Front Office / Dental Receptionist

Job Type: Part-time (approx. 24–32 hours/week)
Schedule: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday — 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, plus 1–3 Saturdays per month, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
About Us
Joyce Lam Dental is an established general practice in the Cambrian area of San Jose. We use Open Dental for practice management.

The Role
You are the face of the practice. You'll greet and intake patients, keep the schedule accurate and full, walk patients through what they owe, and check them out cleanly. You'll work alongside a dedicated insurance coordinator who handles verification, pre-authorization submissions, and claims processing behind the scenes . Your job is to make sure every appointment is properly closed out in Open Dental so nothing falls through the cracks, and that everything is in place before the patient sits down.

What You'll Do
Front Desk & Patient Care
Greet and check in patients; answer phones and respond to voicemails and texts
Intake new patients: collect subscriber and insurance information, determine visit type, and create the chart in Open Dental
Import completed patient forms into Open Dental and verify accuracy
Review out-of-pocket costs with patients, collect copays, and process payments at checkout
Provide post-op instructions and handouts
Checkout & Open Dental Workflow
Complete the appointment in Open Dental after each visit and generate the claim so completed work doesn't sit unbilled
Create pre-authorization requests for newly planned treatment so our insurance coordinator can submit them
Keep treatment plans clean and organized in the chart
No insurance expertise required for these steps — they're a documented sequence in Open Dental, and we'll train you on it
Scheduling
Schedule, reschedule, and confirm all appointment types — hygiene recalls, restorative, surgical, follow-ups, and post-op checks — using the correct appointment type, length, and timeline for each
Manage the recall list and reach out to patients who are due
Fill cancellations and keep the schedule productive
Pre-Visit Checks
Run through the next day's schedule and confirm that eligibility, benefits, and pre-authorizations are on file for every patient
Flag anything missing or expired to our insurance coordinator so it can be resolved before the appointment
Read a received pre-authorization and correctly identify the approved procedures and the patient's out-of-pocket portion, so you can explain it clearly at check-in
Office Operations
Sort and process incoming mail, packages, and supply deliveries
Receive and log incoming lab cases in Open Dental; label cases and link them to scheduled appointments
Scan paper documents with a desktop scanner and file them into the correct patient chart folders
Complete routine chart cleanup and filing during downtime
What We're Looking For
1+ year of dental front office experience
Available Wednesday–Friday plus 1–3 Saturdays per month
Experience with Open Dental or a similar practice management system
Comfortable with computers, scanners, and digital filing
Detail-oriented and reliable
Follows written procedures consistently and asks rather than guesses
Warm, professional, and calm with patients
Bilingual a plus — Mandarin or Cantonese preferred; Spanish or Vietnamese also helpful
Benefits
401(k) with 3% employer contribution — we contribute 3% of your pay whether or not you contribute your own, starting after 12 months of employment
Reduced-cost dental treatment for employees
Pay: $20.00 - $25.00 per hour
Benefits:
401(k)
Flexible schedule
Free parking
On-the-job training
Work Location: In person