Dental Virtual Assistant FAQ
Straight answers to the questions dental offices ask before hiring a dental virtual assistant: what the work covers, what it costs, how HIPAA is handled, and how to start or stop. If your question is not here, ask it on a discovery call.
The service
What does a dental virtual assistant do?
A dental virtual assistant handles front desk, documentation and back office work remotely: answering calls and messages, scheduling, confirmations and hygiene recall; charting, transcription and records; insurance verification; predeterminations, claim rejections and appeals; specialist referrals; and lab case and prescription refill coordination.
Is a dental virtual assistant the same as a dental assistant?
No. A dental assistant works chairside with patients. A dental virtual assistant works remotely on administrative and documentation tasks and never provides clinical care.
Is a virtual assistant the same as an answering service or AI receptionist?
No. An answering service usually takes messages, and an AI receptionist is software rather than a person. A virtual assistant is a dedicated person working inside your systems who can book, verify, follow up and learn your office. Our comparison guide covers the differences.
Can the assistant work for a specialty practice?
Yes. See how the work changes for orthodontic, pediatric, oral surgery, periodontal and endodontic practices and group practices.
What should stay with our in office team?
Greeting patients, taking payments at the desk, chairside work and every clinical decision or signature stay in the office. The assistant handles the calls, screens and paperwork around them.
Cost
How much does DentalCareWorks charge?
One flat rate of $10 an hour, the same for every role. See pricing for monthly examples.
Are there setup fees or long term contracts?
No setup fees and no long term contract. You can cancel anytime.
Can we start part time?
Yes. There is no minimum number of hours. You choose the hours, and they can go up or down later.
How are we billed?
Weekly, for the hours your assistant worked. Time tracking software records every working hour, and your practice gets a login to see it.
How do we estimate savings?
Use the dental virtual assistant cost calculator with your own wage and hours, or the verification cost calculator for insurance work.
HIPAA and access
Are your assistants HIPAA trained?
Yes. Every assistant is HIPAA trained and background checked before working with a practice.
Is there a business associate agreement?
Yes. Your assistant signs a business associate agreement with your practice before touching any patient data. DentalCareWorks itself does not access your patient records.
Which practice software can the assistant use?
The system you already run, including Dentrix, Eaglesoft, Open Dental, Curve Dental and Denticon, through a user account your team creates, directly or through a remote desktop connection to a computer in your office. See practice software.
Where is patient data kept?
In your own systems. Your assistant works inside your practice software, phones and portals, and records are not stored outside them.
Working together
How do we get started?
Book a discovery call. We map the work and hours, you interview the candidates we match at no cost and choose your assistant, and your team sets up access. The steps are on how it works.
Will we work with the same assistant every day?
Yes. Your assistant is dedicated to your practice, so they learn your providers, payers and patients.
What hours does the assistant work?
The hours you set, full time or part time, matched to your office hours and time zone.
How do we cancel?
Tell us you want to stop. There is no long term contract to end.
Talk with us about your front desk and back office
A short discovery call to map the work your team wants off its plate, and how a dental virtual assistant would handle it.