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TIME IS THE MOST valuable commodity in any business. Equipment and supplies can always be restocked, but lost time is not as easily replaced.
There are countless ways time slips away in a busy dental practice—from late and cancelled appointments to being unable to efficiently move between treatment rooms, the list goes on and on.
So how do you make the most of your time while dealing with the usual hiccups throughout the day? We have a few tips to help you out because let’s face it; your schedule is the core of every successful dental practice.
Keep reading for tips on efficiently scheduling appointments in your dental practice.
Maximize Your Practice Potential with These Scheduling Tips
Some of the most common scheduling mistakes we see are no plan to add new patients to your schedule when you are running a successful new patient marketing campaign.
Another mistake we see is when a practice does run an overdue hygiene patient campaign to get patients to return to your office, many of these patients need perio therapy and there are no openings in the hygiene schedule for months out. These hygiene patients end up waiting months before they can begin their perio therapy.
What you must do to have a productive schedule is:
- Know your production goals and then schedule to goal
- Utilize blocked scheduling to accomplish your goals
- Crown/bridge procedures
- Seat appointments
- CEREC procedures
- New Patients
- Time your procedures for each section of the appointment
- Anesthetic
- Hygienist time
- Assistant time
- Doctor time
- Hygienists are a key member of the team who must schedule all future routine hygiene appointments
- When patients call to change an appointment offer a solution to help them keep their appointment
Successful schedules allow your practice to avoid unexpected surprises. Maintaining a predictable flow in your schedule means consistent productivity.
Time Is an Invaluable Asset
We know managing a successful practice isn’t an easy task. That’s why we’re here. If you have questions about improving the efficiency of your day-to-day operations, let us know! We can provide you with proven time-management and scheduling strategies that not only improve your team’s workflow, but will add to your bottom line as well.