Bite-sized dental wisdom in under 2 minutes.

It's November, which means one thing: time to clean up your shit before the end of the year.

Back in January, I wrote about how January is probably one of the worst months to sit down and start planning for the year ahead. Between insurance resetting, patients suddenly motivated to get treatment, and the schedule filling up, there's usually very little room to actually think.

I said November would be a better time to do it.

Well, here we are.

And I take it back. September would've been even better.

While everyone's complaining about Sucktember and the hygiene schedule looking like my 7-year-old's smile, you could actually be using that time to fix the systems that have been bugging you all year.

Mental note for next year.

But since it's already November, we might as well get moving.

For example, does your office have its end-of-year insurance rush figured out yet?

You know, the one that happens every single year.

Who's pulling the list of patients with unused benefits? Who's contacting them? How are you tracking who's responded and who still needs to be scheduled?

These are things we know are coming, yet somehow December rolls around and everyone's scrambling to figure them out.

And don't forget how many times you'll answer the same question about the last day to seat a crown this year. Is December 14 really that hard to remember? Apparently, because someone will still schedule a crown prep for December 11 and expect you to seat it before the holidays.

And that's just one system. Think about everything else happening in your office: new patients, insurance verification, referrals, treatment follow-ups.

Which one keeps coming back to bite you in the ass?

Maybe it's the one where the team keeps asking you the same questions. Or the one where everything goes to hell the second a particular employee calls out sick.

Start there.

You don't need to overhaul your entire practice before January. Pick the system that's causing the biggest headache and figure out how to stop having the same problem over and over again.

And when September rolls around next year and everyone's complaining about their empty schedules, remember that those holes might be the best chance you'll get to fix what's been driving you crazy.

Assuming, of course, I remember my own advice by then.

-Dr. Alex

P.S. Meet the inspiration for this month's schedule analogy. Her gaps are adorable. The ones in your schedule? Not so much. If you're picking one system to fix before the year ends, start with unused benefits. Grab our free end-of-year unused benefits checklist in Milo.