COVID-19 To Do Checklist
- Overhead Expenses: Minimize your overhead as much as possible. This includes employee payroll, lab expenses, supply and office expenses etc. Communication is key. Come together as a team and communicate the number of hours you are willing to provide each employee (if any). Be sure to have a checklist of daily, weekly tasks that each employee will complete during the hours allotted. Below is a list of multiple tasks to help keep you and your team productive an organized during this time.
- Insurance Aging: Run your Outstanding Insurance Aging Report – select all over 30 days. Appoint a team member to “work” this report in its entirety until the entire report has been completed – including the resubmission of all claims. They should call or go online to ensure all claims have been received and are being processed for payment (in process). If not find out why and correct and resubmit immediately! No claims over 30 days should be unpaid.
- Accounts Receivables: Run a report. How much of your patient balances are over 90 days? A healthy benchmark = your over 90 days should not exceed 15% of your total accounts receivables balance. Ask yourself this, do you have a consistent financial system in place? Do you consistently send billing statements on 1st and 15th of the month? Does your team send billing statements on demand once insurance claims have been paid? Now is the time to review your accounts receivables by responsible party report and get it cleaned up as well implement a healthy system.
- Treatment Acceptance: Is your treatment acceptance at 85%? Most practices under utilize their practice management software when it comes to the Unscheduled Treatment Report. Review this report and delegate a team member to clean it up. Once you are back to normal business hours your team can confidently work this report by calling and mailing letters to your patients who have outstanding treatment that needs to get done/scheduled.
- Recare System: Print the unscheduled recare reports for March, April, and May. Create letters to be ready to print and mail once you are able to start seeing hygiene patients again. It’s imperative to be proactive and ready to keep the schedule filled and productive once your doors reopen for all routine care! Consider tweaking the hygiene schedule (availability of hours/days) accommodate more hygiene patients once your doors reopen.
- Social Media: Continue Facebook and Instagram posts. Now, more than ever, is the time to keep in touch with your patients! Keep it positive, keep them informed, come up with creative posts such as meet the team posts. Create and post those educational videos of your Doctor communicating a procedure they are passionate about. Example: if your office would like to promote a specific service then snap a video of you Doctor discussing factual information regarding the procedure. Your hygienists could create a couple short healthy homecare routine videos regarding, brushing, flossing, periodontal maintenance care, healthy food choices for our teeth and bodies etc. Create a “the struggle is real” video with stories for your patients; example: “From Dental ___________ (fill in the blank with your title – hygienist, assistant, patient coordinator etc) to homeschooling ….. THE STRUGGLE IS REAL!!” Share posts regarding what to do if pt’s are experiencing tooth pain swelling or excessive bleeding in the mouth (call your emergency number). Continue to share / post information regarding all COVID-19 updates for dental practices (ADA) pertinent to your patients and their care/treatment. Also take some time to review your website, from a laptop and mobile device. Look for any typos, spelling errors along with anything new or updated content that could be uploaded on it.
- Marketing: Doctors and Office Managers, if you haven’t done so already, now is the time to set a marketing budget for your practice. Then, appoint select team members to create a spreadsheet of internal and external marketing projects you would like facilitated for the remainder of 2020.
- Clinical Efficiency: Top notch efficiency is key! Get organized and stay that way! Set each operatory (doctors ops) identically (as much as possible). Have consistent procedure set ups / kits and enough in each operatory or universal location. If you haven’t created a supply budget now is the time to get a handle on it; same for your lab cases – set and stick to a budget on your supply and lab bills. If you would like benchmarks for these send me an email and I can get it to you. Declutter and remove the magazines from reception area and operatories. Make sure all equipment (hand pieces, intra oral cameras, X-ray units, 3D scanners etc.) is working properly. Now is the time to create a list of all repairs and do as many of the repairs as possible (financially feasible) while you are closed.
- Spring Clean / DeClutter : Now is the perfect time to spring clean the office and get organized! Clean from top to bottom including base boards, light fixtures checking all lights bulbs and immediately replacing any that are out. If you or a team member is in your office have them sit in the patient chair in each operators to get an idea of what your patients see. Sit in the reception area as well. Any eye sores, get rid of them. Have carpets cleaned and floors polished or resurfaced. If you have been wanting to update paint colors and decor now is the time to do it.
- Go through the kitchen / break room. Declutter and clean the refrigerator and entire break room. Make sure all trash is out and all recycle is gone! Declutter, Organize and clean the lab, sterilization, all operatories and kitchen.
- Cross Training & Virtual Continuing Ed: Train your clinical team on basic front office duties such as answering the phone, confirmation reminders, scheduling, patient check out. Train your front office team on cleaning operatories and sterilization. Is it time for OSHA, HIPPA and CPR recertifications? Now’s the time! Continuing Ed, there’s something for everyone! I can send you some links of courses offered by the University of Florida if you can not find any in your area.
