Exploring the Multifaceted Role of a Dental Practice Manager

Introduction

The assignment in the current context works on understanding the role of a dental practice manager. The assignment additionally points out the role of the manager towards the employees, inclusive of the medical and non-medical professionals. Similarly, as the name suggests, the dental practice manager is often sought responsible for managing the team. The work thus highlights the roles and responsibilities of a dental practice manager in training and managing staff with varied needs. The role of the dental practice manager is highlighted beyond the operational concept and extends beyond the domain of hiring. The aspects of hiring, coupled with the process and involvement of the dental practice manager, is highlighted, providing a detailed description of the managers in the mentioned context.

Task 1 Main role of dental practice manager

Purpose

The purpose of a dental office manager is to help staff in all the possible ways to become more productive, competent, and efficient, helping to form a profitable practice delivering excellent service to the patients. The managers need to maintain a high level of integrity and competence that is followed by the staff. Dental manager, along with the practicing stuff it's about of competence (McCutcheon, 2019). Employees find themselves working for someone who’s integrity and develop competence is lower than their own then they are likely to switch their profession

Mission statement

Helping to develop a profitable practice that provides excellent services to the patient

work on creating an environment that is harmonious

ensure that the quality of patient care is the guiding light for the process of decision making

Code of conduct

People working together need guidelines to be guided. The purpose of the dental service organization is to enhance the level of productivity for improving the relationship among the staff. Guidance should be enforced in a manner that is constructive in nature (Wood, 2017). Thus, it is important to define and make the guidelines available so the staff is highly familiar with what can be expected. The dental manager sits down or codes of conduct within which the practicing employees need to act. Violation of acceptable conduct married to written on verbal warning and in worst-case scenario possible discharge (Wood, Hocking and Temple-Smith, 2016).

Keep the doctor focused

The practice owner should focus on serving patients as much as possible without spending a lot of time managing the practice. The office manager should work on focusing on having patience and not the money. (Wood, Hocking and Temple-Smith, 2016)The money is likely to come at the focus of the practice is concentrated on helping the people while improving the quality of care through excellent communication and dentistry.

Two critical systems can help the practice keep away from trouble. The dentist needs to be aware of the system in order to use them. Office managers need to develop and maintain a budget on a monthly basis to exercise their control over the operating expenses, payroll supplies, and equipment (Weinreich and Groher, 2016). A dentist manager needs to create a proper job description that is customized as per the position within the practice. The purpose of the steps to provide procedures in a written format that is specific to each job position. Writings on the policies and procedures can give the manager effective ways of training and correcting the staff by linking their job with the established protocol approved by the owner (Rowland, 2016). Good employees or staff have quit or fired unnecessarily. The reverse is true as negative and nonproductive staff have remained when they should not be allowed to stay due to their levels of nonproductivity. In order to save unnecessary burnout of employees, the policies need to be kept updated saving a lot of time that is needed in hiring for training the employees

Task 2 Ways to Manage the team

The job of a practice manager is varied depending on the organization. Scheduling and staffing usually fall under the role of the practice manager. In smaller practices, the financial task is still with the practice manager, such as managing the budget and revenue cycle (Leggatt, 2018). The practice manager is responsible for handling and managing the employees within the office, and this includes recruiting and training new employees. A practice manager needs management implications and their requirements relating to sick leave. Monitoring and scheduling keep the office adequately staffed. Managing the team often conferences the practice manager with the dispute (Lowe, 2017). Dispute resolution can be termed as one of the most prime roles of the practice manager. The practice manager thus needs to set an example maintaining harmony within the organization.

Managing team demands a list of effective management techniques that are termed as follows (Sasnett, Harris and White, 2018):

Maintaining a good level of communication

Building highly positive work-related relationships

Acknowledging the good work to motivate the employees for enhancing the rate of productivity

Delegate jobs to the right kind of people in order to avoid incidents of overburdening

Most importantly, it is important to listen and ask questions. If someone fails to agree with the management style of the dental practice manager, it is important to find the issue that is leading the management. As influenced by Kieran, MacMahon, and MacCurtain (2020), one size does not fit all the team is composed of individuals who are unique in their approach preferences and strength. Using the same approach for motivating them may not provide the expected adequate result. Thus, it is important to customize the approach in order to meet the decision of all the employees. Furthermore, transparency shows the integrity of the practice manager file building trust with the individual members of the team if the practice manager withholds information, it could jeopardize the relationship and the respect the practice manager commands as a leader (Udhian, 2019)

Task 3 Ways to recruit, select and induct new staff member

The hiring of the nurse is done on the basis of qualification. The nurse needs to have a minimum of an associate degree (Awojobi et al. 2018). Once the hiring is confirmed, then hours need to sign an employment contract that sets out the working policies, scope of services leaves, and compensation. After the event of hiring is completed, it is important to make the nurse aware of the organizational policies. Thus, it is important to train the nurse as per the organizational policies and keep her under a probation period for a minimum of 90 days. [Refer to appendix1]

The act of selection, induction, and recruitment are all processes of the human resource plan for hiring and training the new employees. The talent pool in the global market is big and competitive (Keir-Rawlings and Allen, 2017). An evident lack of strategy in Human resources may not bring the appropriate talent within the organization. This is sometimes called the full life cycle recruiting.

It is important to identify recruitment needs, and it is the first step followed in the process of recruitment. By identifying the needs of the position, the job description can be written and posted for attracting potential candidates possessing the mentioned experience levels, qualification, and education standards. It is for the same reason the company needs to hire a practice manager as a recruitment need is often far beyond the role of a dentist. The person needs experience and knowledge on programs and managing the employees it may be necessary that this person interacts with people ensuring that the services maintain in the proper way (Reina et al. 2018).

A recruiter conducting the hiring of new employees consumes a lot of time. However, if done correctly, the payoff for the time is a huge advantage as the employer successfully acquires a highly qualified employee for the business. Following the ways that need to be followed for hiring the position for nurse and dentist:

First, it is important to review the current staff structure. One way to do this is to list all the tasks currently done by the staff assigning the task that the employee should do, and the remaining task will help in identifying the gap in services (Chiu, Balkundi, and Weinberg, 2017). Secondly, it is important to create a description for the position giving a clear understanding of the type of person the practice manager is looking for as well as their roles and responsibilities. It is important for the leaders are important to find the potential staff candidate. The candidate is often attracted by job responsibilities and salary details. However, the practice manager needs to be aware that the advertisement is to comply with the current legislation for ensuring that the right kind of wage is offered and meets the criteria for an equal employment opportunity and anti-discriminatory practices (Awojobi et al. 2018). Additionally, it is important to evaluate the employees as each application may be different, and the practice manager needs to handle them differently.

Similarly, a systematic process of selection is important for ensuring transparency within the process of recruitment. Firstly it avoids legal problems as everyone is put through the same process, and no one can claim that they were not hired due to discrimination (Seshadri and Elangovan, 2019). The second is not to rely on the gut reaction and feeling good about someone. A systematic process means that everyone needs to go through a series of qualifying tests. Employees are being hired for the position of nurse; they need to have relevant experience of the same. The position of a practicing dentist demands a license and requires educational qualification. Onboarding for successful integration is implemented when new hires start (Chiu and Fogel, 2017). Onboarding is a process of dealing with standard human resources and payroll-related paperwork for financial and legal compliance. This part is inclusive of security and system training. It is wise to hold the team meeting to introduce the new employee to the existing ones and what round the facility. This can work on integrating the person into the corporate culture.

Task 4 Identifying the needs of new staff members

The new employees need to be trained as per the organizational rules. Proper training can be termed as the backbone of a successful organization. Employees receiving the right kind of training tend to be productive and satisfied with their work experience (Evans, Rees, and Edwards, 2017). In order to understand and address the training needs of the employees, the dental practice manager should work on the following criteria:

It is important to explore the overall performance by looking into sections of the organization instead of the organization as a whole. Examine the candidates and then within the aspects they are lacking or performing below the expected standards (Barbosa et al. 2017).

Secondly, it is important to compare the organization with the competitors and work on understanding the ways that help the competitors to succeed. This may mean overhauling the current practices and policies while implementing new technology and changing everyone is going to need updated training (Reina et al. 2018).

Similarly, it is important to perform the individual assessment by delegating the task to small groups or individuals. Measuring the performance can work on determining the weakness and strength. Training can work on boosting the level of productivity, provided that the training is customized to the areas where productivity needs to be enhanced (Joel, 2017)

Conclusion

On the basis of the above studies, it can be clearly concluded there remains no need for a professional study to work as a dental practice manager. The main skills are similar to a leader, inclusive of better analytical skills and a clear mode of communication. The manager in the mentioned case needs to be both aware and agile while understanding the needs of the employees. The proactive nature of the manager can be termed useful while ensuring that the work productivity level is rightly maintained.

Reference list

Awojobi, O., Movahedi, S., Jones, E. and Gallagher, J.E., 2018. Can dental nurse training provide exposure to both practice and hospital settings?. BDJ Team, 5(7), p.18102.

Barbosa, M.A.C., Matos, F.R.N., Mendonça, J.R.C., Paiva, K.C.M., and Cassundé, F.R.D.S.A., 2017. The role of manager: Perceptions from academic-managers of a Brazilian Federal University. education policy analysis archives, 25, p.12.

Chiu, C.Y.C., Balkundi, P. and Weinberg, F.J., 2017. When managers become leaders: The role of manager network centralities, social power, and followers' perception of leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 28(2), pp.334-348.

Chiu, H. and Fogel, J., 2017. The role of manager influence strategies and innovation attributes in innovation implementation. Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration.

Evans, D., Rees, M. and Edwards, R., 2017. The influence of subsidiary strategic role on manager‘s mindset. Electronic Journal of Business & Management, 2(1), pp.11-28.

Joel, L.A., 2017. Advanced practice nursing: Essentials for role development. FA Davis.

Keir-Rawlings, A. and Allen, D., 2017. Secrets of a male dental nurse. Dental Nursing, 13(5), pp.218-219.

Kieran, S., MacMahon, J. and MacCurtain, S., 2020. Strategic change and sensemaking practice: enabling the role of the middle manager. Baltic Journal of Management.

Leggatt, C., 2018. The evolution of the dental practice manager. Dental Nursing, 14(12), pp.604-604.

Lowe, H., 2017. The practice manager guide to accounts. Part 2: Expenditure. Practice Management, 27(8), pp.38-39.

Masters, K., 2018. Role development in professional nursing practice. Jones & Bartlett Learning.

McCutcheon, J., 2019. The expanding role of the practice manager. Practice Management, 29(1), pp.40-41.

Metz, I., Kulik, C.T., Cregan, C. and Brown, M., 2017. The manager as employer agent: The role of manager personality and organizational context in psychological contracts. Personnel Review.

Reina, C.S., Rogers, K.M., Peterson, S.J., Byron, K. and Hom, P.W., 2018. Quitting the boss? The role of manager influence tactics and employee emotional engagement in voluntary turnover. Journal of leadership & organizational studies, 25(1), pp.5-18.

Rowland, N., 2016. Planning to be a practice manager?. Dental Nursing, 12(5), pp.278-279.

Sasnett, B., Harris, S.T. and White, S., 2018. Patient-Centered Medical Home Undergraduate Internship, Benefits to a Practice Manager: Case Study. The health care manager, 37(2), pp.136-141.

Seshadri, V. and Elangovan, N., 2019. ROLE OF MANAGER IN GEOGRAPHICALLY DISTRIBUTED TEAM; A REVIEW. Journal of Management (JOM), 6(1).

Udhian, N., 2019. Hiring a practice manager. BDJ In practice, 32(4), pp.30-30.

Weinreich, R. and Groher, I., 2016. The architect's role in practice: From decision maker to knowledge manager?. IEEE Software, 33(6), pp.63-69.

Wolstencroft, P. and Lloyd, C., 2019. Process to practice: The evolving role of the academic middle manager in English further education colleges. Management in Education, 33(3), pp.118-125.

Wood, A., 2017. The role of the practice manager in general practice-based research.

Wood, A., Hocking, J. and Temple-Smith, M., 2016. The practice manager role and relevance to general practice-based research: a review of the literature. Australian journal of primary health, 22(2), pp.86-92.

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Appendices

Appendix 1: Required qualifications for dental nurse

QCF Level 3 Diploma in Dental Nursing.

NVQ Level 3 in Dental Nursing.

National Diploma in Dental Nursing (NEBDN)

Certificate of Higher Education in Dental Nursing (Full time course)

Foundation Degree in Dental Nursing (Full time course)

With 1-2 years clinical experience working as a Dental Nurse.

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