A Dentist’s New Year’s Checklist

Did you make New Year’s resolutions? Even if you didn’t, it’s hard to argue the proverbial clean slate and fresh start people often feel at the beginning of a year. You want your dental practice to thrive in 2018, but have you thought about how to do it? Here’s a quick checklist to print off and keep in your practice.

1. Organize your 2017 books and records – if not for your taxes, for your own benefit
   1. Make sure the transactions are recorded with proper codes and all the accounts are reconciled.  
   2. Then compare them to prior year financials, patient and production numbers, and identify the trends and areas for improvement.
2. Schedule your time – because if you don’t, you never will.
   1. We’re talking about continuing education courses for you and your staff, any professional conferences, and don’t forget about vacation time. Use it or lose it – even if your vacation policy is to roll over any unused days. Make sure your staff submits vacation requests as far in advance as possible to avoid any scheduling nightmares.
3. Review – your staff and salaries.
   1. Even if you don’t do performance reviews in the beginning of the year, you can still evaluate salary levels for 2018. Whether you increase salaries now, during the performance reviews (when you schedule them), or at all, make the time to review your practice.
4. Update the patient charts – then purge inactive ones.
   1. This will also help you identify which patients you haven’t heard from in awhile, so you can reach out to them.
5. Look at hygiene production – it can be a game changer.
   1. Hygiene can be a great revenue generator for your dental practice, if you know how to use your time and hygiene staff wisely.
6. Check license and policy expirations.
   1. You can’t run your dental practice with an expired dental license or a lapsed insurance policy.
7. Set your 2018 goals – and reach them!
   1. Use this list as a starting point for what you want to accomplish in 2018. Whether it’s more new patients, higher revenue and profitability, updated equipment purchases, or all or none of these, it’s important to write your goals down.

Then, contact Dental CPAs for help making those goals happen.