The functions of the assistant to the dental administrator typically include managing medical records, receivables and reimbursements, as well as billing patients and insurance, scheduling patients, and coding procedures and diagnoses. As a dental office assistant, your primary responsibilities are focused on administrative tasks and patient care. You are responsible for answering the phone, scheduling appointments, and performing tests or measurements before the patient goes to the dentist. Gather medical history, perform x-rays, sterilize tools, clean and prepare the exam room, and prepare tools for the dentist. It also provides resources and education on dental health.
It also executes infection prevention protocols. The most common tasks of a dental administrative assistant include providing information to patients, preparing dental records, and scheduling appointments for the dentist and his staff. The primary function of the dental receptionist is to greet and assist patients the moment they enter the office. The reason dental offices are looking for someone with a specific dental certification program is because they need specific qualifications and training, and those programs generally cover specific dental tasks. The skills listed above are often what Canadian dental offices expect candidates to have when looking to hire a dental office administrator.
Dental administrative assistants are responsible for processing new patient information, scheduling appointments, following up with patients to confirm their appointment and rescheduling them if necessary if they cannot attend an appointment, among other tasks that help manage a dental office. The business dental assistant will also be responsible for administrative scheduling, including maintaining office records, documenting patients' dental treatments and transactions, monitoring office procedures for patient referrals, and scheduling office appointments. For those who want to work with patients instead of focusing entirely on administrative tasks, they should consider a career as a dental assistant. While dental office managers don't work directly with dental patients, they still play an important role in dental office culture. Dental administrative assistants spend a lot of time at their desks, working with patient documents, different forms and computer systems.
Any way you look at it, learning to become a dental administrative assistant through an online school like Northwest Career College offers a lot of benefits that can't be found anywhere else. Not only do dental assistants schedule appointments and record valuable information, but they also organize and clean equipment, take x-rays, provide support during dental procedures, and educate patients about their dental hygiene.
