Struggling With Staff Turnover? A Dental Billing Partner Is Your Ideal Team Member

Staff turnover is a persistent challenge for many industries, but it’s especially tough for dental practices. In the US, turnover rates have soared in recent years, and the resulting financial strain is increasingly difficult for practices to manage.

According to the 2024 DE-Levin Group Annual Practice Survey, 60% of dental practices are actively looking to recruit a new team member, and 1 in 5 practices lost at least three employees in 2023 alone. But recruiting new staff is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to turnover costs.

In this blog, we’ll explore the financial impact of staff turnover in dental practices, why it’s happening, and how partnering with a dental billing service can offer a much-needed solution.

Understanding Staff Turnover Rates in Dentistry

Dentistry is a high-pressure industry, and this is contributing to an increasing staff turnover rate worldwide.

Several factors contribute to these high turnover rates, including:

 

1. 1. High stress levels – Dental practices are demanding, with a constant need for precision and care, leading to burnout.

1. 1. Lower compensation – It’s getting harder and harder for employers to offer compensation packages for support staff (like dental assistants and administrative workers) that rivals comparable fields.

1. 1. Inadequate technology – If employees feel they’re working with outdated and inefficient tools, their job satisfaction suffers.

1. 1. Commute challenges – Long commutes or a lack of flexible work options can also contribute to the decision to leave. Post-pandemic, many people have simply realized they’d like to work from home—which isn’t typically an option in dentistry.

1. 1. Limited hiring options – In some cases, employees may not be the best fit for a business from the beginning, creating a cycle of dissatisfaction and early exits.

1. 1. Lack of training and development – Even when you hire the right person, failing to provide professional development opportunities can result in frustration and early departure.

While many of these factors (compensation and the difficulties allowing your team to work from home poses in particular) are beyond most practices’ control, there are ways to mitigate their impact–and it’s important to do so, because that impact can be significant.

The Financial Impact of Staff Turnover

It’s easy to think that turnover costs are limited to recruitment fees and training, but the reality is much more complex. The cost of replacing an employee can range from 0.5 to 2 times their annual salary—a significant burden for dental practices already grappling with tight margins.

Let’s break down the expenses:

 

• • Recruitment costs: Advertising the job, reviewing applications, conducting interviews, and background checks all require time and resources.

• • Training and onboarding: New hires require extensive training before they can contribute fully to the team. During this period, their productivity is lower. You must also factor in the time and effort from existing staff who help train them.

• • Lost productivity: When a position remains vacant, the rest of your staff has to pick up the slack, meaning lower productivity and reduced patient care quality. This incurs significant costs if the position stays open for too long—up to $60,000 for a year-long vacancy, according to the DANB.

• • Patient experience: Patients notice when your practice is understaffed, and this can result in a decline in patient satisfaction—a hard-to-quantify but very real cost.

Given that 64% of dental practices experienced higher overheads last year, these hidden expenses are becoming harder and harder to absorb.

The question dental practices now need to ask is: Is it always necessary to replace employees? Or could there be an alternative solution that alleviates some of this pressure?

Bridging the Gap with a Dental Billing Partner

One way to combat the damaging effects of turnover is by partnering with a dental billing service. While improving retention efforts is essential, the reality is that you can’t completely eliminate turnover. You can, however, mitigate its impact.

Here’s how a dental billing partner can help reduce turnover’s financial and operational toll:

 

1. 1. Consistency and reliability: A billing partner doesn’t take sick days, go on vacation, or leave for a new job. They offer consistent and reliable support that ensures your practice keeps running smoothly—even during times of staff transition.

1. 1. Reduced burden on staff: When your team no longer needs to manage billing, they can focus on patient care and other critical tasks. This not only improves staff satisfaction but also reduces burnout, a key contributor to high turnover rates.

1. 1. Seamless integration: A billing partner can work with your existing systems, ensuring no disruption to your practice’s cash flow or productivity. This is especially important when onboarding new team members—your billing operations will continue uninterrupted, giving you one less thing to worry about.

1. 1. Expert support: Dental billing partners bring specialized knowledge, ensuring that claims are processed quickly and accurately, reducing your risk of rejected claims or payment delays.

The Benefits of a Dental Billing Partner

There’s a strong case to be made for considering a dental billing partner as an ideal team member—especially given the current recruitment landscape. It might surprise you to learn that despite 59% of dentists reportedly finding hiring new clinical staff a significant challenge, only 1 in 3 are turning to technology-powered solutions to bridge the gap.

This could be due to a lack of information on the benefits of partnering with professional providers of these tools, which include:

 

• • Cost savings: By outsourcing your billing, you eliminate the need to hire, train, and manage an additional administrative staff member. This can save your practice tens of thousands of dollars annually.

• • Increased efficiency: Dental billing partners work with advanced systems that streamline processes and minimize errors, leading to faster payment processing and improved cash flow. You’ll see fewer claim denials and spend less time chasing down payments.

• • Improved patient satisfaction: When your team is no longer bogged down with administrative work, they can focus on providing better patient care. This leads to higher patient satisfaction and retention rates, which are crucial for long-term success.

• • Scalability: As your practice grows, so will the complexity of your billing. A billing partner can easily scale with you, ensuring that your financial operations continue to run smoothly regardless of how large (or small) your practice becomes.

Reduce Staff Turnover Costs in Your Practice

Staff turnover can feel like an unavoidable part of running a dental practice, but it doesn’t have to be as costly or disruptive as it often is. By understanding the true financial impact of turnover and exploring alternatives like dental billing services, your practice can minimize these hidden costs and continue thriving—no matter who’s on your payroll.

SD Dental Solutions: Taking Care of Your Billing, So You Can Take Care of Your Patients

With extensive backgrounds in dentistry, our team offers billing solutions tailored to the needs of dental practices in the US. From cash flow inefficiencies to AR recoupment, we’ll get to the root of your billing problems and deploy smart solutions that help you serve patients with a smile.

To discuss how we could enhance outcomes for your business, schedule a complimentary discovery meeting today.