continuing education To see all installments in this four-part series, with the chance to earn a total of six CE credits, go to dentaltown.com/ce and search for " Sandy Pardue. " Key actions for an effective finance department * * * * * * * * * * 58 Appoint someone to oversee the financial area of your practice. Create and follow the office financial policies. Utilize a standard financial agreement form. Have patients sign the financial agreement and provide a copy. Make financial arrangements before scheduling an appointment. Have the financial coordinator look at the schedule three days in advance and verify all patients scheduled for treatment over $300 have a signed financial arrangement. If not, call them to make a financial arrangement. These are the patients who are more likely to cancel. Close out the month, every month. If you don't close the month, the following can happen: * Report data can be skewed. * Accounts receivable may not age properly. * Patient statements will show more than current charges. * Changes and adjustments can be made after the month ends. * Embezzlement opportunities will increase. * It will reset insurance benefits used back to zero if the plan is scheduled to renew. This is especially true at the end of the year. * It's just not good business! Close the month. Generate the following reports at the end of each month: * A/R aging report: 30, 60 and more than 90 days. * Accounts with a statement hold on them. * Credits on patient accounts. * Insurance aging. * Writeoffs. * Adjustments. Set up a system for sending statements. It is recommended to send a statement the day the practice receives payment on a claim. Send monthly statements to everyone with a balance at the end of each month. Check with your software company about outsourcing billing statements. Refund patients who have a credit balance. MAY 2021 // dentaltown.com DT0421_Pardue_CE-Part4.indd 58 4/19/21 2:55 PMhttp://www.dentaltown.com/ce http://www.dentaltown.com