The Value of a Dental Practice Office Manager

If an office manager’s job in a dental practice is not well defined, it can be a truly thankless role. The team members just want to be left alone to do their thing and the dentist-owner just wants the manager to find a way to make it work. No wonder so many office managers feel overwhelmed and under-supported. This applies whether we are talking about a full time office manager or, in smaller practices, a senior team member who takes on additional administrative duties.

I have written before about some of the principles of empowering an office manager. How then, does an office manager define success in their role?

First of all, an office manager needs to always be aware of that important tension between maintaining the foundation and driving continual growth. This can be determined by tracking how much time is spent working in the practice (administrative tasks) as opposed to how much time is spent committing to working on the practice (growth strategies). An office manager can measure how well those growth strategies are working by following universal "vital signs" such as overall revenue per hour for the practice, case acceptance rates, patient retention and new patient flow.

Empowering and Supporting

Beyond this, the role of the office manager is unique because it involves empowering and supporting the other team members. Ultimately this person can measure their success as a leader by how well those team members achieve their goals. They have to understand each role and its unique indicators in order to help co-workers optimize performance. As a leader, their success is defined by the success of their co-workers.

The office manager is also your representative when it comes to communicating to the team, which means they are the primary organizer of team meetings. The office manager sets the agenda, based on your direction. They prepare and present findings on performance in relation to goals, and helps establish new targets. Any team member should be able to report on progress in their particular area, but it's the office manager who puts all those results in context for the whole practice. When decisions are made on action plans during meetings, it’s the office manager who drives the implementation and accountability for those action items.

Ultimately, the office manager’s overriding purpose is to optimize the value of your time. This valuable employee ensures that the practice schedule is continually optimized, and is also your eyes and ears in the practice, relieving you of the day-to-day business worries so that you can focus on top level strategy. Which is, after all, your role as a leader.