January 15, 2016. I was away from home on business. It was late Friday afternoon, and the call I expected to receive that day hadn’t come. Desperate to know the results of Monday’s biopsy, I called my physician’s office and asked to speak to the nurse. She said the words no woman wants to hear: “I am so sorry to tell you this, but you have breast cancer.” This short phone call was the beginning of a very scary year, and looking back, an unexpectedly hopeful journey filled with blessings and joy. I met amazing people, learned amazing lessons, and unintentionally inspired other women. I became a Warrior!
Month: September 2018
Consulting | Get Organized, Get Productive
Professional Organization and Interior Decorating
Time is money. If you want your practice to be as efficient and economically prosperous as possible, you don’t want to spend valuable time dealing with the effects of clutter and chaos. Disorganization is shown to have a direct negative impact on productivity and, by extension, your earning potential as a practice.
Whether you feel like you’re drowning in papers or you want to learn tips to take your efficiency to the next level, here are some tips to help you and your team get organized. Contact our team today to learn more about the strategies we can help you implement to ensure you’re getting the most out of your practice.
Clean Up the Clutter
When you have so many different things demanding your attention throughout the day, it can be difficult to keep on top of everything. If you’re not careful, papers and other clutter can accumulate faster than you realize. Once the pile starts to get away from you, it can be hard to ever work your way back through without having to set aside valuable time to sort through everything.
It’s easier to avoid getting yourself into this mess in the first place once you have organizational strategies in place. You might create a unique filing system for handling the various kinds of mail that comes through your office. Perhaps you set specific team members in charge of returning calls. The best system of organization is the one that works for you and your team.
Don’t Let Your Time Manage You
It can be difficult to prioritize the different duties of your work. It’s rare that even an hour will go by without a variety of different distractions. While you’ll have the occasional emergency that demands immediate response, most of these interruptions will not need to be addressed right away.
Resist the urge to drop everything every time a new email or task arises. Operating this way will only make it harder to actually accomplish any of your duties on time. Instead, learn to prioritize which things need to be addressed immediately and which can be done later. Delegate what can be passed to another and clarify deadlines for things that must be completed by you to allow accurate prioritization of tasks.
The day-to-day efficiency of your business can impact its long-term success. Don’t waste your time digging through clutter because you’re working without a plan. For more strategies for your success, contact our office.
Dental Consulting | Avoiding Occupational Pain
Professional Organization and Interior Decorating
Movement is the key to keeping your body healthy. Many people may not realize that working in dentistry can be taxing on your body. From working the front desk to sitting in a chair for long periods, an average day can put a lot of pressure on your body. If you’re not taking care of yourself, you could run the risk of serious chronic pain or injury later in your life. Below are some tips to help promote a healthier lifestyle for you and your dental team.
Make stretching a daily routine.
One of the easiest steps you can take to reduce the strain put on your body is to build a stretching routine throughout the day. Even a short stretching session in the morning and at night can help loosen up your body and promote blood circulation.
Get up and move.
Moving more throughout the day can also help keep you limber and stress-free especially if your particular role requires you to remain in the same position all day.
Exercise more.
Exercising can help strengthen your supporting muscles and promote overall improved health. It has also been shown to help you sleep better at night, giving your body a chance to rest and fully recover after a long day. While strength training will be most optimal for building your stabilizing muscles, any type of exercise will be beneficial.
Assess your office.
See if there are opportunities to make your office more ergonomic. Whether that means standing desks for the front office team or better seating for chairside work, there could be ways to reduce the physical stress caused by work through simply replacing the furniture.
A healthy team is a happy team. Do you worry chronic discomfort or pain is limiting the productivity of your team and making them dread coming to work? Maybe you’re starting to feel chronic discomfort after years of working with patients. In order to address this pain and discomfort, you need to first recognize the source. For more tips on how to maintain a happier, healthier, and more productive dental team, contact our firm today!
Dental Consultant | Dealing with Patient No-Shows
Professional Organization and Interior Decorating
No-shows and same-day cancellations can take a toll on your practice’s monthly revenue. Patients with busy or complicated schedules may find it difficult to commit to an appointment months in advance. Here are six ideas to help you keep your calendar full and your patients on track.
- Implement a wait list. By providing an optional waiting list, you can turn one patient’s same-day cancellation into another’s earlier appointment opportunity. When your patient schedules their next visit, ask whether they want to be notified if you get an earlier opening. This can give both your office and your patients added flexibility, as well as showing your patients that you care about their convenience.
- Add a cancellation fee. While most practices find these fees rarely need to be enforced, the option to apply a fee can impress on patients that your time is valuable and can act as a deterrent for missed appointments. Offer to waive one same-day cancellation or no-show — be it an emergency, mistake, or otherwise — but retain the option to apply the fee for repeat offenders.
- Consider offering extended hours. Many patients have difficulty keeping an appointment during their workday. Time off from work, even for health care, can be limited. If your office has the capability, try adjusting open hours by an hour or two before or after standard business hours for flex appointments. Even offering this once or twice a week can help mitigate patients’ scheduling challenges.
- Call, text, and/or email day-before notifications. In some cases, appointments are scheduled weeks or months in advance. During that time, work schedules can change, activities may be planned, and the appointment can be forgotten. By contacting your patients the day before their scheduled visit, you provide both a reminder and an opportunity to reschedule, if needed. Even knowing a day ahead can help you fill a time slot that could otherwise sit unused. Ask your patients how they like to be contacted for best results.
- Provide context during scheduling. If your patient doesn’t fully understand and accept the necessity of their treatment, they may fail to prioritize it. When you schedule the appointment, restate the reason for the visit and why it is needed. Focus on the benefit of treating on schedule, so they are more likely to think of their appointment as important.
- When no-shows or last-minute cancellations do occur, be sympathetic. As we all know, life happens. If your patient does miss their appointment with little or no advanced notice, be courteous and understanding of their situation. This helps instill positive feelings toward your team, which can help them keep future visits a priority.
No-shows and same-day cancellations can negatively affect your office, but they don’t have to be devastating. By implementing these or other ideas, you can minimize the impact on productivity while helping build loyalty and value with your patients.
For more ideas on improving your systems, contact us for your consultation.
