Planning for 2021

Now that we’ve entered the fourth quarter of 2020, it’s time to start planning for 2021! Here are some things you can do now in your office to plan for the upcoming year.

Close the Office for 2021 Holidays

Set up your office schedule for the coming year by closing the office for holidays in 2021. For example, if your office plans to take time off for the 4th of July, Labor Day, and/or between Christmas and New Year, it’s a good idea to set the office schedule before entering practice production goals, because practice production goals are generally set up based on the days the office will be seeing patients. It’s important to note when setting your office schedule, if you set a yearly holiday, it is based on a specific date. So, while this feature will work for a holiday like Christmas Day, it won’t work for a holiday that the date changes every year, like Memorial Day. 

For additional information, see the following:

• Setting Yearly Holiday Closures
• Closing the Office for a Day

Set Your Office Goals for 2021

Take some time to meet with your doctor and discuss the practice production goals for 2021. In Dentrix, goals are entered by provider. To calculate the monthly goal, take the provider’s daily production goal and multiply it by the number of days that provider will work that month. For example, if your hygienist’s daily production goal is $1000, and she’ll be working twenty days in January, then her January production goal will be $20,000. 

Enter a monthly goal for each hygienist and doctor in your practice. Goals and scheduled production can be viewed in the Dentrix Appointment Book by clicking on the calendar icon and then clicking Scheduled Production. You can set up views in the Appointment Book to view one provider at a time, or multiple providers. Scheduling production goals for your office can help the office stay on track to meet goals. It is also helpful to have production goals when scheduling so that your team can schedule higher production cases in order to meet your practice goals. 

For additional information see the following:

• Viewing Scheduled Amounts by Provider
• Viewing Scheduled Production Amounts
• Viewing Production Value of Individual Appointments
• Appointment Book Views and Scheduled Production

Evaluate Your Office Fees

Do you plan to increase your fees for 2021? Whether you plan to increase your fees or not, it’s a good idea to evaluate them on an annual basis to ensure your practice fees are competitive for your area. Your Henry Schein rep can help you by generating a report which will show you how your office fees compare to others in your area. If you decide to increase your office fees, it can be done by a percentage or by a dollar amount in the fee schedule set up in the Dentrix Office Manager. 

For additional information, see the following:

• Preparing to Update Your Fee Schedules
• Updating Office Fees using the Automatic Fee Schedule Changes Utility
• A More Useful Fee Schedule Report

Taking some time now to prepare your office for 2021 can help to set your practice up for success! 

Email me with questions at vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.

Charlotte Skaggs, Certified Dentrix Trainer

Charlotte Skaggs is the founder of Vector Dental Consulting LLC, a practice management firm focused on taking offices to the next level. Charlotte co-owned and managed a successful dental practice with her husband for 17 years. She has a unique approach to consulting based on the perspective of a practice owner. Charlotte has been using Dentrix for almost 20 years and is a certified Dentrix trainer. Contact Charlotte at vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.

from  The Dentrix Office Manager Blog https://ift.tt/34xCfXp