Dentaltown December 2015 - (Page 12)

howard speaks column What Your Office Manager Needs to Do Right Now Your office manager should get a fellowship in the American Association of Dental Office Managers-end of story. I'm on the Dentaltown.com message boards all day where I see posts that prove this, and I also get messages weekly from people telling me how that fellowship changed their practice. The dental offices that are exploding with success are the offices that sent their office manager to get a fellowship at the American Association of Dental Office Managers (AADOM). I'm sure you've heard of it. Once office managers become fellows at AADOM, they receive their "FAADOM" status. If an office manager has been through this training, this person is going to have a better chance at hiring the right staff, training the staff well, building and maintaining a strong team, and knowing how to best manage financial reporting and accounts receivable, etc. Do you want to handle every part of that? Of course you don't. You want your office manager to lead the way. All dentists need their office managers to be great. Not just good. Great. Doc, you're wearing too many hats. You're busy trying to learn endo and make clinical decisions. Because there are only 168 hours in a week and you need to sleep 56 of them, and you have to work at least 40 of them, you don't have time to figure out what patient activator system is best, or to determine whether your staff is on the right kind of software for running a certain report. You need an office manager who knows all that you need to be able to trust this person. When I learn about a dental office that has its best year ever, or the best two years in a row, or best three years ever, it's because the office manager got motivated and went to AADOM and now she has her team of 10 or 15 people up to speed on best practices, best software, best patient letters, best everything. Now the dentist can focus on dentistry while the office manager whips the office into shape and keeps it that way. Go to LinkedIn and you'll see that the office managers who have profiles on that site and who are the cream of the crop got their FAADOM. AADOM Details If your office manager wants to be a fellow of the American Association of Dental Office Managers (AADOM), he or she must meet the following requirements: * Attend a minimum of one AADOM annual conference in the past three years * Have at least three years of experience in a dental office * A letter of recommendation from a current or former employer at a dental practice * Be a member of AADOM in "good standing" for at least one year prior to induction * The member agrees to adhere to AADOM's code of conduct The potential fellow must also receive a passing level of: "The DALE Foundation's Accounts Receivable Module" ($130) "The DALE Foundation's Human Resources Fundamentals Module" ($130) "The DALE Foundation's Financial Reporting for the Dental Office" ($130) * Earn 31 AADOM-approved CE hours achieved within two years of application submission date (CE from the three DALE Foundation Modules are counted toward this 31 total) * Complete a fellowship application form and pay the application fee Visit dentalmanagers.com/faadom.html for more information. Continued on p. 14 by Howard Farran, DDS, MBA, Publisher, Dentaltown Magazine 12 DECEMBER 2015 // dentaltown.com http://www.Dentaltown.com http://www.dentalmanagers.com/faadom.html http://www.dentaltown.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Dentaltown December 2015

On Dentaltown.com
HOWARD SPEAKS: What Your Offi ce Manager Needs to Do Right Now
PROFESSIONAL COURTESY: What Grinds My Gears
Continuing Education Update
Industry News
Restoring Deep Cavity Preparations
How Do You Separate the Teeth for Band Fitting of Space Maintainer?
Oral Systemic Health and the Big Three
HR Compliance for Dentists: Three Costly Assumptions
Oral Ulcerations: A Brief Review
Debunking the Bleaching Myths
Practice Solutions: DentiMax
Are You Scared of Being Your Best? How to Face Your Fears and Grow Your Business
Planting Your Practice: How to Find the Ideal Spot
When the Patient Refuses Orthodontic Treatment
Pass It On: Generosity in the Business of Dentistry
Handling the Gagging Population
TOWNIE CHOICE AWARDS 2015 Townies Have Spoken!
Ad Index
You Should Know: Dental Fix Rx
Poll
CE: Radix Entomolaris: Treatment of a Mandibular First Molar with Distolingual Root
Dentally Incorrect

Dentaltown December 2015