As the Year Ends, Plan for the Future

As the year comes to a close, it is a great time to evaluate our successes and our challenges from the past year in our practices. I find now is a great time to start looking toward and planning for an even more profitable future. Here is a list of actions that I often take during these last few weeks of the year.

1.    Update the fees and budgets and run those all-important year-end reports.

2.    Run your third quarter profit and loss statement and schedule a meeting with your accountant to review your numbers if you already have not done so.

3.    Check with your accountant or tax professional to see what other data you’ll need to start gathering, such as proof of expenditures for tax write-offs.

4.    Go shopping, if applicable. Based on the information that your accountant provides, I was given the news to “go shopping”—my accountant advised me to make early payments or buy items that I have been putting off for the past year so we can maximize our tax savings.

5.    Start planning for any upcoming holiday closures. We are planning to close the week between Christmas and the new year—for all office meetings, training, in celebration of our hard work over the past 12 months, and to set expectations for the coming year.

6.    I had 10 pumpkin pies delivered to my top 10 referring doctor offices before the Thanksgiving holiday. I send a note card thanking them for their support during the year. 

7.    Holiday cards and gifts are made ready during week of Thanksgiving and start to be delivered the first week of December.

8.    Start working on your budget for the upcoming year.

9.    Make sure any practice management software is properly backed up and prepped and any year-end processing that needs to take place by December 31 is able to be completed. I use cloud-based software so I don’t have these back-up issues, but I will need to update my fee schedule and any forms or documents, instruction sheets, etc., that I want changed for the new year.

10. Inventory—if you count your inventory weekly or monthly, then having these numbers will be much easier but if you do not, then start preparing for your end-of-year physical inventory count.

11. Review employee records to make sure everything is accurate and up-to-date. Have your team members signed for the receipt of their employee manual? Do they plan on making any changes to their payroll deductions? Have there been any changes to their personal information? Have your employees completed all necessary and mandatory training?

12. Do you do a year-end competency evaluation that you base your future salaries on? If so, you will need to schedule the meetings with your staff to accomplish your assessments and discussions and give encouragements and/or corrections needed.

13. Review your supplier contracts, utilities bills, and insurance policies to see if there are any areas where additional savings could be captured. Shop around for better rates elsewhere if necessary.

14. Now is also a great time as the leader of your organization to sit down and plan what you envision for the coming year. I have a list of ideas and projects that were put on the back burner in 2020 through 2022, and I will evaluate them again to see if I can capitalize on them in the upcoming year. If necessary, assign these projects or break them down into smaller milestones and divide them out to specific team members so they’ll know what’s expected of them in the coming year.

15. This is the perfect time to review all of the achievements your team and practice have accomplished over the past 12 months. Review your key performance indicators and numbers, take some time to share these victories with your employees, and recognize those who played a part in this year’s success.

16. Also, I will be putting together a list of educational opportunities for myself and my staff to review and get their input on where they may feel a need for growth; along with a budget for them and schedule for the upcoming year. I will be sharing this with my staff so we all will have an expectation for continued learning and improvement in the coming year.

17. Now is the time to set specific goals, professional as well as personal, and not just per patient value (PPV). Use this as an opportunity to identify ways everyone on the team can improve client service and patient care in the upcoming year and beyond. Ask the entire staff for their input. You’d be surprised at how much you’ll be able to innovate and accomplish when you put your heads together as a team.

I hope sharing my process will be of help or give new ideas that you may implement—and that I have in some way provided service to my colleagues. Happy Holidays and here’s to great success in the coming year.

Dr. Aung is Chief of the Podiatry Section of the Tenet Health System/St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tucson, Ariz. She is a member of the APMA Coding Committee, the APMA MACRA/MIPS Task Force and is on the Exam Committee of the American Board of Wound Management. Dr. Aung is also on the Editorial Review Board for Wound Management and Prevention. Her website is www.healthy-feet.com.

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