An effective system for tracking and ordering inventory developed by a dental assistant

Editor’s Note: I recently had the chance to talk to Tiffine Blanks, a dental assistant who works at Dr. Mark Hyman’s office in Greensboro, N.C. She has developed a system for tracking and ordering inventory that I thought was simple and effective. Blanks has offered to share the system with you.

Below, she shares her thoughts about the system and what makes it a “home run” for her practice.“From the amount that we collect each month, we take 6% and that is our budget for products. Sometimes we will go over that in a month, but the next month we spend less because the negative balance is carried over, so it evens out. When we order burs, we order a six-month supply from Komet USA. We order in bulk and that puts the buying power in our hands, resulting in a 50% savings by getting more free goods and a better net price. That’s a big chunk out of our product budget for that month, but it’s something we don’t have to buy for the next five months and the report shows that.“I’m the only one who orders products, so this really helps me, but it also shows everyone what we’re spending every month and what we’re spending it on. It’s an easy system, and it also helps us avoid buying things like toothbrushes and floss that we may already have in stock.“We arrived at the 6% figure after talking with Jameson Management, our consultants. They told us 5% to 6% is a good number to work with, so we use 6%. That number doesn’t include any front-office supplies. Everything ordered is only for the back office.Note: If you want more information on the system or have further questions, drop Blanks an email at [email protected].