14 Jan Tips for Managing a Streamlined Front Office in Your Dental Practice
Even if you provide exceptional dental care in your practice, patients simply won’t return for follow-up care if it’s inconvenient to make appointments or complete billing paperwork. To ensure a more positive experience for your patients—and ultimately, your bottom line—you will want to dedicate some energy to improving the front of the office in your practice with the following tips.
Hire Skilled Front Office Staff
The value of skilled office administrators cannot be overstated. When you make a hire for your front office team, don’t rush it. Find someone with the skills and experience you need to provide great customer service for patients and stay on top of administrative tasks. During the interview process, offer real-life scenarios that are common issues in your front office and ask how the interviewee would make improvements.
Separate Administrative Tasks from Patient-Facing Tasks
One of the biggest issues dental practices face is falling behind on administrative tasks as time is taken up by booking appointments, talking to patients, and dealing with vendors. Therefore, it’s helpful to set aside office space exclusively for administrative work such as bookkeeping so that multitasking—a system that is proven to fail—will not be an issue.
Utilize Online Scheduling
Another way to minimize distractions and free up more admin time is to utilize online scheduling. This makes life easier for your patients, and it frees up tons of time with automated appointment reminders for patients built right in. You might even add online access for patients to view their charts and pay their bills, so your staff can focus on the other tasks they have on their lists.
Finally, it’s necessary to keep your office stocked with the latest equipment to keep everything running smoothly. A broken copy machine can waste tons of valuable time that could be better spent growing your business. Don’t let faulty equipment get in your way. Call Arizona Business Equipment in Tucson, Sierra Vista, or Mesa for copiers, scanners, and printers—all with convenient leasing options and maintenance packages. Learn more on our website or call (520) 888-2679.