Becoming a Dental Office Administrator
Dental Office Administrators oversee the administrative operations of various dental care settings. They are responsible for planning, directing, and coordinating the service providers for proper dental care services. Their duties include marketing, budgeting, supervising the staff, maintaining relations with other organizations and most importantly, performing general office duties such as attending phone calls, scheduling appointments, helping in insurance claims, dealing with customer complaints etc.
These professionals are not directly involved in treating patients. Instead, they facilitate to ensure that employees are satisfied and working efficiently in order to provide better dental care services.
Dental Office Administrators may find employment in different types of settings such as hospitals, dentist’s office, dental care facilities, insurance companies, group medical practices etc. They mostly work long hours. They may be called at anytime to deal with their assigned issues.
Educational Requirements
To become a Dental Office Administrator, the aspiring candidates have to complete at least a high school diploma for entry-level positions. Additionally, the job aspirants can obtain a one- year certificate program in dental office administration or healthcare-related field from community colleges. However, the students can get experiences on-the-job training.
The syllabus in the certificate program includes dental terminology, dental office procedures, dental charting, dental insurance, quantitative reasoning, fiscal management, accounting, computer applications etc.
Certification and Licensure
Since a Dental office Administrator requires to be licensed in most of the states, the aspiring candidates have to pass the state licensure examination. These professionals can earn exam-based certification from the Dental Assisting National Board (DANB).
Skill Set
Dental Office Administrators possess wide range of skills such as strong decision making abilities, critical thinking capacity, time management skills, excellent administrative abilities, pleasant communication and interpersonal skills, willing to work in a team spirit, ability to establish and maintain cordial relationship with staff members and other organizations, competent in computer operations , ability to perform multi-task activities, etc.
Job Outlook and Salary
The job outlook for a Dental Office Administrator remains excellent across the USA. According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the growth rate for job opportunities in this profession may rise 10% from 2012 to 2022. The average annual salary of a Dental Office Administrator was ranging from $30,400 to $61,000 in 2014, according to their responsibilities and size of the settings.