Correct appointment scheduling makes all the difference

By Jayne Bandy

During any challenging times, you’ve had to be able to adapt and make changes both small and big. The worst thing you can ever do is sit still and do nothing. Making changes along the way is something the entire team must be onboard with.

The appointment book or schedule is a big part of the running of the practice.

I always say to teams, “if there are no appointments booked, then there are no patients coming in”. We’ve had a good or bad two years seeing such challenges with our appointment books. Patients not turning up due to fear, illness, enforced dental restriction levels, lockdowns, isolation and even those patients that started to use COVID as a good excuse to not turn up for their appointments.

The issues we have experienced still linger for many practices trying to get back on their feet. Through it all, I kept saying to dentists and their teams, “keep developing excellent communication skills. Communication is going to play a big role in the survival of your business”.

And I was right.

Teams who are highly skilled in being able to communicate effectively, schedule appointments correctly and get RESULTS for you!

Correct appointment scheduling involves...

• Converting calls into appointments; • Scheduling the appointments so the needs of the practice are being met and matched to the needs of the patient; and • Avoiding making appointments without any regard to the structure of the appointment book. You never want to see an appointment as just the next available time that fits in with the patient. You want to be helpful when you’re booking a patient’s appointment and give them a time that is suitable, but you also need to create an appointment book that will ensure the success of your dental business.

You can help your patients find a suitable appointment as well as making sure the needs of the practice are met.

Here’s how...

For your Appointment Book to meet the needs of your practice, I would recommend the following:

1. A balance of long and short appointments

Scheduling an Appointment for a patient is so much easier with a planned appointment book schedule to follow.

A good mixture of long and short appointments gives everyone in the practice a steady flow of patients with time between patients to complete administrative duties, sterilisation and other daily routines that need to be completed.

2. Meet a daily production requirement and target

Longer appointments are usually highproduction and the practice needs these to financially survive. It is crucial that the appointment book always takes production into account as well as achievable goals that have been set.

3. Emergency and new patient appointment times available each day

Leaving available time each day to see a new patient or a patient with an emergency is also very important. These two types of patients have a high level of urgency and it is excellent customer service to be able to meet their needs. No one wants a new patient or an existing patient emergency going to another practice because you were unable to get them in soon enough. That patient probably won’t give you a second chance!

4. A healthy priority standby list

Ihave written before about the importance of building a healthy patient standby list. It’s always better when an appointment has not been filled or becomes available to call patients who have given you permission to call them to move their appointment. A healthy priority standby list ensures that at the end of the day, the next day’s appointment schedule is complete and looking great!

5. Confirm appointments

When appointments are made for patients, the appointment should be confirmed at the time of making the appointment. Use the phrase, “I have now confirmed your appointment and reserved that time for you”.

You will of course still contact your patient prior to their appointment but you want to set it up from the outset so the patient is aware the appointment is firm and the idea of cancelling the appointment is not on their mind.

Instread, look at the confirmation call/ message simply as a courtesy to let your patient know you are looking forward to seeing/meeting them.

The difference between a practice with a well-designed, planned and implemented appointment schedule and one without is huge. When you have a wellplanned schedule, the production goals are met, the flow of the day is smooth and on time and the needs of the patients and the practice are both met.

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About the author

Jayne began her career as an educator. After spending several years teaching, she made the jump to practice management, serving as a Practice Manager for a renowned dentist in Sydney for more than 25 years, giving her first-hand experience at what works when it comes to building and maintaining patient relationships, how to convert leads over the phone and most importantly - what it takes to reach your practice goals. As the CEO and Founder of Dental Phone Excellence, Jayne helps practices convert more calls into appointments, reduce cancellations and nurture effective patient communication that will result in increased profitability. Her past experience as an educator combined with her passion for practice management gives her a unique set of skills that allows your team to fully understand and take advantage of the tools she presents.

For more information on what to say and ask your patients, call 1300-378-044 or email jayne@thedpe.com

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