Silfa Dental Aesthetics
How a Dental Practice Fixed a Worker Classification Problem Without an HR Department
“I’m in a small practice where there is no HR department. We don’t have a legal or risk department. Remote Leverage was really able to pick that ball up and run with it.”
The Challenge
Silfa Dental Aesthetics, led by Dr. Publio Silfa in Commack, New York, specializes in full-arch reconstruction and other life-changing restorative work. Patients arrive nervous and facing major treatment, so the person answering their questions matters as much as the dentistry.
Alexis runs the practice, and filling front-office roles locally was eating her week. She describes “days of fielding resumes,” more days chasing callbacks, and candidates who would “show up and not present what their resumes projected.”
Then came a second problem. The practice had planned to hire international talent and run payroll itself, so it brought its new hire on as a 1099 contractor. After the IRS weighed in, the practice learned that setup would not hold, and its payroll provider could not run international payroll at all.
Alexis needed a way to keep a great hire on the team, legally, with no HR, legal, or compliance staff to lean on.
Why Remote Leverage
The practice heard about Remote Leverage from a colleague Dr. Silfa met at continuing education courses. Alexis came in skeptical of overseas talent and expected payroll to be the hard part. She “did not think it was going to be so clean.”
At first, the practice only wanted help finding talent. When the classification problem surfaced, Alexis went back to Remote Leverage to see what it would take to keep her new hire. The answer was Contractor of Record: Remote Leverage takes on payroll, the legal structure, and international compliance so the practice doesn’t have to.
The Solution
Remote Leverage recruited and vetted a Virtual Patient Advocate with real dental experience, then moved her onto a compliant Contractor of Record setup.
| Key Highlights | |
|---|---|
| Role | Virtual Patient Advocate |
| Shortlist | 3 qualified candidates in one week |
| Onboarding | About 48 hours after introductions |
| Industry knowledge | HIPAA, dental insurance, billing, and treatment planning |
| Compliance | Payroll and classification handled through Contractor of Record |
1. A qualified shortlist in a week.
Instead of days of resumes and missed calls, Alexis met three vetted candidates by the end of the week.
2. Onboarded in about 48 hours.
Once she chose her hire, getting her set up was “almost instantaneous. It was really very seamless.”
3. Classification fixed through Contractor of Record.
When the practice’s own payroll provider couldn’t support an international hire, Remote Leverage took over payroll and compliance so the practice could keep the person it already trusted.
4. Gaps caught before they became problems.
As a practice manager, not an HR or legal specialist, Alexis valued having someone watching the details.
“Any t’s I might not have crossed or i’s I didn’t dot, you guys picked it up. Informed me, taught me, handled.”
Alexis Morris, Practice Manager, Silfa Dental Aesthetics
The Outcomes
Countless hours back on hiring alone. Alexis can’t put a number on it, and that’s the point. “Remote Leverage has saved me countless hours with the interviewing process alone.”
No employment lawyer required. Without Contractor of Record, she says she would have had to find an employment or Department of Labor lawyer and learn international labor rules herself. Instead, Remote Leverage carries that load.
A hire who arrived already knowing the job. Her Virtual Patient Advocate came in understanding HIPAA compliance, dental insurance, billing, co-insurance, and treatment planning. She was working in the practice’s systems within about three days.
Hospitality that patients notice. “People love her. When they get to the office, they ask for her all the time, and they’re very surprised to find out that she’s not in the country.”
A role the practice now runs on. She handles a large share of patient-facing work and day-to-day operations. “If we didn’t have her tomorrow, we would be stuck.”
“I was very skeptical about hiring overseas talent.”
Alexis didn’t start as a believer. Dental and medical work is sensitive, and she wasn’t sure overseas talent could deliver the care her patients expect.
What changed her mind was the experience itself. “There’s really been no hiccups. I have only had a positive experience with Remote Leverage.” For a practice where “patients are nervous, they’re apprehensive, they’re scared,” she found the talent met that need for hospitality “beautifully,” while also bringing the dental knowledge the role required.
Results Summary
| Metric | Before | With Remote Leverage |
|---|---|---|
| Finding candidates | Days of resumes, callbacks, and mismatched candidates | 3 qualified candidates in one week |
| Time to onboard | No clear timeline | About 48 hours after introductions |
| Worker classification | 1099 setup that wouldn’t hold | Compliant Contractor of Record arrangement |
| International payroll | Not supported by the practice’s provider | Handled by Remote Leverage |
| HR and legal support | None in-house | Handled by Remote Leverage |
| Training | Built from the ground up | Arrived knowing HIPAA, insurance, and billing |
| Would recommend | “I definitely would recommend Remote Leverage to anybody else in dental and medical. They seem to really have all of the fine details worked out.” |
What Comes Next
The practice is ready to grow. “Given how easy it was from the get go,” Alexis is confident it could add two to four more international contractors by the end of October.
If your practice is hiring without an HR department behind it, book a call with Remote Leverage and see how fast a pre-vetted, English-fluent hire can join your team, with worry-free compliance built in.
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