December 02, 2020
Life in a dental office can get busy. Without realizing it, office managers often fill their schedule with activities that could be off-loaded to Dentrix Ascend. In her webinar “5 Easy Ways to Increase Patient Collections,” Dentrix Ascend trainer Katie Nielsen demonstrates five features in Dentrix Ascend that can save you time, increase your cash flow, and help your patients pay on time.
1. Use the Routing Panel to Collect Payment at Checkout.
Using the Routing Panel to collect the patient portion at checkout helps your patients pay on time. It improves the practice’s cash flow and reduces the accounts receivable (A/R). The routing panel provides appointment tasks at check-out to encourage you and your office staff to ask for the patient portion at the time of service.
Additional Information
– Watch this video for a 2-minute snapshot of “Collecting Payment at Patient Checkout.”
2. Use the Workflow Compliance Report to follow up with patients.
Sometimes patients leave without paying. Or maybe, someone at the front foregets to ask for payment. Either way, the Workflow Compliance Report helps you follow up with your patients and follow up with your staff when they’re not collecting payments at checkout.
Additional Information
– Check out our blog tip “Populating the Workflow Compliance Report” for more information.
3. Improve collections with a more effective billing schedule.
Many offices wait until the end of the month to run billing statements, missing a huge opportunity for on-time payments. Using Dentrix Ascend’s “if not billed since” feature, you can generate billing statements weekly, if not daily (for larger practices). This helps you stay on top of collections without overwhelming your patients (or guarantors).
Additional Information
– For more information, watch the short video Generate Billing Statements.
– For more information, read the blog tip Generate Billing Statements as Soon as Insurance Payments are Posted.
4. Use the Aged Receivables Report
This report is the best place to go to find out who owes your practice money, how much they owe, and how late are they. The Aged Receivables Report helps you stay on top of unpaid balances.
Additional Information
– For more information, watch the 3-minute video Viewing your Aged Receivable report.
5. Use Patient Connections and Letter to Patient
Using Patient Connections, you can see if your patients have been receiving billing statements. If they haven’t received their billing statements or haven’t responded, you can use Dentrix Ascend’s pre-formatted collection letters to contact them directly.
Additional Information
– For more information, read the article Viewing Patient Connections.
Katie Nielsen has been a Dentrix Ascend Trainer for six years, and before that, she was a Dentrix trainer for 18 years. She received the Dentrix Ascend “Trainer of the Year” award in 2016 and the Dentrix Ascend “Spirit Award” in 2018. Throughout 2020, her webinars and one-on-one trainings have helped hundreds of offices use Dentrix Ascend better to improve their cash-flow and patient relationships.
