3 Things You Can Outsource For Your Dental Practice Right Now
Are you looking to expand your dental practice? Or, just looking to cut down on canceled appointments and no-shows? Outsourcing can help you with both of these things! As a general practitioner and dental practice owner, there’s a lot of things on your to-do list. Maybe you’ve heard about other dentists outsourcing but are unsure if it’s for you. Read on to find out what our Gig Gurus can do for you!
Marketing & Design
Here’s a shocker…It turns out people don’t love talking about their dentist and their dental work! It’s not the 1950’s anymore. Relying on word of mouth just doesn’t work. Marketing is a necessary part of growing your practice. But as a dentist, you most likely don’t know much about advertising and social media marketing.
You get a team of experts
With SmartMomGig, you select your Guru based on their profile and skill set. Many of our Gig Gurus have backgrounds in marketing. But due to COVID-19 layoffs or the desire to stay home with their children, they’ve chosen to work freelance. We also have graphic designers, web designers, and copywriters‒ready and waiting to help you grow your business! Plus, when you hire a Gig Guru to handle your marketing, you have more time for your patients and office operations.
You save money
One of the biggest expenses in dental practices is paying staff’s salary and benefits. When you hire by the gig, you only pay for what you need. You don’t need to worry about paying for insurance, retirement, sick pay, etc.
Scheduling & Appointment Reminders
People don’t enjoy having their teeth cleaned. So like most dentists, you probably get a lot of cancellations and rescheduling. The constant demand of appointment requests, cancellations, and rescheduling takes up a lot of your staff’s time. Hiring someone just to answer the phones (virtually, of course) and handle scheduling can get your practice flowing smoothly again.
You cut down on cancellations
Cancellations mean revenue lost. And you really don’t want to be “that” dentist, the one who charges a ridiculous cancellation fee. Or maybe you’ve already tried enforcing cancellation fees, and it cost you even more revenue when angry patients took their business elsewhere. So what’s the solution? How can you decrease the number of cancellations without driving your loyal customers away?
Our Gig Gurus can help you with appointment reminders! Patients who get a phone call reminder plus a text or email are more likely to show up to their appointment. And outsourcing your scheduling and appointment reminders lets your front desk staff focus on other responsibilities, such as checking in patients.
Someone Else Does the Billing
You try to verify insurance coverage beforehand, but that’s the problem with insurance companies. Each one is different. You have to call for some, while others have an online or even email system for verification. And sometimes, patients need immediate dental care. So, things slip through the cracks, and then you’re left chasing down remaining balances from patients who think they shouldn’t have to pay. It’s all just a headache! Luckily, you can outsource your billing, too.
You reduce stress for the front desk
No one enjoys trying to collect overdue bills. So why not let someone else handle it and free your staff up for more important matters? A dedicated person to oversee outstanding bills also means that you’re more likely to get paid without having to send debts to collection agencies.
You have backup when someone is out
In many small businesses, only one person handles the billing. And that’s great until that person needs to be out for a few weeks. If you’re facing this type of situation, post a gig! One of our Gig Gurus can help cover you while your regular staff is out.
You make less careless mistakes
When just one or two people handle all of the billing, the likelihood of errors is much higher. Outsourcing part of your billing process can lighten the load and reduce oversight errors.
Hiring A Freelancer Can Benefit Your Patients
The primary benefits of outsourcing are time saved, money saved, and expertise gained. And it’s these three reasons that more and more dentists are turning to virtual assistants, call centers, freelance sites, and other remote work options.
Before you decide whether to outsource or not, consider your patients. How will the choice of outsourcing affect them? Will they benefit from you and your staff having more time to dedicate to their care? Of course! Can you outsource everything? Of course not! But you can outsource a lot of tasks and, in the process, free up your core staff to provide better service.
The bottom line is that outsourcing is specific to each practice. And whether it’s right for your practice is a choice only you can make. But if you do decide to hire outside assistance, we are here to help.
Set up your account here or watch this tutorial on posting a gig.