5 Tips for Choosing the Best Dental Temp Agency

When you’re a dental practice manager and get a text notification at 5 a.m., you know what it means before you even look at your phone. Someone is calling in sick, and suddenly you’re scrambling. Until now, you had three options:

• Spend the first hour of your workday calling patients to reschedule (which puts practice revenue at risk)
• Reach out to casual fill-in temps you’ve worked with in the past (which means you’re doing all the legwork and making early-morning phone calls)
• Call a traditional dental staffing agency and wait for them to find you someone (which means you need to monitor their efforts – and your phone)

These less-than-ideal scenarios illustrate why it’s critical to have an emergency dental staffing plan in place ahead of time. Many traditional dental temping agencies and online dental staffing platforms seem similar on the surface but have big differences in service, quality, cost, and risk.

 

Kinds of Temp Dental Agencies

There are two common categories of dental temping agencies:

• Traditional dental staffing agencies
• Online temping platforms

Traditional dental staffing agencies are often locally operated with connections to dental professionals in a specific area. These agencies usually rely on manual outreach (phone calls, texts, and emails) to coordinate with offices and professionals to fill open positions. This can be a very personal approach but is also slow and adds extra administrative work for offices.

Online temping platforms use technology to create an online network for offices and professionals to connect through. These platforms are often large with low requirements to join. This can provide a fast and easy resource for offices and professionals, however there are often fewer checks for quality and support. Professionals and offices that use these platforms are often responsible for administrative tasks associated with taxes (1099 forms), insurance, and labor law liability.

We’re Kwikly – an on-demand dental staffing company that combines technology and service to provide the best temp dental temping experience. In this post, we share five considerations to find the best dental temp agency for your dental practice.

 

#1: High-quality temporary dental talent in your area

Practice managers rely on temporary dental staffing agencies to find professionals with the required experience, certifications, and licenses. That’s table stakes. But finding a fit for your practice is equally important. You want temp dental hygienists and assistants who will:

• Show up on time for their shift
• Onboard quickly with minimal handholding
• Integrate seamlessly into your practice
• Work effectively with your team
• Meet your standards and protocols
• Treat your patients just like you do

The only way to find this level of talent is to have a thorough candidate vetting, review, and coaching process, which not all agencies provide.

Kwikly has built a team of highly adaptable dental professionals who want to fill temporary assignments. We continually train and coach our professionals based on the feedback we get from dental offices. If you’re unsatisfied with our temporary dental staff, we’ll make it right for you.

#2: Strong value relative to the cost

When you need temp dental talent, paying an agency’s fee is the trade-off for preserving your production value. This is especially important for dental practices where lost hygiene appointments can lead to lost treatment diagnosing and unwanted openings on the dentist’s schedule.

In addition to finding someone to fill a shift, an agency should add value to your practice by:

• Freeing your time to handle more pressing practice management needs
• Reducing disruption when someone on the team is out (whether that’s a planned or unplanned absence)
• Supporting your regular staff to lower stress and prevent burnout
• Identifying candidates for your next permanent opening

 

 

#3: Easy-to-use process for requesting temp dental staff

When you need temporary talent quickly, the last thing you need is a cumbersome process or long wait times to find out if someone is available.

We designed the Kwikly app and online platform with busy dental office managers in mind. Just submit your request for temporary dental professionals, and we take it from there—no more waiting around for callbacks. You can even post shifts only to the Kwikly temps you’ve loved working with before (one of our customers’ favorite features).

Want to see which of your shifts have been filled and which are still pending? It’s right there in your Kwikly dashboard, making it easy to stay on top of your staffing needs. And, of course, we’ll send you a real-time email or text alert when your shift is filled, too.

#4: Labor laws and tax compliance

Most dental temp agencies offer contract professionals, or what’s commonly referred to as “1099 contractors.” When you hire a contractor, your office is responsible for all the administrative work, including:

● Getting a W-9 from the contractor
● Ensuring they are properly covered with liability insurance
● Paying them on a timely basis
● Keeping accurate records of all payments you’ve made
● Filing Form 1099-NEC with the IRS by January 31 of the following year

These tasks can be time-consuming and costly – especially if you’re paying a tax service to handle it for you. And classifying everything correctly is essential to avoid liability for the practice.

Kwikly is different. The temp dental professionals on our platform are all Kwikly employees. That means we handle all the administrative work for you, including pay, taxes, and insurance. It really can be this simple.

Offices that use agencies and platforms that categorize professionals as independent contractors could face penalties due to dental professionals not fitting the legal definition of contract work.

#5: Rave-worthy customer service

Your final consideration should be how well the temp agency answers your questions or handles any challenges. That will look slightly different from one agency to the next, but you want a partner that understands your pressure and responds accordingly. For example:

• Do you feel heard and supported?
• Are your questions answered quickly?
• Does someone answer when you call? Do you have to leave a message?
• Can you send an email, text, or use live chat or is it phone support only?
• If you have issues with a particular person who temps with you, is there a way you can get that feedback to the right person?
• Do you have a regional contact person who knows your office and your specific needs?

Kwikly offers live support through chat, email, text, and phone so you can choose what works for you and your practice. Our customers appreciate this level of support because it leads to better long-term relationships. We agree, and it’s why providing rave-worthy support is critical to everyone on our team.

Finally, a simple way to find high-quality dental temps

When it comes to finding the best temporary dental professionals for your office, it’s not a matter of if you’ll need to find someone—it’s a matter of when. That’s why having a relationship with a dental temp staffing agency ahead of time is so important.

With Kwikly, you can say goodbye to the early-morning scramble to find someone. Just jump onto our app, request a high-quality temporary dental employee, and Kwikly will take it from there.

Want to learn more? Schedule a 15-minute introduction call to see what Kwikly can do to save your office hours of time and thousands of dollars in revenue.