If your practice is overwhelmed with repetitive tasks and you notice that your in-house employees are not as productive as they can be, this could be a sign that you need virtual team members to lessen the load.  However, the cost of employing a full-time team member according to research from Glassdoor, the average employer spends $4000 and 24 days to hire a new worker.

Some of the other indirect costs that practices should consider when hiring a full team member include:

• Candidate sourcing
• Pre-hire assessments
• Background checks
• Work eligibility
• Workspace equipment and stationery

However, with remote team members, practices can save up to 75% on payroll costs and still get a qualified and trained team member to support the in-house team. A good outsourcing partner will ensure that the team member will have all the necessary equipment, support, and training to take on the various tasks that you assign to them.

 

Here are some of the tasks that a virtual team member can do to lessen the load on your team so that they can focus on delivering great patient care.

1. Insurance Verification and claims

Insurance verification is one of the most important aspects of dental practices. Verifying your patient’s eligibility prior to appointments causes more accurate treatment plans as well as less hassle for payment from the insurance companies.  As a practice owner consider investing in a virtual team to handle repetitive insurance verifications.

Many dentists write off about $5000 a year in lost revenue from expired or claims that have exceeded their timely filing.  Working past due claims can increase your collections and create more accurate patient account balances. Your remote team member can be checking the status of outstanding claims, resend claims that were not received, close off paid claims and send the additional information that may be holding up the claim with insurance.

 

2. Reactivation of patients

Your remote team member can re-activate patients that haven’t come into your office in the last 18-24 months. Keeping patients inactive is costing your practice money through re-care systems and inaccurate patient counts.  There is a substantial opportunity for a significant return on investment from having your remote team member getting your existing patients to reengage with your practice.

 

3. Digital Marketing

You can leverage marketing experts to help your practice grow or fill up your appointment schedule. Remote team members can help your practice gain visibility on Google or social media at a fraction of the cost of hiring a full-time employee or agency.

 

4. Accounting and Bookkeeping 
   

Getting paid on time is critical for any business to survive and keeping track of these finances is also key in the long term. Partners such as SupportDDS, provide a number of professional positions that your dental practice can easily and affordably leverage. You can choose from virtual CFOs, CPAs, Accounting and payroll managers to name a few.  If simple day-to-day Accounts Receivable is needed your remote team member can learn how to take a patient from the appointment, to filing claims, posting those payments, and finally settling the accounts with the patients.  Our team members are capable and eager to help wherever help is needed.

 

SupportDDS is a leading Texas-based insourcing company that provides virtual assistants and administrative support for businesses. Moreover, we provide both short and long-term virtual insourcing services customized to suit your business process needs.