If My Office Manager Leaves, We’re Sunk

By Sarah Beth Herman, CEO of Dentistry Support®

If that sentence makes your stomach flip, this one’s for you. I love our heroes at the front desk — the glue, the memory bank, the human compass — but building a practice that only works when one person is present isn’t security. It’s risk.

This training gives you a five-priority framework, a 15-minute weekly dashboard, and copy-ready SOP starters you can put to work this week — so your day runs smoothly whether your star is in the building or on the beach.

Why “one-hero” operations quietly drain production

When one person is the only path for new-patient calls, benefit checks, estimates, claims, refunds, and money talks, you get bottlenecks you can’t see until results show up in revenue, denials, or burnout. Research outside dentistry shows cross-training improves service quality and resilience in service businesses — the lesson applies directly to dental admin teams. Harvard Business Review

And when people juggle too many steps from memory, errors rise. Checklists sound simple, but in healthcare they’ve reduced complications and deaths by standardizing critical steps and lowering cognitive load. Give your front office the same protection. New England Journal of Medicine

What changed in 2024 that makes process reliability non-negotiable

• Claim denials rose across U.S. providers in 2024; nearly three in four surveyed organizations reported an increase since 2022. Clean, timely claims matter more than ever. Healthcare Dive

• The 2024 ADA Dental Claim Form added fields for locum tenens, last SRP date, and benefit plan Payer ID codes. If those aren’t captured, expect rework or rejections. American Dental Association

• Eligibility isn’t a scramble at check-in. The ADA emphasizes verifying on the date of service to avoid recoupments. (I recommend starting at scheduling and re-verifying DOS so your money talk is stable.) American Dental Association

---

The Five Practice Priorities (you’ll hear me expand these in the show — here’s your head start)

1) Systems over heroics

If it isn’t written, it doesn’t exist. Create one-page SOPs (kept in one shared folder) for:

• New-patient calls

• Eligibility at scheduling → re-verify on DOS

• Estimates/treatment presentations

• Claim submission (24-hour rule), denial worklists, appeals

• Refunds and patient A/R outreach

• Schedule saves, same-day add-ons, membership sign-ups

Copy-ready SOP starter (drop into a doc):Claim Submission — 24h Rule: Submit all claims within 24 hours of the completed appointment. Attach required diagnostics (x-rays, narratives, perio chart with last SRP date). Confirm 2024 ADA fields: locum tenens (if applicable), last SRP date, correct benefit plan Payer ID. Post a submission batch report; same-day log any rejections to the “Denials/Rejects” worklist. American Dental Association

2) Patient-first on the phone

Your phones are your front door. Top performers answer far more calls live and convert a larger share to booked visits — and that gap shows up in production. Track it, coach it, script it. patientnews.com

Script cue (new patient):“Hi! Thanks for calling [Practice], this is [Name]. I can help you get scheduled — what day works best?”(Then confirm reason, benefits path, and offer the next two appointment windows.)

3) Financial clarity early

Move benefit verification to scheduling and document plan quirks (waiting periods, frequencies, downgrades) in a shared cheat sheet your whole team can see. Re-verify DOS. You’ll see steadier estimates, calmer check-ins, and better case acceptance. American Dental Association

4) Clean & fast revenue cycle

• Claims out in 24 hours.

• Daily rejection/EDI worklist.

• Weekly RCM huddle on anything >30 days (yes, 30).

  Benchmarks for A/R vary, but many consultants flag 18–22% over 90 days as a ceiling — and with denials rising, the winners are the practices that keep old buckets tiny and fix root causes upstream. Reed TinsleyHealthcare Dive

5) Cross-trained & accountable

Two trained people for every critical admin task. Rotate who runs eligibility, closes claims, and manages refunds. You’ll see fewer bottlenecks, steadier patient experience, and less burnout — because no one carries the entire load. Harvard Business Review

---

Your 15-Minute Weekly Dashboard (print this section)

Meet as a leadership trio (doctor + OM + RCM lead) for 15 minutes. Watch trend lines; coach off them.

1. Inbound calls answered (%) and New-patient call conversion (%) — raise both by 5–10 points over 60 days with scripting + coverage. patientnews.com

2. Eligibility timing — % of scheduled patients with eligibility completed before confirmation (and re-verified DOS). American Dental Association

3. Claim timeliness — % of clinical days where 100% of claims were submitted within 24h; # same-day rejections cleared.

4. Denial rate & top three denial reasons — trend monthly; aim to prevent the top causes at intake. Denials are up, so “clean first submission” is money. Healthcare Dive

5. A/R aging focus — % of A/R >30 days and >90 days; tie actions to root causes (missing x-rays, wrong Payer ID, no last SRP date captured). American Dental AssociationReed Tinsley

---

Quick wins to implement this week

A. Phone coverage plan — Route all new-patient options to a small, trained pool; after hours, enable auto-callback with same-day return. Track “missed call to callback” time. patientnews.com

B. Eligibility at scheduling + re-verify DOS — One-page template: plan, waiting periods, frequencies, downgrades, plan max remaining, documentation quirks. American Dental Association

C. 24-hour claim rule — Batch daily; verify 2024 ADA fields (locum tenens, last SRP date, Payer ID). Create a “rejections today” queue that’s empty by close of business. American Dental Association

D. Two-person coverage for every admin task — Shadow two hours, switch roles, certify both team members on SOP checklists. Harvard Business Review

E. Checklist everything that repeats — New-patient call flow, eligibility, claims, refunds. Checklists lower cognitive load and make success repeatable. New England Journal of Medicine

About Dentistry Support®

Dentistry Support® is your virtual admin partner built specifically for dental practices. Our team handles eligibility and scheduling (with DOS re-verify), clean claim submission within 24 hours, daily rejection cleanup, and A/R follow-up with clear targets. We also coach phone conversion (scripting, scoring, simple KPIs), build SOPs for your top workflows, and design cross-training plans so two people can perform every critical task. The result is a calmer day, consistent patient experience, and revenue that doesn’t wobble when someone’s out. 

---

New episode drops Monday — “Your Office Manager Isn’t Your Insurance Policy”

On Monday, I’m releasing an episode that takes this further with real dental examples, walk-throughs of the five priorities, and copy-ready scripting you can bring to your huddle the same day. I’ll unpack the 2024 ADA claim form updates in plain English, show how to cut denials at the source, and share a simple dashboard rhythm that protects your best people without adding extra meetings. If you’ve ever thought, “We’d fall apart without our office manager,” this episode helps you replace that stress with systems and a team that can breathe. Save it to your queue, listen on your commute, and let’s build a practice that’s strong on any Monday.

References (APA 7th)

American Dental Association. (2023). 2024 ADA dental claim form completion instructions. https://www.ada.org/-/media/project/ada-organization/ada/ada-org/files/publications/cdt/2024_completioninstructions_adaclaimform_2024.pdf American Dental Association

American Dental Association. (n.d.). Eligibility verification. https://www.ada.org/resources/practice/dental-insurance/eligibility-verification American Dental Association

Experian Health. (2024, September 24). Healthcare’s dissatisfaction with payer reimbursements continues (Press release summarizing State of Claims 2024). https://www.experianplc.com/newsroom/press-releases/2024/healthcare-s-dissatisfaction-with-payer-reimbursements-continues Experian

Vogel, S. (2024, September 25). Providers say claims denials are increasing: Survey. Healthcare Dive. https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/provider-claims-denials-increase-2024-experian-health-study/727999/ Healthcare Dive

Haynes, A. B., Weiser, T. G., Berry, W. R., et al. (2009). A surgical safety checklist to reduce morbidity and mortality in a global population. New England Journal of Medicine, 360(5), 491–499. https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMsa0810119 New England Journal of Medicine

Kalloch, S., Silver, A., & Ton, Z. (2023, September 22). How the food industry is using cross-training to boost service. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2023/09/how-the-food-industry-is-using-cross-training-to-boost-service Harvard Business Review

Patient NEWS. (2025). Mastering dental phone conversion. https://patientnews.com/article/mastering-dental-phone-conversion patientnews.com

Tinsley, R. (2023). Benchmarking accounts receivable 90 days old or older. RTaCPA. https://www.rtacpa.com/benchmarking-accounts-receivable-90-days-old-or-older/ Reed Tinsley

---

Disclaimer:

To learn more about Sarah Beth Herman, the author of all free training content you can read her bio here. These materials are intended to provide helpful information to dentists and dental team members. They are in no way a substitute for actual professional advice based on your unique facts and circumstances. This content is not intended or offered, nor should it be taken, as legal or other professional advice. You should always consult with your own professional advisors (e.g. attorney, accountant, or insurance carrier). To the extent, Dentistry Support ®has included links to any third-party website (s), Dentistry Support ® intends no endorsement of their content and implies no affiliation with the organizations that provide their content. Further, Dentistry Support ® makes no representations or warranties about the information provided on those sites. You can view our privacy policy and terms and conditions by clicking those pages in the footer of our website.