Top 10 Dental Office Manager Interview Questions

The success of your dental practice often hinges upon the effectiveness of your office manager. They oversee the logistics of the front desk, as well as the administrative tasks to keep the lights on. Asking the right questions during the interview process can ensure you find the best candidate for the position.

1. What experience do you have with dental billing codes and information management systems?

Even if you have another employee performing these tasks, a dental office manager should be familiar with dental billing codes. Questions or issues are bound to arise, and having a manager with experience will enable your team to quickly and seamlessly enter the billing codes as patients come and go. Strong leadership skills are an important attribute for you to look for during the dental office manager interview. 

What to look for in a response: 

  • Familiarity with dental billing codes and problem solving skills
  • Ability to perform customer service related tasks
  • Experience with your specific technology system or demonstrates the capacity to quickly adapt as needed

2. How do you plan on improving our new patient conversions?

Office managers play an important part to growing the practice. Although you make work with an outside agency to manage your marketing, it’s important for your office manager to understand those reports and where to make improvements. Additionally, they should be hyper-focused on providing great experiences with every potential patient. 

What to look for in a response:

  • Basic understanding of digital marketing (website online forms, social media, advertising, etc.)
  • Proficient on the phones to encourage callers to make an appointment
  • Able to monitor and train on a regular basis to ensure consistency and excellent communication skills

3. Do you have experience managing multiple employees in a dental office setting?

Even if you have a small practice right now, the goal should always be growth and expansion. Making sure your office manager can handle teams of various sizes will ensure a smooth management process. Your candidates should be able to jump in and help where needed, while also keeping a broader perspective of how to create a highly organized team. 

What to look for in a response: 

  • Has work experience in leadership roles of both small and large teams
  • Understands the importance of delegation and empowerment with their communication
  • Understand conflict resolution techniques to ensure a unified team 

4. What is your experience with understanding and generating dental reports?

Dental practice owners don’t want to spend all their time analyzing data or generating reports. Hiring managers to take this off your plate is an important aspect for your practice. Dental reporting can be difficult and time-consuming, which is why your office manager needs to have experience generating those reports in a way you can understand them. 

What to look for in a response: 

  • Firm understanding of P&Ls, insurance summaries, accounts receivable, continuing care and adjustment reports
  • Capable of using software to compile and organize the data
  • Able to see what actions need to be taken as a result of the practice information

5. What are some KPIs you think we should be tracking for the practice? 

This can serve as a good follow up to the previous question. These dental office manager interview questions are designed to give you insight into their knowledge and expertise on this particular topic. You should be able to determine what they think are the most important indicators for practice success. 

What to look for in a response:

  • Specific Key Performance Indicators they would track
  • How they would set goals and create a plan to achieve them
  • Asking what indicators are most important for you to see

6. What dental office software are you familiar with and what is your current proficiency level?

Your office manager should be able to use, and train others, on your dental software. Your candidates should have at least two years of working experience in a software like Dentrix. There are other platforms, but they should be able to demonstrate proficiency with navigating dental systems. 

What to look for in a response: 

  • Ability to create SOPs or trainings around your dental software 
  • Years of experience with Dentrix or other standard dental office software
  • Ability to be proactive in learning how to maximize the system

7. What have you done in the past to increase our case acceptance rate?

You want to make sure you always have a busy practice. Answering this question will help you determine your candidate’s strategy for maximizing a patient’s lifetime value. A key result for these dental office manager interview questions will be to determine how you can grow the practice. They should be skilled at meeting with patients to move them toward high-value procedures. 

What to look for in a response: 

  • Ability to present options to a patient that makes procedures like dental implants seem like the best choice
  • Understand the data to see your existing case acceptance rate
  • Ability to train other staff members on how to communicate effectively with the patients

8. What are some of the common tasks you completed in a dental office setting in your previous positions?

Your candidate should be proficient with tasks such as managing the office budget, controlling expenses, coordinating staff meetings, marketing the practice, communicating with clients, and managing payroll requirements. That doesn’t mean they can’t leverage other team members to help, but they need to have strong knowledge in each of those areas. 

What to look for in a response: 

  • Ability to perform daily dental office tasks
  • Administrative management and customer service experience
  • Experience managing multiple responsibilities effectively

9. What dental office management certificates or degrees do you hold currently?

In many cases, experience is more valuable than education. However, it’s still important for your candidate to have certificate programs or degrees in dental office management. This training typically covers things like bookkeeping, office technology, information systems, dental terminology, and dental billing codes. Having these qualifications ensures they can hit the ground running and that they have a long-term commitment to their role. 

What to look for in a response: 

  • Formal dental office management training
  • Completion of certificate or associate degree program
  • Advanced knowledge of office procedures and job duties

10. What preparation did you undergo to become a dental office manager?

This type of dental office manager interview question should give you a better idea of the candidate’s background, skills and competence to assist you. This is a chance for your candidate to express how they are well-organized, collaborative, and communicative in any dental office environment. 

What to look for in a response: 

  • Ability to be organized
  • Professionalism
  • Good communication skills

About Synergize Dental 

We understand what it takes to grow dental practices. That’s how we developed these top 10 dental office manager interview questions. Whether you want us to help you find the perfect candidate, or you’d rather us do all the business services, we can support your needs.

Are you ready to take your practice to the next level?

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