Preparing Your Dental Practice For Your Leave Of Absence
Posted by Administrator at 5:32 PM on Sep 22, 2016
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Just like any other profession, there will be times in your dental career when you’ll need to take a leave of absence. Whether it’s for maternity leave, family emergencies, or medical reasons, it’s important that you have a plan in place for your office in the event that you’ll need some time off.
How to prepare for a leave of absence
If you wait until the last minute to make the necessary arrangements for your dental office, you’ll be causing yourself even more stress! Below are a few things to have in place in the event of an unexpected leave of absence:
- Obviously, the number one most important thing your dental practice will need in your absence is a dentist to cover for you. Many dentists will have agreements in place with colleagues to cover for each other, if needed. You can also speak with retired dentists to see if they’d be willing to help, or you can put an ad out.
- Make sure that your team is able to contact any participating PPO plans to discuss if the covering dentist needs any credentialing. This is one you’ll want to start on early, because the credentialing process can be a lengthy one, sometimes taking up to 4-6 weeks.
- Appoint one of your most trusted staff members to keep you updated on things at the office while you’re away. Make sure the associate dentist and the rest of the staff knows to communicate with this go-to person if they need to.
- Lastly, contact your CPA to help you decide the correct amount of compensation for the associate dentist. Make sure these terms are made clear from the very beginning.
We know that most dentists will spend time worrying about their practice during a leave of absence, but if you have all of the above items in place ahead of time, it doesn’t need to add any additional stress!
Please contact Dental Bookkeeping today, and we’ll take care of any and all of your dental bookkeeping needs!