Scheduling for Success

Recently I’ve been “experimenting” with the schedules of several of my clients. Now, I know what you’re thinking! Experiments, for most of you, mean that the true answer has not yet been discovered. Experimentation is a way to grasp for something that will “work”, in a place where not much is working. Now, in a way I might agree with you. For some clients, the schedule is the one thing keeping them from success. Hampered by the swift passage of time, inefficiencies and operative surprises; most dentists struggle to manage their patient load. That’s where the research begins. So, without further ado, here are my top two favorite experiments – and their outcomes.

1. Make time for emergencies. Now, this one is big. If your schedule is in constant flux because emergency cases are sandwiched into your day (often as a surprise to you), we recommend that you set aside a specific time of each working day to focus on urgent care. I prefer the hour before lunch as an option. Here’s a scenario: Imagine you have five emergencies on Monday and one on Tuesday. Monday you’ll be taking five X-rays and medicating patients, who will then be rescheduled. As the doctor, you will have about five to ten minutes with each patient for getting in relationship and delivering a quick diagnosis. Lunch continues on as scheduled. On Tuesday, you’ll have a full hour in which you can (most likely) treat your one emergency case. No matter what happens, no matter how many emergencies show up – you only have an hour. Gunslinging is strictly out of the question. The remainder of your schedule stays on track and your regular patients are seen on time, every time. This experiment is working well in offices across the country. You might want to try it.

2. Pre-block for production. Okay, you might think this is old news. The truth is, even though most dental practices they know they should (you know who you are!) most are not pre-blocking appointment times. This means the schedule has no structure and every day is unpredictable; it’s hard (if not impossible) to schedule to goal. Ideally, we find three to four hours each day and reserve them for big operative appointments. Those hours are blocked off the schedule, reserved for the menu of those procedures in your practice that equal big production. So, if you only have 3.5 hours per day that you do big procedures, those hours fill up quickly and stay filled. Your scheduling coordinator will shift from being reactionary to being completely in control of the operative schedule. The experimentation comes in when we try to determine which hours of the day work best for your individual practice – and when the doctor performs best according to their own body clock. Another part of the experiment is to pre-block New Patient appointments, either in operative for diagnosis (problem-focused) or in hygiene (just a “check-up”). If you regularly schedule three New Patient appointments per day (one in op and two in hygiene), it will benefit you to have a specific place to put them. A good balance is needed, specifically if the doctor must pause for two or more hygiene checks per hour. Pre-blocking allows you to be flexible with non-productive appointments (like crown seats or small fillings) on the schedule, so the Doctor and staff aren’t worn out at the end of the day.

A Tip From The Coach: I’d recommend your operative planner go now to a place on the schedule that isn’t reserved and save those hours for production and New Patients. Your hygiene coordinator can do the same thing for New Patients and perio appointments, reserving them as needed in your practice. The outcome? You’ll be twice as likely to meet your goals on a daily basis if you pre-block. At the same time, each provider of care can perform at peak level, simply because you’ve reserved times of the day when they are at their personal best for procedures. No kidding!