How to Create a Productive Schedule in a Dental Office

Without knowledge of how to accomplish these things an office manager can get frustrated, worn out, and even choose to resign.

Out of the mentioned responsibilities creating and maintaining a productive schedule is the most vital duty that an office manager must perform.

If the appointment schedule is anything but productive the office will eventually lose money and the office manager may be replaced.

While it's a challenge to create and maintain a productive schedule, office managers can implement simple procedures that will make the process easier.

Here is an overview of how to create and maintain a productive schedule in a dental office.

Retention

Office managers may not realize that the majority of revenue is generated from patients that are already established. Keeping an open line of communication with existing patients is necessary to keep them active in the office which will ultimately increase revenue.

Performing simple tasks such as sending a birthday card or calling the patient to see how they are can create or maintain an open line of communication. Not only will it increase patient volume it will more importantly show the patient they are cared for.

Pre-schedule Future Appointments

It's no surprise that people don't enjoy going to the dentist and the likely hood of them calling the office at a future date to schedule an appointment is slim to none.

In order to prevent a patient from falling through the cracks, it's imperative that the office pre-schedules future appointments with the patient while they are still in the office.

Confirm Existing Dental Appointments

Calling to confirm a patient's dental appointment should be a number one priority of the office staff. Although it is time consuming it must be completed 2 days prior to the scheduled appointment date.

Confirming a patient's dental appointment will give the office confirmation of the patient's attendance or will give the staff an opportunity to offer the appointment to someone else if the patient has to cancel.

Mail Dental Hygiene Reminder Cards

Not all offices schedule cleaning appointments 6 months in advance but it is highly recommended that they do so. If this is the case the staff should send reminder cards to their patients.

Reminder cards will prompt a patient to call and make their next cleaning appointment which will create a productive schedule. Note: Reminder cards should be kept in a small storage box and filed by due date. They should be mailed 2 months prior to the patient needing an appointment.

Cancellation List

Cancellations often occur and it can be quite frustrating for the staff to fill the open appointment time prior to the next business day; especially if the cancellation happens right before closing time.

A cancellation list should be kept current and any patient that has an appointment should be placed on the list in case an opening comes available prior to their scheduled appointment date.

Purge Patient Records

In some cases office managers make every attempt to create a productive schedule and still have no results. If and when this happens the entire office staff should purge patient records.

Purging records consists of reviewing all the documentation in a patient's file to see if they have any treatment that has yet to be completed. If there are patients that require additional dental work the office staff should contact them to schedule an appointment.

Follow up

Unfortunately every person has things happen in their life that causes them to either stop dental treatment or put it on hold indefinitely. However, the office staff should always follow up with the patient to determine when they will schedule their next appointment.

This should be done at least once a month to create a productive schedule and to let the patient know that the office is concerned about their overall well being.

Creating and maintaining a productive schedule is hard work but performing these simple tasks are proven to be successful.

Source

Personal Experience