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(A two-part series on "Dental Associates and Your Practice")

After thirteen years in private practice and a trainer/consultant for about as long, I have learned one hardbound rule: there is definitely a right and wrong way to go about adding a dental associate to a practice. As a consultant, I frequently answer questions from Dentists believe they need a dental associate in their office immediately or are thinking about adding one in the future.

Here are some of the key factors to consider when looking at adding a dental associate:

1. 1. When should you get an associate?
2. 2. How would you structure compensation? 3. What's the best way to find one? 4. What are the important points to cover when interviewing?
3. 5. How will you integrate them into your practice?

Let's start with number 1: "When should you get an associate?"

Not only is this probably the most important question, it is also where I see Dentist making the most errors. Let's say you are doing moderately well, still have some openings in your schedule and get about 10 new patients per month. You decide to expand your hours and bring in an associate to become more productive. The reasoning seems sound – you are adding more hours and providing more treatment opportunities for your patients – but this rarely works. New patients don't magically show up, the associate is unproductive and unhappy. You either a) let him or her move on or b) start moving work from your schedule to make the associate busier/happier. The net result is less profit and a problem, i.e "how do I keep my associate busy?"

In this scenario the office was in no position to justify adding an associate. As such, this begs the question: How do I know when the "right time" is? To answer this question, ask yourself the following:

a) Is your practice growing (or has it grown up to now and you just seem to have "maxxed out")?

b) Are you scheduled efficiently?