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	Your practice is a living, changing organization, and it ends each day a little different than it began. Slight changes in revenue, outstanding receipts, patient load and procedural requirements occur daily and regularly at your practice. These changes not only have an impact your practice on their own, but they also carry quite an effect when combined.

Your staff is your front line of defense and your response mechanism to these changes. You have provided clear direction to address the issues and mitigate them, but somehow negative outcomes can still happen. Unfortunately, your staff might not always notice, track or consider these changes, which is completely normal and should be expected. With that in mind, small negative changes slipping past over time can add up to bad results.

Trending article: How to time your next dental real estate transaction

	So, now you either know or suspect you have an issue. You have noticed a prime symptom; your cash flow is dropping, yikes! Patient loads are inconsistent and new patients are not rolling in as needed. But why? Is it due to poor follow through? Fewer treatments being delivered? Longer payment cycles? Insurance changes?

	There can be any one of a dozen or more issues contributing to a turn in practice performance. Trying to go back and determine all of the issues through forensic efforts can be a real challenge. How many of your staff are trained to do this effectively? There are many reasons for a compromised cash flow, all of which could hurt you, your practice and your success. Where and how to fix the problem is a question most don’t get past. What is clear is that something needs to change in order to reverse the course.

	Your solution path lies in a couple of places. The good news is you have options.

	Click through the slides to learn about three important options.

	Hire a consultant to come in and work through the details with you. If you pick the right one, it can be a very effective solution. This will take some time and money but will likely leave you in a much better place with increased insight and training. 

 are both great companies to consider. They will engage with you and your office staff quickly and begin to remedy the issue.

	Employ a specific service to achieve a deliberate result. If you are confident that you know where the issue lies, then you can get right to a solution quickly. 

 can all help you collect outstanding billing, 

 can help you retain current patients and get new ones, and 

 can help you market for new patients. Each of these companies provides strong engagement options that will produce improved results.

	Ultimately the ability to train, enable and empower your staff will give you the most durable solution. Learning the “business” of the business will help them master the game and deliver efficiencies as a natural byproduct of their work. This means giving them the tools they need in order to drive the solution and grow the practice in a healthy way. There are a number of tools out there in the market professing to be the best at delivering you the insights needed. The critical factor for you to consider is how timely the information being returned is.

	If the solution requires data extraction and an extended analysis of past performance by an outside agent, then the information coming back will be outdated already. It would be like trying to drive your car using only the rearview mirror. A better approach is to get a tool that works with you in real time to deliver the insight when you need it. For the ultimate real-time analytics tool, check out 

. It looks at your data on a daily basis and provides your team with the right steps every day to be successful. It is a complete package of reports and dashboards that gives you the control to make change happen. If you need it “to go,” then you can pair it with 

 and never be out of touch with your office.

	Ultimately, you need to take practice indicators as a warning. Within your reach are the means and methods to improve your practice. It is time to reinvest in your team and step up the game. Take your staff to a team building event, or create one yourself. Connect in ways that step outside of office dynamics so that your team has more than challenges and problems in common. When your team is focused and well-aligned on your objectives, solutions are achievable. Getting them to work better together with the right tools on the right objectives will give you the best chance of success.

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If your cash flow is dropping, it may be time to reinvest in your team. 

Your practice is a living, changing organization, and it ends each day a little different than it began. Slight changes in revenue, outstanding receipts, patient load and procedural requirements occur daily and regularly at your practice. These changes not only have an impact your practice on their own, but they also carry quite an effect when combined.

3 ways to fix a cash flow problem in your Practice

If your cash flow is dropping, it may be time to reinvest in your team.

3 ways to fix a cash flow problem in your practice

	Sikka Software, a leading innovator in business intelligence software for health care and small business communities, and the American Dental Association (ADA) announced all ADA members are eligible to receive a free, six-month trial of the new ADA Benefit Plan Analyzer (ADA BPA).

 is designed to help dentists evaluate potential revenue and costs of becoming a provider for dental benefit plans and compare the outcomes via the Sikka Software Platform Cloud.  

Related reading: American Dental Association releases new guidelines on gum disease treatment

	Dental professionals who utilize the ADA Benefit Plan Analyzer are able to:

This particular ADA BPA tool connects with the dentist’s practice management system, automatically pulling out key data points integral to evaluating insurance plans. Dentists can choose from a list of PPO and DHMO plans across the nation to evaluate. Based on practice-specific inputs, the ADA BPA scores the plan on a 100-point scale, which is said to provide a visualization of potential value that can be added to the practice. Each score is unique to a practice and accounts for differences in operational management.

 With the ADA BPA, dentists receive an estimate of not only gross revenue and overhead costs, but also the chair time and practitioner hours associated with serving the patients in the network. Estimates are based on practice inputs, reportedly allowing practices to better manage their capacities and administrative hours and ensuring all patients receive the time they need to achieve optimum oral health.

More from the ADA: ADA releases Action for Dental Health Year Two: A Progress Report

Each dental benefit plan is different, and by using the unique inputs from a practice alongside the proposed fee plan, dentists can compare plans side-by-side for quick and accurate evaluations. Side-by-side comparisons are said to remove the guesswork from choosing insurance plans by providing standardized data that dentists need for objective evaluation.

	“Previously, dentists have needed to guess which insurance plans will be profitable for their practice while also best serving the dental needs of their community,” remarked 

. “With the ADA Benefit Plan Analyzer, dental professionals can make informed decisions about which insurances to accept, and feel confident they have made the best choice for their practice and their patients.”

From Vijay Sikka: What you need to know about your dental practice's fees heading into 2016

	The ADA offers easy enrollment for the free six-month trial by visiting 

. Non-ADA members may also purchase the tool through the 

	More than 16,000 providers use Sikka Software apps worldwide. The apps are compatible with 96 percent of practice management systems and said to help dentists manage their practices by providing the critical information they need to make management decisions anytime, anywhere.

	For more information about the ADA Benefit Plan Analyzer as well as all Sikka Software practice management solutions,  visit 

Related reading: Learning more about Call Optimizer from Sikka Software

Sikka Software, a leading innovator in business intelligence software for health care and small business communities, and the American Dental Association (ADA) announced all ADA members are eligible to receive a free, six-month trial of the new ADA Benefit Plan Analyzer (ADA BPA).