Can the practice manager be the treatment coordinator?

This is a question that we are asked every week!

Both Michael and I were practice managers and treatment coordinators, the trick with it is:

1. Expectations
2. Time management

To do both roles I firmly believe that you have to be a full time team member. 3 days are to be allocated to the management role and 2 days to the TCO role.

It is really important that as a PM you know what is expected of you to ensure you have the right job description for the 3 days as a manager.

All managers and owners know that every manager is different, some are reactive managers who deal with problems non stop, others work on the business, some do both so be clear with the role that you complete in the 3 days.

The same applies for Treatment Coordination. We have a 7 point vision plan for the TCO role, naturally not all practices use the 7 aspects but again it is important that you know the aspects that are required of you for 2 days a week.

Free consultations take up a huge amount of time, as does supporting the dentists with options, the notes you have to document for both appointments are immense so time needs to be allocated correctly!

Managers who are TCOs need to zone their own diary so that they are clear of the hat they are wearing and when. A diary may look like this:

Monday –

Management all day

Tuesday –

TCO AM

Management PM

and so on.

It is not advisable to have each day with a carte blanche for TCO appointments so you can complete management in between patients. You will quickly feel overwhelmed and achieve little.

Confirm your expectations and manage your time and then a full time manager will see that it is possible to do both roles that quite frankly give you two different types of job satisfaction!

Laura