How to regain command over your schedule: bottleneck at treatment appointment

Practices begin to work efficiently when the workflow is consistently regulated with respect to minimizing waste, elevating your practice’s profitability, and providing good patient care. If you successfully target known bottlenecks in your system, you and your employees will no longer feel like you’re running on an unending treadmill.

Over the years, bottlenecks in your practice can emerge as new operations and processes are added and teammates fail to overcome the outdated routine splints. With better management, you can change the dynamics of your practice and make comprehensive reforms that benefit the overall culture of your practice.

Bottlenecks at treatment appointment

If you are proactively trying to get rid of bottlenecks in your process and are mulling to make standardized changes in your patient interactions, you may have to dig a little deeper. When it comes to planning the treatment time, it isn’t only the time spent with the patient that you’d have to worry about but instead the actual tasks that consolidate the treatment appointments.

What is called setup time in industry corresponds in practice to the preparation and follow-up times during treatment. Take this time into account: cleaning treatment chairs, clearing work surfaces, clearing away equipment, index card entries, etc. If these tasks are carried out quickly and efficiently, you create time that can then be used to invest in the patient and understand their needs.

This applies to both before and after the treatment. Before the treatment, the assistant sets up the equipment for the procedure while you, the dentist can interact with the patient. The faster you finish the treatment, the faster the patient can close his mouth again and tell you how he is doing.

It is important to ensure that your practice displays a front of calm and not chaos. Much like the waiter serving the customer calmly and confidently, despite the insane hustle and bustle in the kitchen, you must also converse with the patient in a similar way.
Another analogy can be James Bond. Pierce Brosnan runs, climbs, jumps, and dodges a hail of bullets from the bad guys yet there is not a single grain of dust on his impeccably stylish suit. Extremely fast and efficient treatment, preparation, and follow-up times allow you to pay more attention to the patient, in turn aiding in amplify patient satisfaction and dedication.