Dental practices can face several staffing challenges that can lead to poor patient care and even loss of business. Luckily, there are many options for finding temporary employees to meet your practice’s needs.
Some options include a temp agency or an on-demand staffing platform. The benefits of using a temp agency are numerous and can make the difference between success and failure in your practice.
Saves You Time and Money
There are many costs to starting a new dental practice. It can quickly change from renting a space to purchasing equipment to setting up a website. Staffing agencies can help you save money by matching qualified dentists, hygienists, and dental assistants with available positions.
Using a dental assistant staffing agency also allows you to focus on your patients and your business instead of trying to find and train new employees. Often, staffing agencies have the resources to provide the training that your dental office requires for your temporary employees.
A successful dental practice needs to be fully staffed with highly qualified professionals. Having the correct number of staff members helps you avoid long wait times, which can lead to patient frustration, bad reviews, and lost revenue.
Hiring dental professionals takes time to review resumes, interview candidates, test their skills, run background checks, and onboard new hires. Staffing agencies can reduce this process by providing qualified candidates quickly and efficiently.
Using a temp agency can also save you money by filling gaps in your staff due to vacation, sick, or maternity/paternity leave. Temp agencies typically only charge you for hours they have workers work, saving your practice the cost of hiring, benefits, and salary. In addition, temp agencies can help reduce turnover by providing you with experienced and skilled workers.
Saves You Stress
With dental patient demand increasing and dental practice production goals rising, it can take time to meet the demand. This may involve moving to a larger office, bringing in more associates, or introducing new services that offer value to patients.
Having the right staff members in place will make the difference between meeting and exceeding your production goals or having to turn away patients. It will also ensure you have the staffing support you need during busy periods and unforeseen emergencies.
Staffing agencies provide dental hygienists and assistants who have been vetted for work experience, education, and skills. They can offer flexibility in hours and pay rates and allow the dentist to “try out” a temp before making a permanent hiring decision.
Dental platforms are an alternative to traditional staffing agencies, allowing hygienists and assistants to connect with dental offices to find temporary assignments. However, they do not typically offer benefits or pay W2 wages, and they may charge a permanent job placement fee or require a contract.
When your team members are overwhelmed, it can lead to a breakdown in communication and create resentment. This could be better for the business and a better environment to nurture patient care and customer service goals. Staffing agencies can provide relief for office administration and administrative staff so they can focus on building relationships with patients.
You Time
When building a dental practice, saving time and money is essential. Dentists, orthodontists, and dental specialists spend tens of millions on marketing to get patients in their doors but often miss the chance to turn those patients into loyal clients through well-managed office operations.
Having an efficient office management system (PMS) is one of the best investments you can make to save your team time and boost revenue. A PMS streamlines clerical tasks by automating repetitive work, providing digital record-keeping, and making it easier for patients to schedule appointments online.
Patient billing is a significant source of income for dental practices and typically accounts for 50% or more of total revenue. An experienced and skilled team adept at processing insurance claims, creating and batching them, working the aging report, and fighting denials is essential to getting paid quickly and efficiently.
Another way to save on overhead costs is by negotiating with suppliers on pricing and services. By reducing waste, purchasing supplies in bulk, and eliminating unnecessary services like credit card processing, you can cut costs without sacrificing patient care or experience. For example, you can find great deals on high-quality dental tools and products by buying directly from a manufacturer. It’s always worth comparing prices between suppliers to ensure you receive the best dollar value.
Saves You Money
Saving money is a crucial component of running a successful dental practice. The dental industry is expensive, and making money-conscious decisions for your budget is essential. This includes analyzing the cost of new purchases and procedures. It’s also necessary to have a comprehensive marketing strategy. This can be outsourced or handled in-house, including search engine optimization services, Google My Business, and social media management.
When a dental office is short-staffed, it can lead to extended wait times for patients and other financial costs. Dental staffing agencies can help save money by providing temporary employees to fill the gap. These workers can assist with patient check-ins, take and process X-rays, provide dental hygiene treatments, or perform other healthcare support tasks. Staffing agencies also have a vast network of candidates and can find the right candidate to meet your needs.
Conclusion
In conclusion hiring temporary workers, dental practices can cut their overhead by implementing cost-saving technologies like VoIP phones and text messaging systems. These systems can simplify how an office communicates with patients by offering unlimited local and long-distance calls, improved phone trees, and features that record, forward, and track incoming calls. Additionally, most people open text messages rather than email and phone calls, which can effectively reach your patient base.
