2023 is rolling on and it has a lot of changes and adjustments for the average dental practice. This makes it challenging for dental practices to operate at capacity all while getting teams up-to-speed with the various changes that have been made to the way they operate on a day today.
To get your practice up to speed we have come up with a few tips that will help you keep your dental office moving smoothly and relieve some of the pressure your dental team is facing. All in an effort to give your patients the best oral health care and take your practice further.
Who can work and when?
We want to see a full appointments list but at this time it is advisable to screen who can be seen in your practice and when. Profile your patients in order of who needs the most attention and how quickly a procedure can be carried out. This will help you clear the waiting room quicker and possibly have you seeing a desirable number of patients in a day.
Even more communication with your patients.
Fact! Patients cannot always visit your enquiries desk. As such invest in constant communication with your patients. Have regular updates in the form of social media messages (Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter). Keep patients in the know of any regulations that affect them. Also let patients know any change that will change the way they will be received or treated in your practice.
This extends to the way patients who do reach out to you will be treated. Your team needs to be trained on tone and words to use so as to keep a patient calm. The last thing your practice needs is a flood of panicking patients with more questions than they had before.
What is an emergency and how will you take care of it?
It seems simple but to a patient anything unusual health-wise is an emergency. Your practice needs to have clear outlines of what constitutes an emergency. Once that has been done have a clear provision put in place for when such an emergency happens.
Make sure you have enough supplies for your scheduled patients
As patients start rolling in it is easy to get overwhelmed. Look at the supplies you need for the various procedures you have scheduled. Make sure they are enough to cater for all the procedures scheduled.
Expand your Services
At this point, you need to gain a competitive edge. Take the time to know and try to meet the patient’s needs. This will ensure your practice has what the patient needs exactly when they need it. Saving you on time and ensuring resources are channelled where needed most.
Customize your working hours
Your team can only take so much pressure before they start buckling under. You need to devise a timesheet that maximizes productivity.
- Create an effective booking system.
- Keep flexible hours that better serve patients in the morning or as the day ends give a break to you and your staff.
- Create patient policies that need 24-hour cancellation notices.
Reinvent your Scheduling Solutions
Online scheduling is your best bet now. Your patients cannot afford to come in and see you. They need to schedule their appointments online. Making this process as easy as possible keeps your practice efficient and wins you, new patients, easily.
If your practice can easily be found online and an appointment can be made your scheduling is top-notch. If not, this is a call to look at your online solutions and how they can be improved.
Get an all-in-one support system.
Outsourcing has proven to be an invaluable support system for most dental businesses over time. There is absolutely no limit to the number of rolls you can outsource. Some of the more popular rolls have been ;
- Director of first impressions
- Insurance verification
- Dental billing
- Revenue cycle management and many more.
This means you can get a virtual team member to take on the tasks that are weighing you and your team down.
Conclusion
Your dental practice needs to realize its full potential. To do so you need to revamp the way you manage your schedules and your team.
