I don’t know about you, but there’s a lot to be said about creating a schedule for maximum productivity and minimal stress. Dentistry is physically and mentally demanding work; I recently heard a colleague say: “I don’t care what anyone does for a living, there is no other profession that is more physically demanding and more stressful than dentistry.” Therefore, it makes sense to do everything possible to reduce the physical and mental stress it places on our body. Let’s start with the schedule.

An experienced receptionist guards the time the clinical staff is hands-on during the most productive portion of the days schedule. They understand that toothaches and emergencies need to be scheduled and isolated to specific times of the day. If the patient can’t come in at that time, it’s not an emergency. The highest production should be scheduled at the times the Dentist Oner feels they are most productive. Whether that be in the AM or PM is irrelevant.

I believe that your front-line needs experience as a number one skill in scheduling production and goes a long way in reducing stress. I was employed in an office that had two receptionists and one manager that had absolutely no dental experience. Even if only one employee at the front desk has experience, at least they can oversee the many issues that arise at the front line. The scheduling of Dental patients is the definition of how the day will proceed. It’s the daily Bible of events to come. It’s critical.

Let me share the issues that no experience presents. First, they don’t understand the limitations the highly productive treatment can present. They don’t know that they can’t keep adding toothaches to the schedule as if they don’t require time. They don’t understand the Dentist can’t be continuously pulled away from highly productive procedures and expect those patients to feel as if they’ve received the complete focus of the Dental Professional providing their care.

In my private practice, I wanted to do crown and bridge first thing in the morning. All walk-ins, and toothaches were scheduled in double columns towards the end of the day. In contrast, as an employee of a large corporation, I observed the receptionist simply filing holes in the schedule without any thought or direction. I would find myself running from room to room and leaving the office at the end of the day thoroughly exhausted and in a mental fog.

So how does your office schedule treatment? Are you scheduling for production or just filling holes? If you’re just filling holes, your production and your Staff will suffer. Take the time to learn how to schedule for production and develop a happier, financially healthier dental practice.

Go to DentalStaffing.org and become a member. Post your profile and create an ad to attract an experienced Dental Receptionist who can bring higher production and reduce stress through better scheduling. When you become a member at Dental Staffing, you have access to our partners who offer discounts to Dental Practices for their services. MGM Online is business 101 for Dentists; they ask: “why not control your Dental Practice instead of it controlling you?”

- Maxine