts receivable over 90 days was
45%. So if your accounts receivable over 90 days past due is more than 15%, then you need to listen to this podcast and then maybe you and I need to talk. All right. So that’s number 74 and 75. Number 75 is two must have systems to avoid overdue balances. So make sure that you are listening to all
Dayna (04:48.758)
those podcasts. So again, for your accounts receivable management, your collections, your financial coordinator, it’s number 26, number 61, number 62, number 75, and number 74. That’s your list for the holiday break. All right, if you are wanting to learn more about how to keep your schedule full, you are the like hygiene coordinator, or you are the treatment coordinator, and you’re
this list is for you. So the first place I would start is number 30. All right. Stop letting patients slip out the back door. All right. And because a lot of you are not looking at your patient retention, you’re not, you don’t even know like what your attrition rate is. And so this one is going to dive into your patient retention, your attrition rate, how you can stop letting patients slip out the back door.
And then after that, I want you to listen to number 59. Number 59 is unlocking the power of perfect day scheduling. You could also think of this as mapping out your schedule so that you have a really clear way that you schedule patients so that you have room for those reservations, that you have a really clear.
indication of how to schedule. This is really good for when you have new people in your practice and you know they don’t know where to put people they don’t know where to put the crown prep they don’t know where to put the new patient. So that is number 59 unlock the power of perfect day scheduling. Then if you are trying to fill the schedule so you’re like the scheduling coordinator number 64 and 65 okay so those two are going to be important.
Number 64 is that I want you to keep working your schedule even when it’s full, okay? So you don’t just stop reaching out to unscheduled patients when your schedule is full. You have to keep that process going. So that one is gonna dive into that topic. And then 65 is titled, is my continuing care system broken? So that’s where we’re gonna dive into making sure that your system is set up correctly and that you have…
Dayna (07:12.786)
all your continuing care modules working, like the well-oiled machine that it is. All right, so that is, if you are the one in the practice that really is in charge of keeping the schedule full, help reaching out to unscheduled patients, this is your list for over the holidays. Number 59, number 30.
number 64 and 65. Okay, so that is your homework for the holiday break while you’re spending time with your friends and family. And if you just need a little break, you know, sometimes we need a little break from our family time. This is when you can put in your earbuds and you can listen to one of my podcasts. And speaking of break, we’re just going to take a quick little break, and then we’ll be right back.
Dayna (08:16.334)
All right, welcome back. So this next list is for all of my clinical team members out there. All the dental assistants, hygienists, doctors, this list is specific for you. All right. So get out your pen and paper and write down these episode numbers. Number 21. Okay. This is such an important podcast that I did.
and I did it a couple of years ago, I think. So it has been one of the most popular and also one of the most important. This one is called protecting, well, your clinical documentation to protect your doctor’s license, all right? So this one is really critical for all of you clinical team members, just to make sure that your clinical documentation meets all of those really important requirements so that we…
protect our doctor’s license in the case of an audit or in case that our documentation needs to be sent to, an attorney, if you get subpoenaed, or if you need to clarify something for an insurance company. So that number 21 is really important for the entire clinical team. Then number 43 kind of goes along with that, even though they’re not close together. Number 43 is what’s missing in your clinical notes.
Okay, so that is really important to make sure you have all those key pieces when you’re writing your clinical note. Then number 46 and 47, okay? So 46 is making sure that you’re adding the why. Why are we doing this procedure? Why is this patient here today? All right, so number 46 is adding the why, and then number 47 is building some better templates. And…
I love building clinical note templates in Dentrix because it really defines a comprehensive and clear clinical note for your practice. So templates are amazing. So that’s number 47. And then finally, clinical team, the last one I would have you listen to while you’re on Christmas break or holiday break or over the new year would be…
Dayna (10:42.182)
Number 81, clinical notes to aid the entire team. I love this one because this is really all about making sure that your clinical documentation helps, not only your protect your doctor’s license, but also helps your admin team know what happened today and what’s next, okay? So clinical team, this is your list, is number 21, number 43.
number 46 and 47, and then number 81. So that’s your list. Finally, we’re gonna get to the doctor’s list. So if you are a doctor listening in today, or maybe a practice administrator, you’re a decision maker, maybe for a high level office manager, this would be the list for you. Okay, so when you need that little break away from your,
family over the holidays, this is your list. So put your earbuds in and this would be also number 21. So I also put that in the clinical list as well. This is clinical documentation to help protect your doctor’s license. So that’s number one on your list. Then I want you to listen to number 40. Number 40 is changing your mindset around sharing practice numbers with your team.
Okay, I know a lot of doctors are very hesitant about sharing practice numbers with the team. So this one is going to kick you off into 2024 with changing your mindset around how if you are more open, honest and transparent around your practice numbers, you will turn your team into practice stakeholders and not just employees in your practice. So really important one there. That was number 40.
Then I want you to dive into number 49. 49 is an interview that I did with Tim Twigg with Ben Erickson and Associates. They are an HR firm that we do refer to on a regular basis. And Tim and I talked about best practices for developing culture and then hiring practices and also we talk about fee compensation.
Dayna (13:07.598)
And in fact, during this interview, he offered up their compensation worksheet. So if you go back to number 49, there will be a link there where you can put in your name and email and then we will send you a copy of their compensation worksheet, which is really important for you for calculating your team members. Total compensation. So that was number 49.
Then I want you to go into number 55. This is discover what your primary role is in the practice. So this is for you doctors and high level office managers where you are helping your team create those and really clearly define those job descriptions in your practice. So that’s we’re going to dive into that one. And then finally number 72.
which is data, you’re finding out your historical data for annual planning. Now, if you’re here at the end of the year and you haven’t done your annual planning for 2024, it’s never too late to do annual planning. So I know that you might be a little procrastinator and you’ve gotten to the end of the year and you’re like, oh my gosh, I don’t even know what my practice goals are for next year. Well, dive into episode number 72.
and we will help you to identify those for your annual planning if you have waited until the end of the year. Now, so that’s your list for doctors and high-level office managers is number 21, number 40, number 49, number 55, and number 72. So drop those down, find some earbuds, and you are set for the holiday break. So…
Like I said at the beginning of this podcast, this is my last podcast of the year. And I just want you all to know that it has been just an amazing 2023. And I just want to thank you so much for being patient with me when I went through the rebranding of the podcast, changed the name, changed the music. And so I just want to thank you so much for.
Dayna (15:30.59)
your loyal listening. Thank you for sharing my podcast with your other dental teams, your study clubs. I really appreciate it so much. And the biggest gift that you could give me at the end of the year would be a review. You know, we’re always like, we’re always looking for five-star reviews just like you are in your practice. So if you could take the time.
while you’re listening to this podcast to click on that review my podcast especially if you’re listening on Apple if you’re listening on Apple podcasts they really look at those five star reviews and help push our podcast up to the top of the ratings so that more people can find our information so thank you so much i appreciate all of you and i hope you all have a wonderful holiday
It is that you celebrate. I hope it’s a joyous one. And I hope you all have a great new year and I will see you back in 2024.
