Scheduling appointments – 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.

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.