How to Manage a Dentist Office
A dental office must abide by many laws, rules, and regulations. A dental office manager must understand these laws, and ensure that their staff is in compliance. Dental office management requires excellent interpersonal and relationship management skills, and a constant attention to marketing for patients while training the entire staff to retain new patients.
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Instructions
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Understand HIPAA
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Read and understand HIPAA as it is heavily enforced in the dental industry. HIPAA stands for "Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act" and protect patients' private information. In managing a dental office, both technical and physical protection must be provided for patient files and information. Violations results in heavy fines and penalties.
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Abide by all OSHA standards. OSHA stands for Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and it dictates a strict guideline for infection control in the dental office. Any violation of OSHA practices can result in temporary or even permanent office closure.
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Figure out the demographics of the patients who frequent your office; create and implement a marketing plan to advertise to those particular niches. A successful dental office needs a steady and constant influx of new patients to create a strong recall system and a schedule which works at full capacity.
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Train every single employee in HIPAA and OSHA guidelines and in providing excellent customer service. If management believes the patient's wishes come first, the employees will adhere to this practice. Loyal patients are cultivated by employees with excellent customer service skills who relate to patients on a personal level.
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Oversee all billing procedures to ensure that payment is collected for treatment rendered. All aging accounts must be tracked, and insurance payments must be trained. Even if you have a separate billing manager, ensure that all payments are received, and every attempt to collect payment is made. Establish relationships with credit bureaus to report bad debt, if needed.
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Train or personally oversee recall programs. Having new patients return is the key to a successful dental practice. Call and speak to patients directly, and if they have chosen not to return, kindly ask why and make note of it. Discuss the issues with the team, including the owners, and create programs to change the common reasons immediately.
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Hold at least a weekly meeting with the managing dentist and other associate doctors. Understand the owners' objectives for the practice, and listen to the associate doctors' complaints or observations. Because management is mostly a front office duty, it's imperative to get insight into the general aura of the back office practices.
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Tips & Warnings
Keep an open-door policy. Being a fair and approachable manager helps to determine the entire mood of the office. Always do for the patients as you train your employees to do. Attend as many dental sales conferences and seminars in order to constantly improve your own skills to become the best manager possible.
Replace ineffective employees, if warranted. Building a strong team takes dedicated and intelligent team members; keeping employees though inefficient is a waste of company resources and time, and will harm the practice in the long-run. Observe carefully and terminate employees who do not provide the level of service ideally associated with your practice.
