Yesterday we sent out a preliminary action item list to stay productive and feel as if you have some control during this forced SLOW down. Many of you have taken action already and for that I give you a virtual HIGH FIVE! Keep going!

If you missed the previous post, you can find it here.

1. Call your malpractice carrier and ask about reduced rates or deferred payment of premiums due to a significant drop in patient hours/visits. (PICA is offering these options and others may be as well)
2. Take out your employee handbook and dust it off. Read through to see if additions or edits are needed to bring it up to speed or into this decade.
   • Example: if your handbook does not include social media and cell phone policies, it is not up to date. Once you update it, print out the addendums and have all staff members read and sign that they understand them.
3. Review your Accounts Receivables in details (warning: this could be ugly)
   • Look at individual aging “buckets” (0-30, 31-60, 61-90, 91-120 and 121+) for both insurance aging and patient aging
     • Your current bucket (0-30 days) should be the biggest and then 31-60 should drop to about 1/2 that amount followed by significant drops in older buckets (121 days+ should be 15% or less of your total aging)
     • If the numbers don’t make sense, do some more digging to find problem payers, delinquent patient, user holds (claims that were never sent), or billers who aren’t working hard enough!
4. Look at your new patient paperwork, practice financial policy, orthotic policy, and any other forms that patients are required to complete, review or sign. Update as necessary and replate old forms with new in the office as well as in digital form.
   • Side note: if your patient condition brochures picture elderly couples in matching velour tracksuits walking on the beach, it’s time to update!
   • Google Drive is a great way to securely share practice forms, protocols, and more with team members (or only the ones who need access and can edit)
   • Make sure your updated new patient paperwork is available on your website along with the link to your patient portal
5. Read through your treatment protocols (most common conditions)
   • THEY NEED TO BE WRITTEN DOWN OR THEY DO NOT EXIST
   • Update as needed, making sure your current products and services are included as care plan options
   • Review all protocols with front and back-office staff and make sure all understand your treatment plans and ancillary services. Trainings can be done remotely during reduced hours.

Why spend time reinventing the wheel? My full library of forms, documents, protocols, templates, manuals and staff training tools as well as vendor discounts, access to past monthly webinars and exclusive invites to current webinars and open forum discussions is just a few clicks away.

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