Do's and don'ts for scheduling

Scheduling is one of the most significant indicators of how your practice is functioning. A roller-coaster schedule with unproductive gaps followed by frantic bursts of activity causes excessive stress and poor customer service. An efficient scheduling system, in contrast, ensures a steady flow of patients and production throughout the day. Below are two ideas that will help you create the best schedule for your practice.

Perform procedural time studies. Changes in experience, technologies, and personnel often alter how long it takes the doctor and clinical staff to perform common procedures. Examine each type of appointment once per year, clocking each 10 times. Then you can allocate the appropriate amount of time using the average as a standard.

Don't use 10-minute increments. Scheduling patients using 10-minute instead of 15-minute increments leads to an average of 13 more days of production each year, according to the Levin Group Data Center. This increased efficiency in operations will also decrease the stress on everyone in the practice.

Dr. Roger P. Levin is CEO of Levin Group, a leading practice management and marketing consulting firm. To contact him or to join the 40,000 dental professionals who receive his Practice Production Tip of the Day, visit LevinGroup.com or email [email protected].

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