As written on The Profitable Dentist by Colleen Huff
Spring cleaning is often associated with the cleaning of our homes, but it can also apply to our digital world. In the case of dental practices, keeping accurate and up-to-date records of insurance carriers and employers is essential for efficient operations. In this article, we will discuss why it’s important to do a spring cleaning of your software and how to go about it.
Data cleaning, or spring cleaning of software, is a critical process for any organization that utilizes computer systems to manage their operations. It not only saves time and effort but also reduces errors and ensures consistency in data entry. By having a standardized and clean list of insurance companies and employers, your office can be more productive, minimize claim denials, and avoid costly mistakes.
Most offices have a process or SOP (standard operating procedure) for everything in their practice. They have systems for how they answer the phones, how to clean up and sanitize operatories, etc., but not many have a protocol for how insurance companies and employers are entered into their computer.
When was the last time you looked at how many insurance companies or employers are listed in your software?
If you have multiple listings for insurance companies that look similar to the example below, you need to do spring cleaning and find the correct process for combining them.
Before you start this process, you will also need to have a conversation with your administrative team. A conversation about how you want to abbreviate in the software should take place.
Do you plan to spell out the state name or abbreviate it?
Will you use DD for Delta Dental?
All these decisions should be made, and they then need to become part of your onboarding of new team members. Remember that everyone does things just a little bit differently, and you need to communicate your practice’s way to new hires.
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