Remote front office for dental practices
Your front desk is with a patient. The phone is still ringing.
Remote support for calls and scheduling, benefits verification, and billing. Dedicated agents work within your existing systems and follow your practice’s workflow.
The problem
Give your front office more support during busy hours.
Your team is good. There are simply more tasks in a day than there are hours at the desk.
Calls reach voicemail
When the front desk is busy with patients, incoming calls can go unanswered and appointments may be missed.
Verifications happen the morning of
Last-minute benefits checks leave less time to resolve coverage questions before the patient arrives.
Claims age quietly
Without regular follow-up, unpaid claims can build up and approach filing or appeal deadlines.
What we do
Support for each part of your front office
Front desk & scheduling
Call handling, appointment scheduling, and regular recall follow-up.
Read more →Billing & collections
Claim submission, payment posting, and follow-up on outstanding balances.
Read more →Not sure which you need?
Start with the service your practice needs most and expand coverage as your workload grows.
Why outsource
A monthly fee that includes staffing support
Compare the service fee with the full cost of hiring, training, and providing backup for an in-house employee.
Agent payroll handled
We manage payroll and employment administration for our agents. Your practice receives one monthly service invoice.
Agent benefits handled
Agent employment benefits are managed by Northcrest and included in your service fee.
Planned backup coverage
Your monthly fee covers the agreed schedule, with a trained backup for agent absences.
Recruitment handled
We handle agent recruitment, training, and replacement when needed.
Agent equipment included
We provide agent equipment. Your practice provides phone access, or we arrange a virtual phone solution at an additional cost.
Scale without rehiring
Move from part-time to full-time, or add a department, at the start of any month.
One part-time front desk hire
Northcrest, front desk part-time
The in-house figure is an illustration, using a $22 hourly wage plus roughly 22 percent for employer taxes, insurance and benefits. Your own numbers will differ.
Services
Choose the support your practice needs
Choose dedicated support for one service, or combine services when your workload allows. Each package has a defined weekly schedule.
Front desk & scheduling
Reduce missed calls during your agreed coverage hours. Choose 20 or 40 hours per week for call handling, scheduling, and patient follow-up.
- Inbound calls and new patient intake
- Booking, rescheduling and waitlist management
- Appointment confirmations and reminders
- Recall and reactivation lists, worked weekly
- Voicemail triage and message routing
Benefits verification
We document eligibility and benefits in your practice management system before scheduled visits. Dedicated verification coverage is 40 hours per week.
- Eligibility checks and detailed benefits breakdowns
- Frequencies and service history
- Downgrades, waiting periods and annual maximums
- Entered directly into the system your practice already runs
- Exceptions flagged for your team to review
Billing & collections
We submit claims, post payments, and follow up on outstanding insurer and patient balances. Dedicated billing coverage is 40 hours per week, with regular reporting on progress.
- Claim submission with the right attachments
- Posting payments from insurer statements
- Follow-up on unpaid claims, prioritized by age and filing deadlines
- Patient balance calls and payment plans
- A weekly report on claims, payments, and outstanding balances
The operations behind it
Documented processes and quality reviews support consistent service.
- A call flow written around how your practice answers
- A verification template and a written operating procedure
- Weekly quality scoring on a sample of calls
- A named backup trained on the same documents
Agents work in your existing practice management system. We confirm access and any required licenses during onboarding. Your practice provides a phone line or extension; if needed, we can arrange a virtual phone solution at an additional cost.
See what this costs
Request rates for the services and coverage hours your practice needs.
How it works
From onboarding to everyday support
An onboarding week to prepare your agent, agree the workflow, and set up reporting.
Prepare your workflow
We review your current processes and prepare call flows, service procedures, and reporting with your team. Agent onboarding is included in your service fee.
A named agent on your line
Your assigned agent follows the agreed schedule and procedures. A trained backup supports coverage during absences, with your practice informed of any changes.
You see the numbers daily
A short handoff at close of business and a summary each week: calls handled, appointments booked, verifications completed, anything escalated to your team.
Availability
Coverage around your practice hours
We agree on coverage in your practice’s time zone. Front desk support is available for 20 or 40 hours per week; dedicated verification, billing, and combined coverage are 40 hours per week.
Any US time zone
Pacific through Eastern. Your local hours are the hours we staff, and daylight saving shifts don't change your coverage.
Extended and Saturday coverage
Early, late, and Saturday coverage can be arranged within your weekly hours. Additional hours are quoted separately and agreed in advance.
A trained backup agent
A second agent is trained on your workflow to support coverage during sick days and holidays within your agreed schedule.
About us
Built on experience supporting U.S. dental practices.
Northcrest brings experience in front desk operations, quality assurance, and service center management supporting U.S. dental practices.
Our experience covers the details that matter in a dental office, from insurance frequencies and downgrades to appointment confirmations and claims follow-up.
We prepare practice-specific procedures during onboarding and use quality reviews and reporting to maintain consistent service.
We are a small, bilingual team offering English and Spanish support during agreed U.S. business hours. We limit new onboarding commitments so each practice receives focused attention.
FAQ
The questions practices ask before they sign
How do we give your agents access?
Your practice creates an individual user account for each agent and controls their permissions. We work through your approved access method. Please provide a phone line or extension for the assigned agent. If you do not have a suitable virtual phone system, we can arrange a solution at an additional cost. We confirm software access and any required licenses before work begins.
What happens when our agent is sick?
A trained backup follows the same documented workflow. We let your practice know who is covering during an agent’s absence.
How do you handle patient information?
We sign a Business Associate Agreement before accessing patient information. Agents receive privacy training and use company equipment in a controlled office. Access is assigned to individual users and can be revoked by your practice. Our business is completing independent HIPAA training; we review your security requirements during onboarding.
Do we have to take all three departments?
No. You can choose one service or several. For smaller practices, combined coverage assigns one agent for 40 hours per week across all three services, provided the total workload fits that schedule.
How do you know when we need a second agent?
We review call handling, verification turnaround, and billing workload with your practice. If delays or demand indicate that more coverage is needed, we discuss the findings and available options with you.
Why are verification and billing full-time only?
Dedicated verification and billing packages each provide 40 hours per week to maintain regular follow-up. The combined package also provides 40 total hours, shared across services for practices with a lighter workload.
How long does it take to start?
We plan for one week of onboarding to document your workflow, train the assigned team, and confirm access. Your launch date is agreed once those preparations are complete.
Packages
Choose your coverage.
Choose a dedicated agent and an agreed weekly schedule for one monthly fee. Request a private quote for the services your practice needs.
Front desk & scheduling
20 OR 40 HOURS PER WEEK
- Appointment management, including reschedules and cancellations
- Calls, booking, confirmations, recall
- An agreed schedule in your practice’s time zone
Benefits verification
40 HOURS PER WEEK
- Breakdowns run ahead of the schedule
- Entered in your system, exceptions flagged
- Benefits documentation saved to the patient record
Billing & collections
40 HOURS PER WEEK
- Claims, posting, resubmissions
- Outstanding balances followed up by age
- Payment posting and account reconciliation
Combined coverage, for smaller practices
One cross-trained agent provides 40 hours per week across front desk, benefits verification, and billing. Designed for smaller practices whose combined workload fits one agent.
What the rate covers, and what it replaces
One monthly fee for your agreed coverage. These staffing costs are included.
- Agent payroll and employment administration
- Agent benefits and absence coverage within the agreed schedule
- A fixed fee for agreed weekly hours; additional coverage quoted separately
- Agent recruitment and selection
- Agent training and onboarding included
- Replacement recruitment and agent training included
- Company equipment included; phone access provided by your practice
- Agent onboarding included; any additional services agreed in advance
Compare the monthly fee with your total staffing costs, including training, benefits, and backup coverage.
Capacity
How we know when one agent is no longer enough
We review workload and service performance with you to determine whether your current coverage is sufficient.
Call capacity depends on the workload
Around 100 inbound and outbound calls per full working day is a planning estimate, not a guaranteed limit. Call length, scheduling complexity, and other assigned work determine the appropriate workload.
Every department has its own signals
We review call volume, talk time, wait times, and abandoned calls. For verification, we check how far ahead benefits are completed. For billing, we monitor claims follow-up and aging balances.
Not sure what your volume needs?
Share your call volume and coverage needs. We’ll recommend an appropriate staffing level.
Contact us
Let’s discuss your practice’s coverage.
Tell us which services you need, your weekly coverage hours, and the systems your practice uses. We’ll discuss a suitable package and send a private quote.
We’ll review the workload with you before recommending dedicated or combined coverage.
Write to us
Send an inquiry using the form or email our team directly. We’ll follow up to discuss your needs and arrange a call.
Talk to usDirect
[email protected]