The office manager plays a critical role in dental practice success. Many practices have someone with this title, but most office managers do not know the full criteria for their role. To be truly effective, the office manager must function as the chief operating officer (COO), running all non-clinical aspects of the practice. This includes designing systems, managing the team, building the culture, dealing with conflict, recruiting and hiring, and managing practice finances.
When the office manager performs at a COO level, the dentist can focus on performing dentistry, spending the maximum amount of time chairside, and building relationships with patients.
5 key responsibilities of a dental office manager
Continual professional development
Dr. Roger P. Levin.
According to Levin Group data, 96% of dental office managers have no previous management education or experience. This means that many practices have a manager who lacks the necessary experience or educational background to fully perform the role.
Most office managers are highly committed and hardworking, but they need comprehensive training. An occasional course or webinar is not enough. Office managers must understand the science of management and work with a team to maximize efficiency and effectiveness, leading to increased practice income year after year.
Start with a comprehensive job description. Most office managers are promoted from another position without the benefit of clearly understanding their new job duties. A detailed job description should include responsibilities such as:
- Oversight and improvement of practice systems
- Maximizing all hygiene service opportunities
- Annual analysis of all insurance plan participation
- Tracking a list of key performance indicators (KPIs), such as:
- Reducing no-shows
- Reducing last-minute cancellations
- Improving the number of new patients
- Managing the full case presentation system
- Activating patients without a next scheduled appointment
- Notifying the team about patients with incomplete treatment
- Managing insurance reimbursements
- Reactivating patients who have not visited the practice within 12 months
Office managers must regularly evaluate these metrics by asking:
- What is going well?
- What is not?
- What is on target and what is not?
Levin Group’s Office Manager Mastery consulting program teaches managers to use a green, yellow, and red tracking system. About 25 statistics are monitored monthly and assigned green if the statistic is better than the goal, yellow if it is on target, and red if it is below the goal.
Office managers must be knowledgeable about all these areas, continually looking for opportunities to increase practice collections and income while improving systems to ensure inefficiencies are not repeated. Furthermore, the office manager must continually improve their skills and knowledge. Dentistry is a dynamic business that is constantly changing. New regulations, financial management practices, and accounting standards evolve regularly and must be understood.
Managing the team
Nothing may be more difficult or complex than managing a team of people. Each team member has unique motivations, likes and dislikes, work ethics, and personalities. It is rare for a practice team to never experience conflict, always support each other, and consistently pitch in when necessary. People are not perfect, so the office manager must work every day to keep the team focused, unified, and on track.
The best strategy for ensuring a harmonious team is to identify and build a productive culture. At Levin Group, we teach a concept called the “culture of positivity,” which can be used by any office manager to make it clear that the practice only accepts and supports a positive environment. Negative comments about patients, gossip, conflict, or other toxic behaviors are unacceptable. Office managers can build this culture in several ways:
- Establish a detailed job description for every team member. Many employees only know some of their responsibilities, which is why important tasks may go undone.
- Create team accountability. Each team member must have clear and measurable goals. For example, the team member responsible for collections should aim to collect 98% of all money owed to the practice within 60 days. The office manager’s role is to be supportive, provide recommendations, and monitor progress toward the goal.
- Provide progressive discipline. Occasionally, the office manager must counsel a team member regarding their behavior. Most conversations should be positive, but sometimes more serious issues must be addressed. Progressive discipline follows labor law while making it clear which behaviors are unacceptable, what the correct behavior should be, and when follow-up will occur to review progress.
A great office manager will eventually develop a team that works independently, understands their responsibilities, and consistently gets their work done.
Growing the practice
Dentists can certainly participate in generating ideas for practice growth, but their primary goal should be spending time chairside with patients, focused on excellent clinical care and patient relationships.
The office manager must be proactive in identifying opportunities to improve practice performance. This scope includes branding, customer service, and patient referrals. The office manager holds a true management role and must remain highly focused on the most important activities that contribute to practice success.
Hiring and firing
The office manager must understand basic human resources laws and regulations, as well as the art of recruiting and hiring. Because of ongoing staff shortages, many practices will be involved in hiring processes on and off over the next several years. It would be an exhausting burden for the dentist to manage all this alone.
There are countless textbooks, articles, and webinars that office managers can use to learn more about HR, recruiting, and hiring. It is imperative that office managers master these skills so they can bring excellent people into the practice and train them quickly to improve performance.
The current staff shortage is significant, and we estimate at Levin Group that it may last for at least another 10 years. Recruiting, interviewing, and hiring is an art form that office managers must master. The best approach is for the office manager to identify a final candidate for the dentist’s approval and be prepared to make a job offer to that individual as quickly as possible.
Controlling overhead
In addition to everything else, the office manager must understand how to analyze and control overhead. We are in an era when overhead is higher than ever before.
While inflation may moderate, costs will likely continue to rise. Think of it this way: Every dollar spent on overhead is one dollar less in practice profit. Reducing overhead by just 1% is equivalent to increasing practice profit by 1%. This can lead to significant increases in income when overhead is properly controlled. For example, if inflation is 3.5%, practice production must grow by more than 3.5% just to maintain profitability. We are seeing more practices increase production but fail to increase income because overhead costs are rising faster than revenue.
The office manager should review all expenditures monthly to identify areas where overhead is increasing and determine whether any expenses can be reduced or eliminated.
I recently spoke with a client who has practiced dentistry for 38 years. He has been extremely successful, operates a high-level practice, and has an outstanding office manager. He jokingly said that if his office manager ever retired, he would retire immediately as well.
It sounds dramatic and even humorous. However, considering everything an office manager must do to keep a well-run dental practice operating successfully, perhaps he wasn’t entirely joking.
Dr. Roger P. Levin is CEO of Levin Group, a leading practice management and marketing consulting firm. To contact him or to join the 40,000 dental professionals who receive his Practice Production Tip of the Day, visit LevinGroup.com or email [email protected].
The comments and observations expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the opinions of DrBicuspid.com, nor should they be construed as an endorsement or admonishment of any particular idea, vendor, or organization.
