In Curve Hero, what year-end reports are important?

Editor's note: This is a continuation of a yearlong series that is designed to help dentists and team members understand their practice management software better. Today, we are providing you with a tip from Tracey Thompson, a product trainer at Curve Dental. Later this month, we will post questions and answers from experts in Dentrix and Eaglesoft.

Q: In Curve Hero, what are some common reports I should run for my year-end?

Tracey Thompson.

A: That's a great question, as reviewing year-end reports is important for many reasons. It can help you view your production, collection, and adjustments and even locate the number of new patients you gained within the year. If you have set goals for your practice for the year, you can recognize if you have met those goals, as well as set goals for the next year.

Here are a few reports to consider running for the end of the year.

Period Summary Report and how to filter it

This report contains detailed account information and a summary of all financial transactions within a specific period of time.

Filtering this report is extremely easy. Simply set the date range for the year, then decide if you want to see all providers of service or just specific providers. Select what sections you would like to identify, preferably only selecting the totals and accounts receivable summary. Once you have done this, you will be able to see the total number of production, payments, adjustments, overpayments, payment refunds, deposits, and credit refunds for the year, as well as the opening accounts receivable and closing accounts receivable.

New Patients This Month Report and how to filter it

This report will show you the patients for whom you have created a profile. In Curve, you need to enter partial profile information to make an appointment for the new patient. Filtering this report will lead to a more accurate list of new patients seen in the practice during the year.

To filter the report, simply add a column into the report for the "first appointment date." Delete the filter for "profile created date," add a filter to change the date range for this year, and apply filters. Once you have done this, you will be able to see how many new patients you have gained this year.

Responsible Party Aging Report and how to filter it

This report contains all accounts with a balance owed to the practice and indicates whether the outstanding balance is owed by the patient or the insurance company. The age of the balance is also contained within this report.

You have the option to filter this report to see only patient balances or even just insurance balances. Simply add a filter for "Ins Total Owing" or "Patient Total Owing" greater than $.01 and apply filters. Depending on if you filtered by insurance or patient, you will now see only those balances in the report.

Generating a tax receipt

If the patient is requesting a printed receipt of services for the year, you can simply print or email the tax receipt per patient. In the billing module, there is a print tax receipt option. This will allow you to choose a date range for services, as well as how you would like the patient to receive it, either by printing or email.

Tracey Thompson has spent more than 20 years in the dental industry, including 10 years as a dental assistant and office manager before becoming a product trainer at Curve Dental in 2010. She teaches best practices to dental offices across North America using Curve Hero. Learn more about Curve Hero at www.curvedental.com.

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