When it comes to managing a dental clinic, the first thing that often comes to mind is handling the patients that come. However, the most important thing when it comes to running a dental clinic is ensuring that your dentists have the supplies they need. Everything, from gold-plated retainers to anesthesia, is consumed or used daily. If you’re not careful, you might end up running out of supplies in the middle of the day. This is why you need to keep your clinic stocked.
Assign a Point Person
If you are going to be ordering supplies, then you should leave it all to one person. If you like to control it, then make it yourself. However, if you can trust someone to order supplies, then assign the job to someone else. Having a single person do all the ordering ensures that you know who has to do it. It minimizes confusion and also has one person contacting the suppliers at any given time. This ensures that suppliers will know who they will need to contact if they have exclusive deals to offer.
Create an Ordering Process
Don’t just order something out of the blue. Have a process for how you will make your requests. List down the suppliers you need to contact and how you can order from them. Include minimum purchases, delivery times, and more. This ensures that you have an organized process for buying.
Keep Your Stocks Organized
Don’t just dump everything in your storeroom. Divide it into various supplies so that your people can quickly get what they need. It also allows you to estimate how much you have left of a particular item.
Record Your Usage
Don’t just let people take things. When someone gets something from the storeroom, they need to record it. This helps track usage and detect if anyone is stealing from you. The usage record will be a big help in ensuring that your inventory is complete.
Have Routine Inventory Checks
You will need to do regular inventory checks. This is a great way to ensure that you have the necessary stocks. An inventory check will also give you an idea of the number of supplies you have left. Keep a record these checks so that you can track the usage of your supplies. This helps you have a purchasing plan and a budget in the future.
Order as Rarely as Possible
You do not want to waste time by filing multiple orders in a year. Your plan should be to buy in bulk. This is a big help since it will save you money on delivery charges. Buying in bulk also has discounts. Using your records, estimate how much you need and follow your budget to make an order.
In the end, you should remember that many dental clinics are surprisingly busy and go through supplies very quickly. With the tips above, you can be sure that your people will have what they need. This will be a significant relief to everyone in your clinic.
