by By Laura Thill
The office manager’s role is critical in handling increased complexities with scheduling, reimbursement and customer communication
In today’s customer-driven dental industry, the success of a practice largely depends on the versatility and passion of the office manager. Particularly in a large DSO-supported practice, where the demands and complexity of the office manager’s role tend to be much greater than at a stand-alone practice, strong communication skills and the ability to foster interpersonal relationships can strongly influence patients to return, according to Cynthia Turner, regional business partner, Kool Smiles.
“A successful office manager at a multi-site or DSO-supported dental practice must be an expert multi-tasker, a compassionate people person and a dynamic team leader,” says Turner. When hiring office managers, Kool Smiles looks for candidates who prove themselves to be good multi-taskers, effective communicators and have a genuine capacity to serve, she says. “The whole focus right now in a customer-driven business is patient satisfaction. Interpersonal relationships and strong communication skills can really influence patients [returning to the practice]. There are dentists on every corner now – it’s important to have a one-on-one relationship with patients, not just provide a service.
“When office manager candidates interview with Kool Smiles, we spend a good amount of time talking about the Kool Smiles mission and dream, and how every patient is a priority for us,” Turner continues. “We are very focused on doing right by – and making decisions that are in the best interest of – our patients. Being able to help those who are often underserved, adding value and service and keeping people healthy is key to everything we do. So we look to hire office managers who really embody that same spirit of service.” They also look for office managers who are team players. “One of the great things about working for a multi-site practice is that you have a whole team of people you can reach out to for guidance [and feedback],” she says. “[We don’t want our office managers to] feel like they are all alone in their own little world.”
Better communication, growing responsibilities
As technology has grown increasingly complex and patients have come to expect more and better service, as well as payment plans and insurance options, DSO-supported practices understand that patient communication is more important than ever before. “There are new ways for patients to communicate with [group practices] beyond the standard telephone call or walk-in appointment,” says Turner. “At Kool Smiles, patients can now ask questions via email and social media. They can confirm, cancel or reschedule appointments using our proprietary online system and get billing support through our call center. All of this communication is funneled to the office – specifically to the office manager – who manages that flow of information.”
In addition, as DSO-supported practices increase the number and variety of specialized services they offer (e.g., general anesthesia, orthodontics, oral surgery, etc.), they implement additional billing and collection practices, notes Turner. Office managers must ensure a balanced patient flow, where the right patients are scheduled with the appropriate specialists, and that credentialing and licensing protocols are current. Similarly, dental insurance protocols tend to be more complex in DSO settings, she notes. For example, in addition to private insurance, Kool Smiles accepts government plans like Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Plans (CHIP) and TRICARE. Medicaid alone offers a variety of plans, and covered and non-covered services are constantly evolving.
“Without a doubt, many of these changes are an improvement in terms of the patient experience and ease of care,” says Turner. “With DSO-supported practices, patients now have multiple ways to communicate and receive information about the dental practice and the care they are receiving. They also have multiple resources at their disposal beyond the office manager. For example, at Kool Smiles, patients have access to a billing center that can pre-qualify them for services based on their insurance plan. It is a much more convenient and well-rounded way to be served.”
Meeting the challenge
The more complex dentistry becomes, “the more imperative it is for dental leaders to deliver the same message and set the same expectations for every office, even though the offices may be geographically miles apart and have a different patient base,” says Turner. “We want to make sure that everyone, company-wide, understands the same basic principles and procedures.”
Above all else, dental offices within a DSO must deliver consistently excellent services, according to Turner. “When you visit a Starbucks in California, you expect to get the same service and drink the same latte that you would in New York. This same principle is true for multi-site healthcare practices. As a multi-site practice, Kool Smiles has developed a reporting system designed to help us ensure consistency across all offices. For example, we can generate a report comparing inbound call rates (the percentage of calls answered by the office staff before they are redirected to the call center), as well as a call that helps us ensure patients are scheduled within a certain amount of time.”
Patients who trust that their dental practice delivers safe, quality service, trains its staff on new technology and services, and encourages its staff to interact with patients as well as one another, are more likely to return, according to Turner. “Seeing what the patient sees, feeling what the patient feels and listening to the challenges and successes of individual office managers and doctors help us grow and develop as a company,” she says.
Indeed, as group practices continue to grow and offer more and more specialized services, office managers will need to become increasingly savvy. “DSOs must be prepared to offer any dental service needed, including orthodontics, general anesthesia, oral surgery and endodontics,” says Turner. The office manager, in turn, will need to learn new scheduling protocols, new ways to track supplies, and become current on a broader array of billing practices. “It will require the ability to balance and manage a lot of different types of patients,” she says.
Patients will continue to look for online scheduling, Turner continues. “They will continue to get all their paperwork via email prior to coming into the office, and have information at their fingertips,” she says. “As an industry, we’ll need to keep enhancing and improving the way we communicate, while also making sure we’re letting each patient know they are a priority.”
