Patient Scheduling – Patient Focus

Patient Scheduling Tips for Optimized Efficiency in the Dental Office

scheduling-tips

Dentists and their staff are suffering from a serious case of business. Being super busy sounds like the idea dilemma to have in a dental office except for one big drawback: being busy doesn\’92t translate to better production and efficiency. Many factors can contribute to an inefficient day and patient scheduling seems to be one of the most common culprits. Patient scheduling can grow into work habits that become second nature and a routine to easily fall into without considering any change or improvement.

There\’92s always room for improvement. Read this blog post for 5 easy business tips to improve your dental clinic today.

Time is money so it\’92s a must to schedule yourself properly. Here we share some of the best surefire scheduling tips for running an efficient and well-organized dental practice.

Dental Patient Scheduling Tips for an A+ in Efficiency

Set a Daily Goal

It\’92s one of the most important scheduling tips for a dental practice to establish daily goals. Each and every staff member should be committed and on the same page to make the goal a reality. Try setting consistent morning huddles to share new scheduling information, review any challenges from the previous day and to relish in success!

Outsource Your Recall Services

Dental recall duties are generally assigned to office staff that may not have the right training or enough time to get the best results. In fact, dental patient recall can actually be counter-productive in most situations for dental office staff. To super streamline your patient scheduling process, outsource your dental recall services with Patient Focus to help increase your practice profitability and overall revenues.

Don\’92t Double Schedule

When you are scheduling dental patients, stay far, far away from double-scheduling. You can\’92t be in two places at once. Not only does double-scheduling inconvenience everyone in the office, but most importantly it inconveniences the patient. A patient will most likely have to wait, assistants may get confused trying to rush, the dentist\’92s stress levels go up and patients ultimately receive poor service.

When it comes to running a dental practice, efficiency is key to attracting and keeping solid, quality patients. Using these dental patient scheduling tips you could be well on your way toward running a dental practice with an A+ in efficiency to keep patients coming back.

Patient Focus is here to help your practice get more patients in your chairs through dental recall. Discover how you can begin realizing the increased revenue of a reactivated patient database in only 3 Simple Steps.

4 Powerful Tips to an Effective Dental Recall Appointment

recall-appointment

We all know that a full schedule is vital to a successful dental practice. Patients need to be rescheduled or you risk losing in many ways. One key to keeping that schedule full to the brim is an effective dental recall appointment. Having worked with many dental offices to help them find effective ways of scheduling overdue patients, we\’92ve discovered various techniques to make dental recalls effective to the max.

Here are some powerful tips to an effective dental recall appointment.

Get Personal

Don\’92t detour from human-to-human interaction when it comes to setting a recall appointment. People respond well to a personal touch. Everyone loves to hear their own name\’97use it in your interaction at least twice.

Don\’92t Rush

If a dental patient feels rushed into scheduling an appointment, they may schedule but will be less inclined to keep the appointment or even come back at all. The patient experience starts with the call to schedule the appointment. Slow down and take your time to make sure your patient is excited to visit your practice once again.

Be Trustworthy

Your patients want to feel like you truly care for them and want the best for their dental health. Be honest, trustworthy and always keep the patients\’92 best interest in mind. In doing this, your patients will be more inclined to keep coming back and recommend you to their friends and family.

Don\’92t Overlook Outsourcing

Boost efficiency and simplify the appointment reminder process by using a professional call center. Patient Focus makes live calls to your existing patients to schedule continuing care appointments. Even, better we have one caller that is assigned to your office\’97Patient Focus then becomes an integrated extension of your practice. Taking these appointment reminder calls off of your plate will save your staff time while still providing high quality service for your patients. Patient Focus offers innovative solutions making it seamless for dental providers to manage relationships with active and inactive patients.

Having a rock-solid dental recall appointment system in place is critical. Patient Focus is a proven dental recall system that will give your dental practice success. With over 12 years of appointment-scheduling experience. With one caller assigned to your office, Patient Focus will become an integrated extension of your practice. We make live calls to your existing patients to effectively schedule continuing care appointments.

Patient Recall Service Comparison. If you\’92re ready to realize increased revenues, discover what this Tempe Dental Practice saw from implementing Patient Focus\’92 services in only one short year. These results could be yours!

Are you ready to simplify and streamline your efforts to grow you dental practice? Follow this link to request a consultation with one of our call experts, or call us today at 888.978.2615 and get started in only three simple steps!

Use These Dental Scheduling Tips for More Patients in Your Chairs

You want your dental clinic to be profitable. There are many ways you can ensure your clinic\’92s profitability. But the biggest way to maximize your profitability is to keep your schedule full. This is because your clinic\’92s appointment schedule affects virtually every other part of your business operations.

Use these 5 dental scheduling tips to put more patients in your chairs.

Schedule Appointments by Procedure

By dividing your day by type of appointment, you can help you and your staff to stay on time. Schedule larger and more complex procedures in the morning where you\’92re not going to be running behind, and hygiene appointments in the afternoon. This way, you\’92re taking advantage of the most productive part of the day.

Use a Wait List

Wait lists are important because they limit the amount of empty chairs in the clinic. When you have a last minute cancellation, you can easily consult the wait list to fill the spot on short notice.

Plan Staff Breaks Strategically

Your dental clinic is most productive when everyone is working. To keep productivity high, stagger lunch and break times so that only one or two people are on break at a time. Using this kind of interval system will allow your clinic to see more patients throughout the day.

Always Confirm Appointments

Make sure your staff confirms appointments with patients ahead of time. This way, if a patient has to cancel, you have more time to fill the appointment slot, and you can reschedule their appointment if need be. Also, clearly define your cancellation policy to limit the number of cancelled appointments.

Dental Recall

Sometimes patients go MIA. When this happens, dental recall is a great way to bring back to the clinic. Patient Focus can provide your dental clinic with live callers to reactivate dormant patients. Dental recall is an effective way to keep existing patients coming back to your clinic for all their dental care needs.

A full schedule makes for a productive and profitable dental clinic. Remember these 5 dental scheduling tips next time your schedule is looking bare.

Patient Focus is here to help your practice get more patients in your chairs through dental recall. Discover how you can begin realizing the increased revenue of a reactivated patient database in only 3 Simple Steps.

3 Dental Patient Scheduling Process Tips for Success

Everything is going smoothly today. All your dental patients are moving in and out of the office without a hitch. Then\’85poof! An empty dental chair. A no-show. If a patient misses their appointment, it can throw a wrench into your otherwise productive day. Or, if a dental patient has been in the waiting room too long after their scheduled appointment, they could be frustrated or angry and you could easily lose their service.

If your dental patient scheduling process is messy, your entire practice could collapse. Setting some guidelines will help your dental office to run super smoothly while keeping your patients and staff happy. So how do you make sure the patient scheduling process goes off without a hitch?

Here are 3 foolproof dental patient scheduling process tips for success.

Know Your Procedure Times

It\’92s crucial for the scheduler to keep an eye on the clock. Take the time to establish how long each particular treatment takes and schedule accordingly. Once established, consistency is king! If procedure times aren\’92t in place, run too long or overlap, your scheduling could come to a screeching halt.

Outsource Your Recall Services

Dental recall duties are generally assigned to office staff who may not have the right training or enough time to get the best results. In fact, dental patient recall can actually be counter-productive in most situations for dental office staff. To super streamline your patient scheduling process, outsource your dental recall services with a company like Patient Focus to help increase your practice profitability and overall revenues.

Go Directly to the Dentist

Go straight to the source and ask your dentists what their ideal day looks like. For example, some dentists prefer to do major procedures in the morning, while others may be more energized in the afternoon. This will help your entire team map out a plan for patient scheduling each day.

The dental patient scheduling process doesn\’92t need to be a stressful and frustrating ordeal. Implement these tips to start seeing success in your dental practice\’92s efficiency and effectiveness.

Patient Focus is here for your dental practice to reactivate your patients with live calls. Discover how Patient Focus can breathe life back into your practice.

Patient Scheduling: 5 Tips for a Full Schedule

The schedule runs the show at most dental practices. It affects just about everyone. If you have a busy schedule, the whole staff will be going at full speed to ensure everything gets done, and the patients aren\’92t waiting long. But what about when the schedule isn\’92t so full? No one wants to come to work and just twiddle his or her thumbs all day.

Remember these 5 tips to keep you schedule full!

What to Do When There\’92s a Cancellation?

Do you have a plan in place for when a patient calls to cancel an appointment? Most people just accept the cancellation and move on to trying to fill the slot. And that\’92s okay when they\’92re cancelling due to some kind of emergency. But what if you could save the appointment? This is another option that many people overlook. Next time try saving the appointment before you spend too much time trying to fill the new availability. Having a documented scripted system can be beneficial in situations like this and create consistency among team members.

Thinking Long-Term

You should always be looking ahead. Your schedule could be full this week or this month, but what about the upcoming months. It\’92s easy to think in the now, but you should always be thinking about the future. This will ensure that there are no unexpected lulls in the schedule.

Scheduling When the Patient Leaves the Office

This is a very common practice in most dental offices. But often-times patients will have excuses as to why they aren\’92t scheduling their appointment then. They might say they don\’92t have their calendar/schedule with them, or they need to check with their spouse or work. Take note of why they aren\’92t scheduling now, and follow up in about a week.

Let Them Know You Care

A lot of the time you are contacting patients because there are holes in the schedule. Depending on the language you use, a patient could pick up on that. Instead of trying to sell them on making an appointment, make it about them. Let them know you\’92re concerned about their oral health.

Use an Effective Recall System

A gap in the schedule means lost time and lost revenue. Having an effective dental recall system in place will help your practice to maintain a full schedule. And a full schedule means maximized revenues! Learn to realize the increased revenue of a reactivated patient database with these 3 simple steps.

Next time your schedule is looking a little bare, use these 5 tips to fill it up!

If you struggle with keeping appointments, we\’92ve got your 5-Point Checklist to a Full Schedule. Download your checklist here!

With your schedule full to the brim, it\’92s time to streamline your dental treatment planning. Avoid these 4 mistakes!