Don’t overbook

You have to know your limit. All too often, dental offices try to squeeze in unrealistic numbers of procedures into a day, which only leads to a stressed out staff and annoyed patients. 

If you’re one of those offices using three or four treatment rooms to bank patients while you finish other appointments, all you’re doing is creating extra wait time for your patients-and that means you’re making your patients angry and wasting their valuable time.

Instead of stressing your patients out and making them wonder if they should check out that dentist down the street, try dovetail scheduling.  Based on your averages, block a certain amount of time off for specific procedures, making it easier for you to schedule in smaller procedures throughout the day, said Kathleen O’Donnell, director of consulting for Jameson Management.

This may be a bit of an adjustment at first if you’re not used to it, but it will make it easier for you and your team to know how to approach your day. And more importantly, it will be better for the patients because they won’t be kept waiting.

Your patients are your practice. Without them, where would you be? You have to know the best ways to attract them to your practice, get them to accept treatment and make them happy, life-long patients.

That’s where we can help. Check back regularly for tips on how to keep your patients happy, healthy and loyal.

The DPR Patient Tip of the Day is sponsored by Instrumentarium Dental, manufacturer of high-end systems and solutions for dental and maxillofacial imaging. Visit Instrumentariumdental.com to learn about the company's full line of imaging solutions, including the ORTHOPANTOMOGRAPH^®OP300.