This may be long overdue, but worth the wait.  A few months back, Dr. Suzanne Berman (star of SOAPM list and stage) emailed me with a question about her practice.  That question led to a quick back and forth exchange of "all the things a practice should do on a periodic basis."  We brainstormed a long list and then sat down to talk about it for almost an hour.

Below, I provide a written copy of the list for you to cut and paste into whatever tools you need to make sure they appear on your to-do lists and work calendars.  Please email or call me with items we didn't name, I'll gladly add them below!  The podcast adds a lot of color and advice related to each section below, so don't skip Dr. Berman's insight - listen to the podcast.

You can play the podcast below, download it in iTunes (subscribe! it's free!), or go to the podcast site itself.

I reference this amazing service from the Verden Group during our conversation.

The list!

User Management and IT

• Lock out former users from:
  • EHR and PM systems
  • Quickbooks (or other accounting software), time clock software, etc.
  • On-line accounts
    • clearinghouse and payor WWW sites
    • lab and hospital portals
• Update the Administrator security
  • Office security system
  • Computer system
• Update your office inventory for insurance purposes.
  • You can use a video camera (like the one on your cell phone!) to
    document each room and closet.
• Perform a security audit (per MU guidelines)

Cleaning and Supplies

• Clean out cabinets and drawers
• Purge old equipment

Policies and Procedures

• Review your policy and procedure manuals to make sure that your
  actual process reflects what's documented.  Have everyone review it
  annually
• Review the payor policy manuals.  Most are available on line or
  are searchable with friends like the Verden Group
• Review all of your patient policies and handouts
  • Check the handouts you distribute at your office, including your
    practice brochure
  • Check all of your on-line materials
  • Use "version control" (i.e., put date or version numbers on each
    handout so you know if what you are holding is up to date)
  • make sure any list of your staff and clinicians is up to date (letter
    head, sign on your door, WWW site)

EHR and PM

• Make sure that you are taking advantage of every electronic transaction
  opportunity your clearinghouse/PM vendor offers. If you are not doing
  eligibility or electronic claims for every payer, check again
• Perform all vendor-specific cleanup functions
• Software updates
• Perform optional updates
• Review update training and materials to take advantage of new features

Practice Management

• Update your pricing for every single procedure listed in your system
• Review your coding patterns.
  • How is your E&M distribution?
  • Did you bill any odd procedures last year?
• Check your vaccine product combinations
  • Are the combination vaccines you use the most cost and price efficient?
  • Are there any new coverage rules from your payors?
• Check for new procedure codes introduced this year
  • 2015: 99188, 90651, 96127
• Make an periodic report of KPIs.
  • If your PM doesn't make it easy to re-run reports for previous time frames,
    get your periodic sample.
  • Review your measures for comparative and discussion purposes.
• Check your third party vendor costs
  • Credit card
  • Cable/Phone/Internet
  • WWW Site hosting
  • Pull all of your insurance contracts and confirm any "evergreen" dates
  • Check your third party vendor costs
  • Credit card
  • Cable/Phone/Internet
  • WWW Site hosting
• Clean up Quickbooks/account categories
• Patient cleanup
  • Mark inactive families
• Practice Education
  • Research Seminar Opportunities