How to Hire a Virtual Assistant for Dental Practices

When I first thought about hiring a virtual assistant (VA) for my dental practice, I assumed it would be a quick and easy process. I simply needed someone to help with patient scheduling, billing inquiries, and general administrative tasks.

Fast forward to a couple of months later, and I realized that hiring the right virtual assistant for a dental practice requires more precision than I initially thought.

The biggest lesson I’ve learned? It’s not about just finding any VA. It’s about hiring for the right skill set someone who truly understands dental office operations and can seamlessly integrate into the practice's workflow.

Here's the exact process I use now to hire a VA for my dental practice.

Step 1: Understand What Your Practice Really Needs

When I posted my first job ad for a VA, I thought I was being clear: Help with scheduling, patient inquiries, and office management. But the truth is, the more specific you can be, the better. The tasks you need help with will directly influence the type of VA you hire.

These are the areas to consider:

• Appointment Scheduling: Managing online bookings, phone calls, reminders.
• Patient Communications: Responding to emails, handling patient inquiries, follow-up messages.
• Billing & Insurance Assistance: Handling claims, payment processing, verifying insurance details.
• Administrative Tasks: Data entry, record updates, filing.
• Marketing & Social Media: Running social media accounts, scheduling posts, and responding to reviews.

Practical takeaways:

• Don’t just hire for "general assistance." Break down what exactly you need help with.
• Categorize your needs: Do you need full support (full-time) or just periodic help (part-time)?

Step 2: Know What "Dental VA" Really Means

You can’t just hire someone and hope they’ll learn your dental practice. You need a Dental Virtual Assistant who understands the industry’s tools, terminologies, and workflows. Here’s what to consider:

• Experience in dental software like Dentrix, Eaglesoft, or Open Dental.
• Familiarity with insurance protocols and billing systems.
• Comfort with patient privacy standards (HIPAA compliance is a must).
• Communication skills to interact with patients and staff professionally.

Practical takeaways:

• Don’t settle for a generic VA. Hire someone who has direct experience working with dental practices.
• Ensure they understand HIPAA compliance and other dental-specific regulations.

Step 3: Be Specific About Your Working Hours

When hiring a virtual assistant for a dental practice, you need to be specific about time zone compatibility. You might assume they know how to manage scheduling in your local time zone, but time zone confusion is one of the biggest issues I’ve encountered.

Here’s how I avoid this mistake:

• State your time zone clearly in the job posting and specify working hours in your local time zone (e.g., 9 am – 5 pm EST).
• List the hours as both your local time zone and UTC (e.g., 9 am – 5 pm EST / 14:00 – 22:00 UTC). This removes ambiguity and avoids scheduling mix-ups.
• Specify whether you observe daylight saving time, as it affects time zone shifts.

Practical takeaways:

• Make time zones clear in both the job post and follow-up communications.
• Be explicit about expected working hours in your local time zone and UTC.

Step 4: Write a Scorecard with Clear Expectations

One of the best things I did to streamline my hiring process was stop focusing solely on job qualifications and instead start focusing on outcomes. I created a scorecard that outlined exactly what success looked like for the first 30 days of a new hire. Here's a sample scorecard template:

Sample Scorecard Template

Role: Dental Virtual Assistant

Hours: 9am – 5pm EST (also include UTC range)

30-day outcomes:

• X% of recurring tasks completed on time.
• Zero missed patient appointments due to scheduling issues.
• End-of-shift summaries delivered (open loops and next steps).
• Suggested improvements to SOPs (even small ones).

Red Flags (I look for these):

• Fails to confirm time zones clearly.
• Vague answers with no real examples.
• Disappears when they’re stuck instead of escalating issues.

Practical takeaways:

• Outcomes are more important than job descriptions.
• Create a scorecard that defines success and failures. It’s easier to evaluate performance this way.

Step 5: Test Their Skills with a Paid Task

The real test comes when you give them a task that simulates a real-world situation in your practice. This helps you evaluate their responsiveness, professionalism, and ability to manage the specific tasks you need.

My go-to paid test:

• Provide a mock patient scheduling task.
• Have them draft patient emails in your tone.
• Ask them to schedule a meeting within your time zone and send a reminder.
• Have them submit a brief end-of-shift summary, outlining what was completed and what needs attention.

Practical takeaways:

• Test their work during actual business hours to see how they perform in real-time.
• Pay for the test task ensures they put real effort into it.

Step 6: Onboard with a Simple Workflow

The key to a successful working relationship is consistent communication and a simple workflow that keeps everything visible. Here’s the operating rhythm I’ve found works best:

• One task management system (e.g., ClickUp, Asana).
• One chat system (e.g., Slack).
• One file management system (e.g., Google Drive, Notion).
• Escalation rule: If blocked for 15 minutes, post 2 options and ask for feedback.

Daily cadence:

• Start of shift: Top 3 priorities.
• End of shift: Open loops + next steps.

Practical takeaways:

• Don’t overload them with too many tools. Choose one system for each task type.
• Set a cadence for communication (start of shift + end-of-shift summary).

Summary: How to Hire a Dental VA That Actually Sticks

If I were to do this again, I’d focus less on finding a “generic VA” and more on finding the right dental-specific VA with clear expectations around time zones, deliverables, and communication rhythms. That means hiring based on outcomes, using a paid test, and establishing clear tools and processes from day one.

My non-negotiables now:

• Time zone clarity (always include UTC).
• Outcome-based scorecard for the first 30 days.
• Paid test during practice hours.
• A simple daily rhythm for communication and task management.