Unified Smiles
Improve Managing your Time to Boost Your Practice
Improve Time Management to Boost Productivity
Mastering time management can improve patient flow, help boost patient satisfaction, and increase profits. One of the easiest ways to elevate your business is by going back to the basics and evaluating the time management skills utilized by your team. Everything from time spent checking patients in, performing procedures, and scheduling follow-ups can have an impact on overall patient satisfaction. Not only do you want to ensure that your services are of high quality, but you also want to make sure that they are being administered in the most efficient way possible. Check out these tips on how to make your day more efficient for both staff and patients.
Minimize Wait Times
Scheduling your appointments back-to-back may seem like the best way to see the most patients, but you may be doing yourself a disservice. Running late is bad for patient satisfaction, and it adds stress to your staff which can cause an impact on services provided. Speak with your staff at the front desk to gain a better understanding of their specific expectations when it comes to scheduling. There may be a better way to organize appointments so that every patient is being served properly with minimal wait times in between. Some procedures may require you to balance your schedule so that you are not spread too thin and divide your attention accordingly.
Having too many appointments is never a bad thing but accommodate those appointments properly. If necessary, hire more staff to assist with a busy schedule, and speak with employees about how you can improve their experience as well. By taking the time to communicate with staff about your expectations regarding scheduling, you can reduce the stress put on employees and reduce wait times for patients.
Make Any Necessary Updates
Streamlining your technology is one of the easiest ways to increase patient satisfaction and boost productivity. Manually keeping track of patients that need to be scheduled can be difficult and sometimes inaccurate, so it is in your best interest to introduce technology into the office that can help keep up with appointment demand. By adding the right software to your computers and phones, you can easily keep regular appointments up to date and retain patients that may otherwise fall through the cracks.
You should also consider updating technology to reduce the time spent performing services. Depending on the needs of your patients, you may be able to improve the quality of your procedures by investing in new equipment. If your practice values innovative and cutting-edge dental procedures, you may want to explore new technology to expand the services you provide. You could also invest in equipment to improve popular services that you already offer to reduce treatment time and improve the quality of the treatment. Dental group purchasing organizations, like Unified Smiles, can help you identify what areas of technology may be worth updating so that you can better serve your patients and manage your time more effectively.
Manage Transitions Between Appointments
Transitioning of staff members during appointments can sometimes take too long and add unnecessary time to appointments. Time spent before and after appointments may also be taking too long and causing longer wait times between patients. Take some time to understand where time may be used improperly during appointments so that you can find ways to adjust it. You should not aim to take away the personal experience of visiting your office, such as small talk before treatments, but rather evaluate specific moments that may be better used elsewhere. Talk to your staff about how they feel about the current flow of appointments and ask where they feel their time may be better served. With small adaptations to your current operations, you may be able to save a significant amount of time during appointments which will help enhance your patient experience.
Some practices may benefit from adjusting the point at which the patient is seen by the hygienist and dentist. Typically, the patient’s teeth are cleaned by the hygienist and then the dentist comes in to do the exam. Instead, consider having the dentist complete the exam at any point during the appointment when the dentist is between other patients. This flexible approach maximizes efficiency for both the dentist and patient and eliminates any wait time at the end of the appointment. Having someone manage transitions in appointments could also minimize wait times for subsequent patients and overall improve patient satisfaction. Smooth transitions between appointments can prove to be very valuable when it comes to refining how you run your business.
Identify Target Goals
One of the best ways to improve time management is to have specific target goals. These goals can be big or small, the important thing is that you create achievable steps for you and your staff to follow. Having a good idea of where you would like your practice to be in a week, month, year, or even five years can move your business in the right direction. Do not leave things up to chance – take a close look at where you would like to see progress and improvement. When your whole team is on the same page, you are all more likely to work as one cohesive unit. Having a clear common goal will help keep everyone on task and improve overall time management. Then you can make some simple adjustments to daily activities that will contribute to the future success of your business.
Call Unified Smiles to learn more about how you can improve time management at your dental practice and boost your productivity. Our Unified Smiles Representatives can help you design the perfect plan to move you closer to your target goals. Don’t leave your career success up to chance, take charge of your business to reach your full potential. To learn more about how you can improve your practice’s time management, call Unified Smiles at 844.878.6483 or fill out the form below. Our team looks forward to helping you succeed!
