Top 5 reports every doctor should look at

I received an e-mail from a doctor the other day who had a situation that needed attention. Her clinical team had started posting procedures in the patient chart and had accidently posted a root canal as “complete” rather than “existing.” The root canal was not only posted to the patient’s ledger, but it was also sent electronically to the insurance company and paid. The patient called concerned about the EOB that he received and wondering why the office had billed his insurance company for a root canal he never had. When the doctor asked me what kind of safeguards she could put into place for her clinical team, my response was that this issue was an administrative boo-boo, not a clinical mistake.

As the doctor in the practice, I understand that you went to dental school to create beautiful smiles and improve the health of your patients. However, you are still a business owner and knowing what is going on in your business is certainly worth your time.

With that in mind, here are my five most critical reports every doctor should look at . . .

1. The Daysheet - If the doctor in the above story had looked at the daysheet, she would have noticed that the root canal was incorrectly billed out and it never would have been sent to the insurance company. Also, the clinical team can see if something was missed, such as X-rays, pulp caps, and buildups. The daysheet can be run from the Office Manager > Reports > Management > Day Sheet.
2. Audit Trail Report - This report is for your eyes only. You should have user IDs and passwords enabled in your practice. In the security rights, make sure you are the only person on your team who can access this report. My recommendation would be to look at this report on a monthly basis for any red flags such as <Deleted items> or <Initial Entry, Date Changed>. These entries would then require you to do a little more research or ask the team member who made the entries.
3. Adjustment Report – If your cash flow is not as it should be, this would be one of the first places I would look. See where the adjustments are being made. There are two adjustment reports you can run … one is by category and one is with patient names. The report by category can be run from the Office Manager > Management > Practice Analysis Reports > select your date range, Adjustment Summary and click OK. To run an adjustment report with patient names, go to the Office Manager > Reports > Management > Day Sheet, then select your date range, Adjustment Only Day sheet and click OK.
4. Provider A/R Totals Report – This report will show you your gross production, adjustments to production, net production, gross collection, adjustments to collection, net collection, and accounts receivable. If I was a business owner (oh right, I am J), I would want to know what is owed to me and what my net numbers are. You can find this report on the Office Manager > Reports > Management > Provider A/R totals report.
5. Collection Manager Report – I received an e-mail from a doctor last week in a state of panic because her front office team member had left abruptly and the office was receiving calls from patients about their balances and also receiving complaints that they had not received a statement. The Collection Manager Report is my favorite report in Dentrix and also a great, quick spreadsheet for the doctor to see what is going on with his or her accounts receivable. Go to the Office Manager > Analysis > Collection Manager, then select your parameters. Also, click on the Show Columns button and make sure you add in the Last Statement Date column so you can see if your patients are receiving billing statements in a timely manner. For more information on this report, CLICK HERE.

It is so very important that you stay informed about what is going on in your business. After all, it’s your livelihood.