How easy it is to make the transition from a competent, dedicated and experienced dental practitioner to a full-fledged dentistry administrator? Ask any professional dentist, and you’ll realize the struggle is real. This is because dental practice management involves a large amount of administrative work such as patient scheduling, collection of data, maintaining accurate medical records, inventory management, financial management and more- the list is endless.
To understand this better, let’s do an exercise. Picture the years you have been part of the dental industry. How would you describe your journey in practice? Were you satisfied with what you managed to achieve or do you think that if guided by a professional the entire journey would be completely different? This is where medical practice management coaching comes into the picture.
Medical practice management coaching (PMC) is a transformative training backed by qualified and experienced professionals. The main aim of the coaches is to offer holistic practice improvement through education, motivation and consultation. National Administrative Health Services (NAHS) knows how critical the services of a coach are for the growth and development of your dental practice, and this is why it houses reputable professionals with extensive industry experience of 15 years, allowing you to lead your practice as a revenue-generating wholesome business (result-driven corporate structure and financial planning) that not only offers quality dental care but also offers stability to the practice owners.
Common Dental Practice Management Challenges
Even though visiting a dentist is regarded to be a stressful experience for patients but managing day-to-day administrative operations of dental practices is even tougher. There are many challenges that dentists have to tackle and PMC can help in addressing and resolving them.
Competing with other dental businesses
Does your dental practice stand apart from the crowd? Why would patients prefer you over other options available out there?
Dentistry has remained to be a lucrative industry and so it’s no surprise that there are innumerable companies competing against each other. In order to make your presence felt, you need a powerful marketing strategy. With the best practice management coaching services, you can attract patients through a user-friendly website, social media handle (Facebook, Instagram or Twitter), email campaigns or even host informative webinars.
Balancing multiple appointments
The bigger the dentistry or dental hospital, the more difficult balancing appointments can be. Though a majority of the clinics overbook to ensure patients are not disappointed this can trigger difficulties, as dentists may not be able to see all the patients, thus increasing the risk of them leaving to other practitioners. Another common challenge is no-show and cancellations which leads to huge financial loss.
Hence, striking the right balance between dental appointments is vital, while ensuring dentists are not overworked to reduce the risk of burnout.
Patient confidentiality
Similar to any other healthcare practice, patient confidentially is the top most concern of dental practices. There will always be a large amount of data that should never be breached including, payment information, health records, medical reports and personal details of patients. This demands looking beyond the locked cabinets- you need a well-protected system that safeguards confidential data. Why? Think about it, any dental practice that undergoes a breach will lose its credibility instantly, leaving a dent in its reputation. Further, it also causes financial consequences that any dental practitioner would never want to face.
Financial hassles
An owner of dentistry manages huge lump sum capital every fiscal year. The purpose is to provide the ultimate dental care and keep the practice profitable, chances are you might end up being a victim of innumerable financial hurdles. This could be:
- Managing Account Receivables: There are situations when clients or patients provide late payment, mostly during an unanticipated or expensive dental procedure. Unfortunately, all that you can do is reduce the risk of that happening by managing account receivables effectively.
- Tax complications: As mentioned before, dentistry is on the rise. This places the industry in a high tax bracket, which often leads to a serious burden on dental practice. However, your practice should always pay correct taxes according to the latest tax laws and save on possible deductions.
Role of NAHS in Making Things Better
The consistent pressure of greater compliance, cost reduction, technology implementation and asset protection has always been the headlines of healthcare, and today managing them has become more complex and challenging than ever. However, with NAHS’s wide spectrum of services like practice management coaching, information technology (IT), compliance, marketing, billing & coding, human resources and financials, every aspect of the medical and dental practice can be managed to perfection.
NAHS believes that dentists are trained for high-quality dental care, as a result of which they might be completely new to the idea of practice management. Therefore, instead of adopting a one-size approach, reliable coaches customize training programs based on the size of practice, demands and complexities involved.
For example, if your dental practice is providing the finest patient experience and environment, yet still it lacks the growth that it deserves then the coaches will identify the underlying reasons, help in creating impactful marketing campaigns and incorporate advanced tech support functionalities that would give a massive boost to practice.
All in all, progress can never be assured if you are not walking in the right direction. And, for discovering this direction you can never go wrong with NAHS’s professional PMC that is designed to help you create and implement strategic actions. What if things don’t work as planned? Well, the in-depth analysis, reports and professional guidance that you get from coaches aid in re-evaluating the measures and policies of the dental practice, thus opening a new horizon for better avenues that could take your business to new heights.
So, the bottom line is that dentists are trained and qualified to provide the best dental care, but practice management is a completely different arena, where the training programs by coaches can make a world of difference. The best part is that, with NAHS, you get a complete administrative package that accelerates your progress in a short span of time.
References
https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.682.5086&rep=rep1&type=pdf