It can be challenging to keep up with a dental practice’s day-to-day operations, especially in the front office. Outsourcing dental front office tasks is a great way for dental practices to save time and money.
With the help of an experienced and qualified US-based outsourced service provider, it is possible to free up valuable time and resources while also improving overall efficiency and productivity. Find out how outsourcing dental front office tasks can benefit your practice, and get top tips and advice on how to find the right partner to handle your needs.
Responsibilities of Managing the Front Desk At A Dentist Office
The front desk of a dental office is the first point of contact between a patient and their care provider. Generally patients are usually very nervous about visiting a dentist office, but the front office can help reduce stress and worry all by effectively managing the front desk and creating a positive impact. Managing the front desk effectively is a crucial part of providing excellent customer service. The front desk staffer is responsible for many tasks including:
- Taking phone calls
- Answering questions
- Scheduling appointments
- Greeting patients
- Collecting payments
- Responding to emails
- Helping clients
- Filing medical records
- Providing dental billing/accounting services
- Web chat
They are expected to provide top-notch customer service over the phone, by email, and in person–often all at the same time.
A single front desk staffer can often be overwhelmed by the work they are expected to do on any given day. An overworked or busy front-desk employee may unfortunately, not be able to handle their patient interactions with the empathy a nervous patient deserves. Outsourcing dental front desk work can be an effective solution for reducing the workload of a single staffer while also improving your overall patient satisfaction.
By outsourcing tasks such as appointment scheduling, answering the phone, customer service, and billing/accounting services, the front desk staffer can focus on more important matters, such as engaging with patients and providing exceptional customer service.
Identify What Front of Office Tasks To Outsource
When outsourcing dental front office tasks, the goal is to save time and money for your practice. Studies show that delegating specific front desk tasks can save up to 20% of your workday and free up resources to focus on more important activities.1
To determine what tasks are ideal to outsource, it’s important to identify the most time-consuming and mundane duties that take up valuable resources in your practice and do not need to happen in-office. These tasks generally include:
- Scheduling patient appointments
- Entering dental insurance data
- Managing accounts receivable
- Creating invoices and payment plans
- Answering patient inquiries and phone calls
- Interacting with patients on the website
- Dealing with administrative tasks
Outsourcing these tasks can help reduce all kinds of inefficiencies from double bookings, appointment no-shows, and unnecessary phone calls, to incorrect billing. It can also help you increase revenue by reducing administrative errors and streamlining processes.
By delegating these responsibilities, your in-house staff can focus their time and energy on more important tasks like helping clients in-office and developing marketing strategies to drive more new patients.
Your practice can quickly become more productive and profitable while saving your in-house staff precious time and energy.
Ensure Smooth Communication Between In-House & Outsourced Teams
When outsourcing dental front desk work, it’s essential to ensure there is a good level of communication between the in-house and outsourced teams. This means having clear and open channels of communication such as emails, phone calls, or other meetings.
It’s crucial that you provide instructions and guidance to the outsourced team regarding your expectations for them, specific requirements and unique needs of your business, and your clients’ specific expectations. If you want them to sound like they’re at your business’ front desk, they need to know your business.
You won’t need to micromanage your outsourced employees or teams, but it is a good idea to check in regularly to be sure you’re all on the same page from time to time.
Find A Reputable Provider
Finding a provider you can trust and rely on is essential. Before selecting a provider, there are several factors to consider.
- Identify an outsourcing provider that is HIPAA compliant and familiar with the dental industry– This ensures that they have a solid understanding of your office’s specific needs and requirements.
- Research the provider’s reputation by reading reviews from other clients and talking to them directly– Do your research. Have they worked with businesses like yours? Do they have a good reputation and strong internal training? Get to know the business that will be representing your business.
By finding a reputable outsourcing provider, you can be confident that your dental front desk tasks will be handled efficiently and effectively. When it comes to outsourcing dental front desk work, several options are available. These include scheduling services, medical billing, patient communication, appointment reminders, and virtual receptionist services.
There are many advantages to hiring a dental answering service including your front office staff can focus on providing exceptional customer service while having their busy workloads supplemented.
Abby Connect: The Virtual Receptionist Saving Your Office Time & Money
Abby Connect is the virtual receptionist you need to free up time and money, allowing you to devote your energies on the activities that make your dental practice a success and help your patients.
Our dental answering service provides a small team of devoted virtual receptionists who are dedicated to giving top-notch customer service, helping you conserve time and money while developing your dental practice and keeping your customers satisfied. The team of dental virtual receptionists is thoroughly trained to know the needs and objectives to provide the level of quality you expect.
With Abby Connect for dental offices you get:
- 24/7 or flexible answering hours
- Bilingual, English and Spanish-speaking, receptionists
- A consistent team of 5-10 receptionists answering for your office
- Call answering, warm transfers, and message taking
- The AbbyGo app and web portal
- Customized patient intake
See the difference a virtual receptionist service can make for your dental practice with Abby Connect!
Sources:
- Make Time for the Work That Matters. (2013, September). Retrieved March 9, 2023, from Harvard Business Review website: https://hbr.org/2013/09/make-time-for-the-work-that-matters
