Dentaltown September 2015 - (Page 76)

practice management feature Solutions for Effectively Managing a Dental fﬁce by Kevin Brady As any owner of a dental practice knows, there's a lot more to running the business than treating patients. Owner s are responsible for hiring and managing staff, billing patients and insurance companies, handling accounts payable and receivable, and becoming proficient on dental software programs. All of these duties have a negative impact on both the time dentists are available for their patients, and the profitability of the practice. A viable solution that benefits dentists, staff and patients is outsourcing. By contracting out the busy work, dentists and their staffs have more time to better serve their patients. Practice demands It's no secret that dentists face increasing constraints on their time. First and foremost, a dentist's role is to be a dentist. This means providing high-quality care for their patients, which entails creating treatment plans and participating in continuing education to keep abreast of the latest innovations in dentistry. At the same time, dentists need to be the CEOs of their practices. In this capacity, they are tasked with: * Hiring, training, firing and managing staff * Marketing the practice 76 SEPTEMBER 2015 // dentaltown.com * * Understanding insurance changes and HIPAA regulations Managing the billing, collections and accounts payable/ receivable processes * Ensuring the office is running smoothly * Maintaining office technology * Dealing with economic conditions affecting the bottom line of the practice In conversations with dentists, I've found that business issues are taking up more and more of their time. Dr. William K. Rich from Precision Dental Plan in Walton, Kentucky, is one dentist who has seen the business issues grow exponentially. "Compliance issues are an increasing challenge with credentialing, audits and regulatory issues around HIPAA," Rich said. "It's difficult to keep up with the administrative burden." Due to the basic demands of being the business's main producers, dentists have very little time to actively manage the practice. Yet, ignoring the business side of the practice can severely impact the growth of their business. For example, a dentist may have the best state-of-the-art equipment available, offer a multitude of services, and produce at a high rate every month. But if the office is only collecting at 60 percent of the revenue associated with this work, the business http://www.dentaltown.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Dentaltown September 2015

On Dentaltown.com
Continuing Education Update
Industry News
Product Profile: Planmeca
New Products
You Should Know: Lean Dental Solutions
Practice Solutions: Ultradent
Ad Index
Dentally Incorrect
CONTINUING EDUCATION: Considerations for Treatment of External Cervical Invasive Resorption
Case Report: Microbrush Stamp Technique
Working Through Pain: How Chronic Conditions Affect Dentists
HOWARD SPEAKS: Know Your Numbers
PROFESSIONAL COURTESY: TV Shows for Dentists
Passivhaus: Dentists Get Their Green On
A Green Dentist in a Bluegrass State
NuSmile Preveneered SSC Tips
Yet Again, Immediate Molar— Drill First, Extract Later
Turning Over a New Leaf
The 5 Tenets of Practice Success
Understanding the Sjögren’s Patient: Facilitating Diagnosis of Sjögren’s Syndrome
Sleepy Hollow Dentist Wants to Make a Change
Seeing the True Resorption Picture
Oral Squamous-Cell Carcinoma Detection
Solutions for Effectively Managing a Dental Offi ce
Seminar and Travel Pay: It’s No Vacation
Insurance Management is Easy if You Start with Evaluation

Dentaltown September 2015