5 metrics you should audit every year

The end of the fiscal year isn’t the only time your practice should dust off its financial dashboard. In an era of shrinking margins and rising labor costs, even modest blind spots—an overlooked denial trend here, a swelling A/R balance there—can snowball into six-figure headaches. An annual audit turns those red flags into course-correcting insights before payers, patients or staff feel the pain.

Yet “audit” doesn’t have to mean a weeks-long academic exercise. Most practice-management systems will export these data points in minutes, letting administrators pair lunch-hour curiosity with meaningful change. By designating one champion for each metric and revisiting progress at quarterly huddles, you can convert spreadsheet rows into actionable road maps that keep revenue flowing, morale steady and regulators off your back.