DSOPro: Tell us about your background and your career.
I am originally from the East Coast. I grew up at a little ski resort and was really into ski racing. I actually had a long career in that all through my youth. I broke my two front teeth a few times, so I had a lot of dental traumas throughout my life as well, and that is actually what led me into the dental profession.
In 2014, I went back to school and became a registered dental assistant in California. I’ve worked chairside in dental practices, and I’ve also worked as a remote dental assistant. That’s what prompted me to create My Remote Dental Assistant during the pandemic. When dental practices were forced to shut down and dental assistants were out of work, I was in a much different place—I was still employed. So, I began looking for a way to bridge the gap between dental practices hopefully being able to stay open and dental assistants staying employed. I couldn’t find anything out there, so I created My Remote Dental Assistant.
DSOPro: Explain to us what a remote dental assistant is.
A remote dental assistant provides administrative and clinical support to dentists and other members of the dental team through virtual technology. They typically work in a remote location, usually from their home, which must be a HIPAA compliant space. This requires a room with a door where they can be private and mindful of patient confidentiality. So, it can’t be done from the coffee shop down the street.
They communicate with dentists and patients through video conferencing, email, and other forms of digital communication. Their duties may include scheduling appointments, managing patient records, answering the office phone, and assisting with billing and insurance. A remote dental assistant helps streamline the day-to-day operations of the dental practice, allowing dentists and in-office staff to focus on delivering quality care to patients. It’s a way of outsourcing some of this work and supplementing the staff they currently have.
I worked at a dental marketing agency for a few years, and during that time I spoke with hundreds of dental practices that were all saying the same thing—they were really having trouble finding front-office staff. They often weren’t able to even answer their phones. My service is a way to get their phones answered. They can delegate those types of tasks to a remote dental assistant.
DSOPro: How do remote assistants connect with an office? What are the logistics?
The remote dental assistant connects through the office’s practice management software. Some practices have a cloud-based PMS system or a teledentistry platform, so they’ll remote into that. Other PMS systems, such as Dentrix and Eaglesoft, may require getting a driver in order to remote in. There are other technologies out there that they can also use. It depends on the practice and what their needs are.
Patient calls typically come through a VOIP phone system. A lot of telephone companies are cloud based now. Weave is a big one and they’re HIPAA compliant. You can answer the dental practice phone directly through your own cell phone or through your computer. A lot of different technologies help make this possible.
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DSOPro: How do remote dental assistants work with dental labs? What are their functions there?
It is usually the same kind of function, answering their office phone and coordinating between them and dental practices to ensure that lab cases are on schedule, and doing administrative work, such as billing.
DSOPro: Are your services available nationally?
We offer our services to all 50 states right now. We haven’t expanded to other countries yet, but we’re thinking about that. All our assistants actually live in the United States. About 95% of our business is with dental practices and about 5% is with dental labs.
DSOPro: How do you put practices and remote assistants together?
Dental practices in need of a remote dental assistant can contact them through our website. I should note that we are not a recruiting or job placement company, we’ve just created a way to connect the two parties together. The dental practice can view the profiles and a write-up of each candidate offering remote assistance. They typically select about six to eight remote assistants to start with and narrow it down to one they want to hire.
Once they connect, which costs $15 per connection, the practice receives a digital download with all the assistant’s professional information, contact information, and links to their resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile. Then the dental practice contacts the assistant directly for more information or to set up a formal interview. Wages and what the remote assistant will be doing are negotiated between the dental office and the remote dental assistant.
It’s very turnkey, but we will assist the process if necessary. Sometimes dental practices contact us and say, “We’re really looking for a dental assistant who is located in our time zone,” or who has had experience in orthodontics or endodontics, etc. We can do a database search, narrow that search down for them, and provide a pool of candidates to choose from.
DSOPro: How long does this process usually take? What’s the normal turnaround time?
It’s pretty simple and can be very fast. Dental practices can find a connection within 15 minutes if they want to. Once they choose a dental assistant and get their information, they can make that phone call right away.
DSOPro: What kind of requirements do remote assistant candidates need to meet?
We have certain requirements for our remote dental assistants. Sometimes we experience some pushback like, “Wait a second, I think of a dental assistant as being in office.” We chose our company name to be My Remote Dental Assistant because it has a more personal touch. Every single assistant we bring on board here must have dental experience. That is what really sets us apart. They’re not just virtual assistants. They must have dental experience, live in the United States, and speak English.
We interview every candidate to make sure they’re a good fit for us. They have to answer quite a few questions so we can ensure they’re going to work well remotely. They must have a webcam, a cell phone, reliable internet service, and a HIPAA-compliant space to work out of. They must also have the ability to work independently and focus while working at home. That’s a really big one—they can’t have a lot of distractions taking their attention away from their work. And we don’t take any assistants who have had license suspensions or revocations.
DSOPro: Why is it important that they have dental experience?
It is important that they have dental experience so that they’re able to jump right in. These dental practices probably need them to come on board immediately. They need to know the terminology and how the dental office works so they’re able to offer that remote solution right away.
DSOPro: Are they doing triage, assessing what the patient needs, and who should come in sooner rather than later?
Yes, if they’re answering the phone and doing the scheduling, absolutely, because that’s what the front office staff does at a practice. They’re figuring out what is going on with a patient. Sometimes the remote dental assistant will need to use a HIPAA-compliant platform to request photographs from the patient that can be sent to in-office staff to help make a decision like, “Okay, this is an emergency patient, we need to get them in right away.”
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DSOPro: What kind of training do you offer in your 30-minute virtual training sessions?
It is tailored to both the assistants and the dental practice. The remote worker success training we offer for dental assistants reviews the day-to-day of what being a remote dental assistant entails. Many of the assistants coming on board have more in-office experience than remote experience. So, we walk them through some of the workflows they’ll be involved in and how to be a gold-star remote worker.
We also offer remote worker success training for dental practices. That really helps them implement the remote dental assistant into their practice, because a lot of dental practices haven’t done this yet. This is still a newer concept, so we need to guide them on learning ways to successfully bring their remote dental assistant on board.
DSOPro: What kind of salary range and working hours can remote dental assistants expect?
Many dental practices just want a part-time fill in, which could be anywhere from 8 to 20 hours a week. Others have remote assistants working full-time, which is a regular 40-hour work week. Pay ranges from $15 to $30 an hour, depending on where the assistant lives, where the practice is located, etc. They are paid directly by the dental practice.
DSOPro: Tell us about the consulting services you offer.
For example, a practice may need a little more guidance with their VOIP phone system and how to get remote assistants up to speed on that. We can consult them on a variety of issues and systems that will make the transition to using a remote assistant successful.
DSOPro: How do candidates find you? And how do practices and labs learn about your services?
We’re pretty active with social media, so a lot of our clients find us through that and our website. We also do marketing mailers. We are working with some other partners on spreading the word. We have also been on a couple of podcasts, most recently, the Dental Assistant Nation podcast.
We also post helpful blogs on our website. For example, we did one on how to attract job candidates with disabilities. We feel it is important to build a diverse and inclusive workforce that can provide the best possible care for patients. Offering a remote solution for your dental practice is one way to build a diverse and inclusive team. If a dental practice promotes different work options with virtual accessibility, it can attract a diverse pool of applicants, including people with disabilities.
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More from the Newsletter
Jenn St. Pierre graduated in 2015 from the Dental Assisting program at Carrington College with honors and as a student mentor. She holds an active California Registered Dental Assistant license and has experience working in General Dentistry, Endodontics, and Remote Assisting for a Prosthodontic office. For more information, contact Jenn at jenn@myremotedentalassistant.com, or visit https://www.myremotedentalassistant.com/rda-connect or https://www.linkedin.com/company/my-remote-dental-assistant/?viewAsMember=true.
My Remote Dental Assistant
My Remote Dental Assistant originated in 2020 and makes it simple to connect with remote dental assistants who are ready to offer a remote solution to dental practices and dental laboratories. Save hours searching for candidates and sorting through resumes with the understanding that every assistant who has joined My Remote Dental Assistant has dental experience. This gives the hiring office confidence in finding qualified and experienced dental professionals who are ready to jump right in and offer their services.
In February 2023, My Remote Dental Assistant launched RDA Connect (Remote Dental Assistant Connect), a space to connect with Remote Dental Assistants. Each connection is $15, and upon checkout, the hiring office will immediately be sent a digital download with the specific Remote Dental Assistant’s contact information, a link to their resume, and much more. The hiring office will then reach out to the Assistant(s) of choice to set up a time to interview and discuss the position in more detail.