Scheduling Tips for Your Dental Office

It’s common for one office manager to run an entire dental office. Juggling all of these responsibilities can lead to mistakes and miscommunications during scheduling, which could lead to trouble for your office.

Many dental offices are understaffed at the front desk, meaning that scheduling is just one of the duties carried out by only a few staff members who are also in charge of managing the staff, billing patients, processing claims, scheduling appointments, and more.

If your office is struggling with scheduling difficulties or miscommunications, there are a few ways for you to boost productivity and ease the stress in your office. The best way to achieve this is to work on a strictly-monitored schedule.

Simplifying Your Dental Schedule

Below are a few ways to simplify your schedule and help the front office staff at your dental office to be more productive and efficient.

• Time management – Time appointment to see how long each procedure takes. This is a big help when your front office staff is scheduling for various treatments, procedures, and cleanings. Make sure to include cleaning and set-up time between patients.
• Consistency – It’s a good idea to make sure your days are evenly-paced. This means that each day should have the same amount of appointments instead of having very full days and very empty days.
• Communication – Make sure hygienists are specific with notes to the front office staff when scheduling for follow-ups and future appointments. It’s also vital to communicate well with patients for appointment reminders to cut down on no-shows.
• Waiting list – Lastly, if you don’t already have a waiting list program in place, we recommend adopting one. That way, if you get a cancellation, you can reach out to patients who have a longer time to wait for treatment. Make sure that your staff knows to match up the newly open time slot with treatments that taking a similar amount of time.

At CTC National, we know that one of the most successful ways to efficiently manage your time is by following the above scheduling tips. It’s also vital to keep the lines of communication open between yourself, your staff, and your patients. To speak to a dental consultant or if you have questions about changing your scheduling, please contact CTC National today. We are a dental consulting firm specializing in dental business consulting services, dental practice management, etc.