Jennifer Steadman is the owner of Steadman Onboarding Solutions and director of operations at Inspired Hygiene. She founded the Boston chapter of the American Association of Dental Office Management (AADOM) and served as chapter president for 5 years.
The American Association of Dental Office Management provides dental administrators with the resources needed to succeed and thrive
Jennifer Steadman’s career in dental office management began in earnest when her practice owner at the time sent her to the 2014 AADOM conference. She’d been working in the position while also serving as a hygienist at the practice’s 2 locations, but that career was cut short by a car accident that left her with numbness in her fingers. When she attended the conference, she realized she hadn’t lost anything, but only gained something.
I’ll never forget my first AADOM conference. I met so many people who understood what I was going through as an office manager. I also found mentors who have continued to supplement the wide range of educational resources provided by the organization. AADOM provided most of my administrative training and helped me manage changes at the practice—from sorting out an embezzling situation at a practice we acquired to purchasing a third practice, doubling production, and then selling it. We also bought another practice and built a new one in the same month. Without the training and mentoring I received through AADOM, those transitions might have gone very differently.
The practice eventually joined a DSO, where I transitioned from director of affiliation and business development to director of operations. Today, I serve as director of operations at Inspired Hygiene. Throughout this journey, AADOM has served as a resource for ongoing education.
Team Development
I’ve always firmly believed that you don’t have to hire administrative staff with backgrounds in dentistry. You can’t train someone to be good, but you can teach them about the business of dentistry. Start with a good person and then use resources like AADOM to teach them the clinical workflows as well as the business side of a dental practice.
Depending on the size of the practice, I recommend breaking down training into 3 parts:
- In-Office Training: Start with the library of AADOM resources, which includes everything from dental terminology and phone skills to human resources and treatment planning. For example, if our practice was experiencing treatment plan acceptance challenges, I’d ask everyone on the team to watch the webinar Taking the Fear Out of Treatment Planning. Later, at a group meeting, we would discuss the webinar and share our takeaways.
- AADOM Conferences: As you identify team members you’d like to guide into leadership positions, take advantage of AADOM curriculum such as OM101, which includes topics on everything from effective scheduling to learning and improving office systems and running effective meetings. I also built my own curriculum using AADOM resources to empower team members to grow into their roles.
- Doctor Involvement: Finally, to ensure everyone is aligned, you want to get the dentists involved and help them see the value of AADOM. I was fortunate to have a doctor who recognized the benefits the organization provided to our team. He attended conferences with me and was amazed at the energy of the event and the breadth of information.
Invested in Practice Success
Every practice manager I know feels a sense of practice ownership. They may have zero financial stake in the business, but they put their heart and soul into it. I have 2 children, but I used to say that I had 6—my kids and the 4 offices. Dentist-owners reap huge benefits when they invest in team members who feel so strongly about their practice success.
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