Dentists Why Have An Office Manager?
I am always amazed at dentists who fail to recognize the benefits of having an Office Manager
, yet seem perplexed at why the business is not performing up to their expectations. Why is it that dentists feel they have to personally oversee employees, resolve conflicts among team members, handle accounts payable, payroll functions, employee benefit plans, oversee practice systems, while at the same time sell and perform dentistry? Possibly it is fear of losing control or being taken advantage of. I beg to differ. Loss of control can occur much more rapidly, when there is no chain of command, when in essence, the "tail is wagging the dog".As for being taken advantage of, that would be the result of hiring the wrong manager, or failure to pay attention to the obvious which translates into daily and monthly production and collection. The numbers don't lie.
Ask yourself this question, as a dentist: Is it possible for you to be in the operatory treating patients, while at the same time keep an eye on what is going on in every other area of your practice? Of course not...this is physically impossible. Yet every day, in thousands of dental offices employees show up for work and go through the motions of their assigned positions, produce unsatisfactory results, and yet we wonder why nothing ever changes or improves. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe this is the definition of insanity.
Picture this scenario: Upon graduating from dental school the dentist selects a location, sets up a state of the art facility, hires what he or she thinks are the best people, and often spends thousands of dollars with practice management consulting firms who proclaim they have all the answers. Yet their practices continue to decline. Why is this? Ask anyone today, & the first words you will likely hear is "it's the economy". While there is some truth in these words, you should be careful not to allow them to overtake your own common sense. Remember this: "A loser will come to you with problems, while a winner will come to you with solutions". Furthermore, a mediocre employee will use the economy as a crutch to justify substandard performance.
I want to tell you a story, to illustrate what can happen when a dentist has done everything right, but has for what ever reason, chosen not to have an Office Manager. This dentist believes she can handle everything, and has blind trust in people. She is the dentist in the paragraph above. She has spent thousands of dollars and has completed more than one practice management program, but her numbers are the lowest they have ever been. Would you like to know why?
Her appointment coordinator rarely answers her phone, but instead lets it roll over to voice mail. She constantly ignores it while engaging in personal conversations irrelevant to dentistry with patients and co-workers. Often she is away from her desk and even when she hears it ringing, makes no attempt to try to answer it, because she knows it will go to voice mail. The Doctor of course is hard at work in the operatory, and has no idea this is happening. Now, the protocol for answering the phone in this office has been established, it is just not being followed. Other team members witness what is going on, but have no authority to do anything about it. The Doctor has been told, but due to being overwhelmed by trying to micromanage every facet of the business, she has chosen to ignore it. Another downfall of this appointment coordinator is her negative attitude which overflows into her communications with patients and co-workers.
Then there is the financial coordinator. She sits in a private office all day which was designed to enable confidential, uninterrupted financial consultations with patients. The goal of this of course was to provide a setting amenable to helping patients overcome obstacles to accepting treatment. The new patient comes in her office, and she spends time with them all right, talking incessantly about herself, her family, her various medical problems, you guessed it, everything but what the patient's needs and wants are. Then, she closes with "I will send your treatment plan in the mail. Now let's go up & our appointment coordinator will get you scheduled". Then, the patient receives the treatment plan in the mail, sees the fees, and ends up cancelling because they "can't afford" it. Once again, there is a system in place, but it is being ignored completely. Doctors, be careful that when you have a change of personnel you don't also have a change of systems, without even knowing it. New employees often come with poor or no training from previous offices and have developed bad habits that they believe are the way things should be done.
Why are these things happening... because there is no one in control! The Doctor is in the back, doing dentistry, where she should be. If this office had an Office Manager, these things would not be occurring. The Office Manager's role is to monitor daily activities, provide proper training and take disciplinary action when necessary, before things spiral out of control. The Office Manager is the Doctor's second set of eyes and ears, and is there to insure that the Doctor's guidelines are adhered to.
Remember, any organization is only as strong as its weakest link. Decide today to take control of your practice. Perform a reality check. How much money are you losing because of substandard performance? How much dentistry is walking out of your door, or never walking in? Evaluate and take the steps necessary to insure you achieve the success you deserve.
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