You Hired an Associate, Congratulations! Now what?

By: Angela Holland

As a dental practice owner, you may reach a point where the demand for your services outpaces your ability to handle it all on your own.

Whether you’re struggling to manage an influx of new patients, dealing with burnout from working long hours, or simply looking to scale your practice, hiring an associate dentist can be one of the most effective ways to ease the burden and ensure long-term success.

Benefits of Bringing in an Associate

Bringing in an associate dentist isn’t just about relieving your own workload—it’s also about enhancing the overall experience for both your patients and your team. By adding an associate, you’re not only expanding your practice’s capacity to see more patients, but you’re also improving patient care by providing more flexibility in scheduling and a wider range of expertise.

1. Increases the Volume of Patients Your Practice Can Treat

For starters, hiring an associate can help increase the volume of patients your practice can treat. With a second dentist on board, you can extend office hours, offer more appointment slots, and accommodate more patients without compromising the quality of care.

This allows you to serve a larger patient base, increasing your practice’s revenue without needing to increase your own hours or become overwhelmed. As a result, the added revenue can help you reinvest in the practice—whether it’s upgrading equipment, increasing marketing efforts, or providing more advanced treatments.

2. Opportunity to Provide Better Continuity of Care

Another key benefit of hiring an associate is the opportunity to provide better continuity of care for your patients. Many patients prefer the familiarity of seeing the same dentist regularly, but having an associate can help alleviate scheduling conflicts, particularly for those who need urgent care or have busy schedules.

With a second dentist, patients have more flexibility in choosing appointment times that fit their lives, reducing wait times and increasing patient satisfaction.

3. Fresh Energy & New Perspectives

An associate dentist can also bring fresh energy, new perspectives, and specialized skills to your practice. Depending on their background and expertise, they may be able to offer services or procedures that you don’t currently provide.

This can make your practice more attractive to potential patients who are seeking specific treatments, such as cosmetic dentistry or pediatric care. Additionally, bringing in an associate allows you to introduce new techniques and ideas that can help improve office operations, patient care, and even the office culture. This can foster an environment of collaboration and professional growth, benefiting your entire team.

Considerations Before Bringing in an Associate

However, hiring an associate dentist comes with its own set of challenges and considerations.

1. Financial Stability

It’s important to ensure that your practice is financially stable enough to support another dentist’s salary and the associated costs, such as benefits, malpractice insurance, and continuing education.\

2. Cutlture Fit

You’ll need to take the time to find the right fit in terms of skills, personality, and professional values. Building a good working relationship with your associate is key to ensuring a smooth transition and fostering a positive office culture.

3. Flexibility

Lastly, it’s important to note that hiring an associate dentist provides you with the opportunity to gradually step back from the daily grind of patient care. As the practice grows, you may find yourself shifting more into a leadership or management role, focusing on practice strategy, business development, and overseeing the team.

This allows you to reduce the physical and mental demands of providing direct care, which can lead to improved work-life balance and overall job satisfaction.

In Conclusion

In conclusion, hiring an associate dentist is a smart move for practice owners who are looking to grow, improve patient care, and avoid burnout. By adding an associate, you not only increase the capacity of your practice, but you also open the door to new opportunities for your team, your patients, and your long-term success.

With careful planning and the right person on board, an associate can help take your practice to new heights. 

I’ve created a summary that is important for practices and their team memebrs to remember during the credentialing process for your associate, please see below! 

Your associate can and should start seeing patients during the credentialing period.

Your associate will be processed as an out of network provider during this time frame, but that is okay if you remember these important tips below.

 It is important to keep in mind a few tips: 

1. Delta Dental and BCBS do not reimburse the office for out of network providers, if possible, allow the already credentialed Doctor to see these patients to ensure reimbursement comes to the office and does NOT get sent to the patient directly.
   1. If this is not an option you can collect 100% of contracted fee upfront from the patient and then insurance will reimburse the patient directly. This can create concerns or hesitation from patients. 
2. You may be recommended to hold some insurance company claims temporarily to ensure reimbursement is as smooth as possible. 
3. When out of network, you can still choose to honor in-network fees to ensure patients feel as little impact as possible. 
4. It is important to keep in mind that TPAs (Third Party Administrator) will take additional time past the initial networking for them to all go in network. 
5. Please submit a W9 and a short letter (on your letterhead) with all claims stating that you hired the associate (include their name and NPI) and they are practicing under your TIN until that each insurance plan recognizes them in- network. This helps claims process more seamlessly during the credentialing time period.
6. Do NOT submit claims for treatment the associate completed under a different provider to keep claims processing in- network. It is insurance fraud to submit claims under a provider other than the rendering provider for any period of time. 
7. Insurance verification is a necessary task always; however, it is especially important to verify if patients have out of network benefits during this credentialing period to ensure reimbursement prior to treatment being completed.