Practice Management Toolkit Making or Breaking a Practice through Scheduling Roger P. Levin, DDS Scheduling is one of the most misunderstood and single most important production factors in all of dentistry. Generally, schedules are designed early in a doctor's career and are rarely redesigned. Rather than adjusting scheduling techniques to meet the changing needs of the practice, the schedule is simply tweaked over time using a band–aid management approach. Eventually one of two things happen. Production capacity appears to be reached even though it is really below the practice's potential, or the doctor becomes so stressed that he or she becomes miserable. A new syndrome we are seeing among our clients is an increasing amount of busyness resulting in the practice being scheduled out further in advance than ever before. The truth is that schedule design is nothing more than a mathematical time–controlled event understood only by taking certain mathematical steps to design the schedule. Where do you begin? By evaluating exactly what you want your schedule to be and assessing whether or not it is realistic. Scheduling Basics Here are a few scheduling basics that have not changed regardless of what type of scheduling system you use. Do the most productive things first One of the key principles of scheduling is always do the most productive things first. There should be time blocked off every day for productive procedures. We suggest you pick specific hours, usually in the morning where 60% or more of the daily production occurs. This could be in 1–3 hour time blocks allocated toward certain fee level cases. Otherwise, the schedule tends to get clogged with all types of dentistry. The practice will become busier over time, but will be filled with small cases or minor procedures. Establish the ideal day and ideal production Practices should apply a mathematical formula to their daily production. For example, if you want to produce $500,000 in 200 days, you need to produce $2,500 per day. While you will not be at this precise number each day, it is the average of the days that make sense. Ideal schedules and daily production goals also tend to iron out the stress in dental practices. At Levin Group, we encourage practices to schedule approximately the same production each day so that the practice is well paced. Otherwise, you have what I call a "sprint and crash" type of practice that can be exhausting. Schedule the dentist and clinical team on a per chair basis When evaluating the schedule, look at each of the available dental chairs as an opportunity. For example, a general dentist should be using two main chairs minimum effectively rotating between patients. This can increase production by 30–40%. At the same time, general dentists and all specialists need at least one additional chair that will produce at 50–60% of the first two chairs. Not only will this significantly enhance practice production, but it will also allow for tremendous flexibility in emergency scheduling, minor procedures, delays, late patients, and other unexpected or unanticipated scenarios. Schedule auxiliaries separately from the doctor Dental assistants can be engaged in highly productive diagnostic or treatment related activities rather than waiting for or watching the doctors. This helps an individual patient's progress move forward and takes a great deal of burden off the dentist. Additionally, it allows the practice to increase by 30% or more when used in conjunction with the other Levin Group recommendations made in this article. Summary Scheduling is the place to begin in changing your practice. All changes emanate from the schedule and the schedule controls almost every aspect of practice activity. Unfortunately, many dentists are scheduling a higher volume and building much more hectic and stressful practices. Simply by applying some of the recommendations above you can revolutionize both your practice production and your overall enjoyment of dentistry once again. Leadership Tips
|
Levin
Group is the nation's leading dental practice management and marketing
consulting firm, building practice profitability through advanced
management systems for 15 years. In an effort to address the issues
that are important to the dental profession, Dr. Levin welcomes your
practice management questions. Please fax or mail your comments to
Dr. Levin at The Compendium (fax 732–656–1148).