Competencies of a Dental Practice Manager
INTRODUCTION TO THE ROLE OF A DENTAL PRACTICE MANAGER
from the British Dental Practice Managers Association
A fully skilled practice manager ensures that all the non-clinical aspects of a practice i.e. the business of dentistry are managed so that the partners are free to concentrate on clinical issues.
There is an old phrase What’s in a name? and it certainly applies to those who manage dental practices in the UK. Below are just a few of the titles given to those who have this responsibility:
• Practice Manager
• Practice Administrator
• Administration Manager
• Clinic Manager
• General Manager
• Group Administrator
• Operations Manager
• Practice Coordinator
• Practice Development Manager
• Business Manager
In essence, all these individuals carry out a very similar role, but the variation in their titles is confusing, particularly for those seeking employment in dental management. There remains a certain degree of confusion in the profession as to the role of a Dental Practice Manager and there are many individuals who have the title of ‘Manager’ but the responsibilities of an administrator or receptionist. Everyone in the practice has a role to play in its administration; it may be the nurse who draws up rotas, the head receptionist who supervises reception services, the head nurse who organises nursing services to the dental team, the person responsible for buying, the bookkeeper who does the accounts or the receptionist who deals with debt control. The list is almost endless. These are the administrators. The manager organises and oversees many of these tasks and the people carrying them out. Generally, the difference between the administrator and the manager is that the administrator fulfils the task while the manager oversees it.
The variety of stakeholders and the funding of practices i.e. sole ownership, partnerships, with or without associates, with private and/or NHS funding is vast, however, all require a similar management framework and therefore the practical role of the Dental Practice Manager can be divided into six main areas:
• General Management
• Health and Safety Management
• IT & Technology Management
• Human Resource Management
• Financial Management
• Physical Resource Management
• Marketing Services & Sales Management
• Strategic Planning
A full-time practice manager in a small-sized practice i.e. a team of up to 4 employees may well have responsibility for all these areas, while in larger practices there may be managers for each area. The competences involved in these eight areas of management may include a broad range, as listed below.
General Management
| Daily office organisation |
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| Managing the day-to-day running of the office/administration tasks of the practice |
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| Organising paperwork |
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| Organising provision of office equipment such as the faxes |
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| Organising telephone systems and franking machines |
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| Dealing with incoming post, etc. |
| General purchasing |
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| Purchasing office equipment and stationery |
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| Controlling stocks of office supplies |
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| Controlling petty cash |
| Equipment lease, purchase hire, maintenance and servicing |
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| Researching and organising leasing and hiring agreements for equipment and cars |
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| Organising servicing of equipment and maintenance contracts |
| Building fabric - Resource management |
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| Creating and resourcing audit and plan |
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| Arranging building maintenance and repairs as per the plan |
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| Coordinating car park and garden arrangements and maintenance |
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| Maintaining and improving the fabric of buildings, fixtures and fittings |
| Banking |
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| Organising/overseeing cashing-up procedures |
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| Ensuring money is banked on banking days |
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| Maintaining banking records |
| Client accounts |
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| Overseeing the production and sending of client accounts |
| Debt control |
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| Responsibility for administering practice debt-control policy |
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| Overseeing the administration of debt control either internally or externally if debt collection agencies are used |
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| Putting into place procedures to reduce client debtors |
| Client complaints |
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| Dealing with client complaints received by letter, telephone or in person, and handling complaints passed on from reception |
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| *Clinical complaints would be referred on to a dental surgeon |
| Policies, protocols and procedures |
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| Drafting of practice policies |
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| Drafting of protocols and procedures and their distribution to staff |
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| Monitoring how well policies and protocols are followed |
General Management
| Staff manual |
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| Producing and maintaining staff manual |
| Clinical Governance |
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| Ensuring the implementation of Clinical governance; the system through which NHS organisations are accountable for continuously improving the quality of their services and safeguarding high standards of care, by creating an environment in which clinical excellence will flourish. |
| Internal communications |
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Ensuring good internal staff communications by use of appropriate communication methods such as:
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| Rotas |
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| Producing and maintaining staff rotas |
| Ethical and statutory requirements |
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| Possessing sound knowledge and administration of relevant dental ethics (professional conduct, confidentiality, etc.) |
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| Understanding of statutory requirements (relevant government legislation applying to the dental profession, e.g. Medicines Act, Health and Safety Act, etc.) |
| Security |
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| Ensuring building security (burglary and fire) and drug security for scheduled drugs |
Health and Safety Management
| Implementation of all health and safety legislation |
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| Maintaining up-to-date knowledge of all current health and safety legislation and requirements |
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| Implementing the necessary legislation |
| COSHH |
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| Administering COSHH |
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| Monitoring and reviewing procedures and systems |
| Carrying out risk assessments |
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| Responsibility for carrying out risk assessments in the required health and safety areas |
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| Monitoring and reviewing procedures and systems |
| Fire regulations |
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| Ensuring all fire regulations are adhered to and necessary equipment provided |
| First aid and RIDDOR |
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| Ensuring first aid training and provision, complying with RIDDOR and maintaining a practice accident book |
| Drawing up and implementing safe working procedures |
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| Producing and ensuring safe working procedures for practice staff |
| Waste disposal |
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| Ensuring practice compliance with waste disposal regulations |
| Health and safety staff training |
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| Organising and implementing health and safety training for all staff on an ongoing basis |
Human Resource Management
| Implementing employment legislation |
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| Maintaining knowledge of current employment legislation and being responsible for putting this into practice |
| Staff recruitment and selection |
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| Advertising, interviewing and selecting new staff |
| Job descriptions |
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| Producing job descriptions for all staff |
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| Producing continual updates to meet agreed roles via the appraisal process |
| Contracts of employment |
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| Drawing up contracts of employment for staff |
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| Ensuring contracts continually meet current legislation |
| Staff induction |
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| Designing and implementing induction training for all new staff |
| Appraisals |
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| Implementing and designing appraisal schemes for practice staff |
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| Implementing and monitoring appraisals |
| Staff training |
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| Implementing and designing staff-training schemes |
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| Monitoring and evaluating training on a regular basis |
| Staff motivation and teamwork |
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| Encouraging and developing staff motivation and teamwork |
| Staff discipline |
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| Monitoring staff discipline |
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| Carrying out disciplinary proceedings and maintaining appropriate records |
| Payroll |
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| Administering staff payroll, payment of salaries and record keeping |
| Sickness/holiday monitoring |
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| Monitoring staff holidays |
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| Monitoring sickness and absence leave |
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| Keeping records and reviewing staff absence rates |
IT & Technology Management
| Organisation and maintenance of the practice computer systems |
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| Having overall responsibility for the operation, maintenance and use of the practice computer system |
| Working knowledge of hardware and software |
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| Maintaining a good general knowledge of dental software and the type of hardware required by the practice |
| IT troubleshooting |
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| Demonstrating the ability to carry out basic computer troubleshooting maintenance and solve simple problems associated with the practice computer system |
| Assessment of dental software programs |
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| Having a working knowledge of types of dental software programs and providers so that assessment and comparison of available software can be made |
| Website production and maintenance |
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| Setting up or organising the setting up and maintenance of a practice website |
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| Generation and management of computerised and financial information |
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| Designing input of financial information |
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| Demonstrating ability to generate relevant financial details from the computer database to use for practice planning |
| Liaising with software and hardware companies |
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| Liaising with computer companies for purchasing, backup and helpline |
| Computer training |
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| Organising computer training for practice staff |
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| Assessing training needs |
Physical Resource Management
| Appropriateness of existing equipment and premises, maintenance and new resources |
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| Evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the resource base which either enable or hinder achieving the practice objectives |
| Equipment, gardens, car parks, buildings, vehicles, technology |
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| All to be maintained to an optimal working level. |
| Proactive cyclical maintenance |
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| Understanding the implications and consequences of not “just routine repairs” i.e. the preparation of a rolling programme of repair, refurbishment and replacement. |
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| Divided into weekly, monthly, inspections and repairs. |
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| Computers used to flag up and project plan the work. |
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| Day to day reactive maintenance systems |
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| Cyclical maintenance budgeting |
Planned maintenance
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| Implementing a rolling 5 to 10 year programme of planned maintenance and improvement |
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| Energy efficient services |
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| Major refurbishment or replacement |
Planning Permission and Building regulation approval
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| Understanding the planning consent process |
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| Seeking approval from the local building control officers |
| The law on leases and tenancies |
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| Establishing security of tenure |
Financial Management
| End of year accounts |
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| Producing end of year accounts as computerised or manual records for practice accountants |
| Monthly financial report production |
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| Generating monthly financial reports such as profit and loss for use in financial budgeting, monitoring and planning |
| Financial and business planning |
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| Acting with the partners to produce financial and business plans for the practice |
| Financial contract negotiation |
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| Liaising with the local PCT to secure the maximum contract value |
| Financial trend analysis |
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| Analysing financial information to identify practice trends |
| Cash flow and bank account management |
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| Monitoring and controlling cash flow, managing the practice bank accounts |
Ensuring compliance with terms of nGDS contract
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| Monitoring UDAs, ensuring targets are met, liaising with commissioning PCT |
| Administering practice insurances, vehicle, premises and personnel |
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| Liaising with insurance companies to obtain the best insurances for the practice |
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| Administering insurance claims |
| Materials and corporate purchase |
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| Controlling materials purchase |
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| Ensuring best discounts |
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| Liaising with manufacturers and retail companies |
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| Ordering protective clothing and uniforms and domestic items |
| Stock control |
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| Maintaining stock control, applying efficient stock control methods, stocktaking |
| Monitoring/controlling equipment purchase |
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| Using financial information and planning to monitor and control the cost of purchasing new equipment |
| Liaising with practice accountant, bank, insurers and solicitors |
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| Keeping up to date with accounting |
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| Liaising with relevant companies regarding banking, insurance and legal situation of the practice |
Marketing Services and Sales Management
| Developing marketing strategies (in consultation with partners) |
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| Planning, developing and implementing new strategies for marketing the practice |
| Target marketing planning |
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| Identifying target markets within the practice and exploiting their potential |
| Setting up/overseeing new services |
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| Designing and planning new services the practice can provide |
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| Facilitating the setting up of these new services |
| Promoting new services |
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| Promoting new services through the provision of literature/displays, etc. |
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| Liaising with the media and providing information for clients |
| Overseeing production of client communication materials |
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Organising the production and distribution of client communication materials such as:
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| Client surveying |
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| Designing client surveys, overseeing their administration, analysis of and action on the results |
| Advertising policies and procedures |
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| Producing and implementing advertising policies |
| Media liaison |
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| Responsibility for liaising/communicating with local and national media, designing practice guidelines for dealing with the media |
| Public relations |
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| Administering the practice public relations policies and maintaining good public relations at all times |
Managing product and services sales strategies
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| Devising sales strategies and implementing and overseeing new sales initiatives |
Strategic Planning
| Current position |
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Treatment rooms, team, patient profiles, demographics, distinctive activities, SWOT
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| Philosophy & Mission |
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| What you do, what you stand for and why you do it? |
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| Vision |
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| Identifying owners’ or partners’ vision |
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| Objectives |
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| Set in the following areas, financial, marketing, customer care, team, training and resources |
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| Targets |
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| Detailed SMARTER targets in financial, marketing, customer care, team, training and resources |
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| Review process |
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| Agree the process |
The changing role of the dental practice manager
Management in dental practice is being seen as a more important function than in the past. This management needs to be carried out in a skilled professional manner in order to be effective. Increasingly, many dental practices are looking to employ qualified or experienced managers to run their practices. The number of managers holding the CDPM, Dip PPM, ILM accredited or MBA qualification increases each year and these qualifications are regarded by the profession as a benchmark of quality in management.
Business managers from outside the dental profession are also being employed in increasing numbers and they bring with them experience from other professions and disciplines. As practices increase in size, diversify or target defined markets, management roles are becoming more specialised and the role of the general manager for these practices may become a position of the past.
The Practice Manager is required to become a resourceful, skilled and responsible manager as opposed to an assistant, administrator or receptionist, and is therefore indispensable in decision-making and policy formulation. More dental nurses as well as administrative staff are looking to move into management roles. With time, the practice management function is likely to become more uniform and managers better qualified to manage.
The likely four key areas of change are:
• higher qualification requirement
• increased definition of management role
• increased management specialisation as practices increase in size and diversify
• managers becoming financial stakeholders.
Conclusion
This is by no means a fully comprehensive list but it enables an understanding of the responsibilities a dental practice manager may be required to undertake. Obviously no one person can carry out all the duties listed above, but they would be expected to take responsibility for them, delegating tasks where appropriate.
The BDPMA exists to help busy, stressed practice managers run more profitable and successful practices. We actively encourage the development of commercial expertise, broad business and personal skills and formal qualifications amongst managers because we believe that possessing them will help them to achieve the goals of the practice and to fulfil their own personal and professional ambitions.
This document should be used in conjunction with the 2007 Pay Scale and as a development tool to encourage all managers, no matter what their current title or responsibilities, to aspire to and embrace new skill sets.
We wish you well in your endeavour.
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