SENIOR AUDITOR JOB DESCRIPTION

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?

c) Is your business profitable? d) Is your schedule relatively full?

1. If you answered "Yes" to all of the above, now is probably a good time to add an associate.
2. I'll give you this scenario: Your practice has rapidly (or steadily) expanded up to a point where you can't take in more patients than you currently are. You are operating efficiently and the office is profitable. You just can't see more people and things start to book out a couple of weeks in advance. Now is the time to add that associate to serve three purposes:
3. 1) To provide faster and more efficient service to your patients,

2) To lighten your schedule so you can focus on the type of work you want to do and. 3) To increase practice productivity.

If my practice was in the above situation, I would look at adding an associate – perhaps one to two days a week to start and roll from there.

From a practical standpoint, I would also look at how many charts I had. In my experience 1,000 charts, if handled efficiently, can potentially keep a doctor and hygienist productive. Also, maintaining a ratio of one doctor to one hygienist seems to work best. If you are already have two full time hygienists (who are booked), chances are you need an associate now. However, you also need to consider the other points above.

Business survival is inexorably connected to expansion. If the office is well-run (which would mean that it was expanding at least a little bit), there would come a time when you couldn't produce any more yourself and would need an associate. The level of production that will require an associate will be based on your style of practice, fees, type of dentistry you do, etc.