Dental group practices are formed in dozens of ways. Some are the result of long-term planning where each office is thoroughly evaluated and measured to determine if it is a good fit for the group. Others occur suddenly due to tragic circumstances where everything is in a rush.

No matter how your multilocation group practice was formed, you may be looking for a more organized approach to management to make the most of your group practice.

Benefits of solid management

You may see that the dentist-owner of your group is busy. Perhaps this dentist is seeing patients, coaching associates on clinical care and case acceptance, keeping an eye on the bottom line and trying to visit the different office regularly to stay in touch with the team and provide leadership to the group.

And, if your group is growing, the dentist may also be meeting with advisors, considering new practices for purchase and meeting with the accountant to make sure everything is on track.

That could mean you're on your own to manage the practice as best you can. As you go through your long days, you know there are many facets of business management that need handled, such as:

• Developing leaders among the staff — includes team leaders for each clinical team as well as a leader for each location
• Reporting daily and monthly numbers — the dentist-owner asks for reports to see the performance of each location, but you may not know which ones are the best and most accurate
• Running effective meetings — allow staff and dentists to follow up on projects and make sure tasks get accomplished in a timely manner
• Managing all technology — evaluate purchases, manage installation and training and keep up with day to day computer/equipment issues
• Managing staff — manage staff who ask for raises, handle upsets, coordinate the schedule and keep everyone on the same page
• Managing marketing — manage the budget, keep the website updated along with social media and videos, evaluate marketing programs and make sure all marketing programs provide a decent return on investment
• Managing finances — manage bill paying and oversee the aging and insurance outstanding to make sure the income and expenses are meeting industry benchmarks and in the proper balance
• Training staff — identify practice needs (is it time to add another hygienist or assistant?), consistently train staff to meet both clinical care and customer service needs of patients
• Supporting dentists — facilitate meetings with agendas and follow up to help the dentists and specialists across all locations maintain relationships and work smoothly together
• Handling upset patients — deal with complaints in an effective, caring, confident manner

Who should handle each of these tasks? As group practices are formed and these management-level tasks become essential for success, a dental administrator position can be created to take care of all these tasks. The dental administrator is primarily responsible for running the business side of the group practice — and the tasks listed above become the job description.

The ideal candidate for this dental administrator position is someone who thinks strategically, writes well and manages people well. Often, in a group practice, there is at least one office manager who seems to rise to the top in management skills, and this may be an opportunity to promote this person into this role.

Training for a dental administrator

Are you in the dental administrator role in your group practice now? Do you feel you could use some training? Training on dental-specific knowledge such as dental software reporting or insurance management is essential for someone new to the dental field. And, for an office manager promoted into this oversight role, business skills are needed to handle the volume and variety of tasks required.

There are several helpful training resources available. From reading magazines and blogs to taking online courses or reports to attending conferences, your dental administrator can gain knowledge and skills.

A great way to train your dental administrator is to find an experienced group practice administrator to show her the ropes. Through providing an organized training approach and being a personal resource for your administrator, this may be one of the fastest ways to train successfully.

Ongoing management support

Once you learn management skills, you can partner with your dentist-owner to run the practice. With regular meetings and continued education by the dentist-owner, you will continue to expand your role — eventually recruiting new dentists and supporting the dentist-owner's special projects.

One of the challenges you will face is a rapid accumulation of new projects on top of regular responsibilities without falling behind. This takes the ability to delegate and train staff throughout the offices so all the work is completed in a timely manner.

As group practices are being rapidly created, we need to be prepared to manage them well. From an administrator perspective, the job description and responsibilities for managing a multilocation group practice are both challenging and exciting.

As administrators look for opportunities to develop their skills, they will improve the performance of the practices they manage. This will help the groups to become more successful and expand, creating a virtuous cycle (the opposite of a vicious cycle) that continues to encourage the expansion of group practice.