Why Dental Practice Management Is Important

How can dental practice management turn a surgery into a calm, happy haven?

These multi-taking professionals know how to keep things running smoothly, and without them, things would be in absolute chaos.

Here are a few reasons why savvy dental practice management is so important in the field of dentistry.

Good practice management equals happy customers

Practice managers don’t just sit in an office all day filing paperwork; they get out there and participate in everything. From greeting customers to handling compliments and complaints, ensuring the comfort of patients and making sure the frontline staff are happy, nice to the customers and well presented. Everything you see when you walk into a dental office – including the décor and the air-conditioning – has probably been organised by a practice manager.

Practice managers ensure your safety

From the moment you walk into a dental surgery, you are under the care of a practice manager. If you slip over on a wet floor, become ill from dental anaesthesia or get the wrong tooth pulled, the practice manager will be in charge of taking care of your immediate needs and handling your future ones (if any). They are responsible for managing Work Health & Safety protocols, ensuring infection control is guaranteed and preventing future risks. You definitely wouldn’t want to be in the hands of an unqualified or complacent practice manager!

Piles of paperwork

You can imagine the mounds of paperwork that pass through dental surgery on a daily basis. For a person qualified in practice management though, the mounds of paperwork that pile up are just a simple part of their day. From health billing to patient files, accounting and budgeting to medico-legal compliance forms, a good practice manager can have these in order quickly, accurately and with flair. There’s nothing too big or too small to handle.

Speaking the language of dental practice management

If you place a non-medical secretary in surgery and ask them how John Doe’s odontoplasty is holding up – or when little Mary’s malocclusion correction procedure is booked in – they will likely not have a clue what you’re talking about.

A practice manager – on the other hand – will be able to tell you that John’s odontoplasty (adjustment of tooth shape, length or size) looks great and that little Mary’s parents are looking forward to Mary being able to chew her food more comfortably, after her malocclusion (misalignment of the biting surface) is corrected on Tuesday.

Sound interesting to you? Discover our Diploma of Practice Management to find out how to train your existing dental staff or become skilled practice management professional.

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