subject: Goal Oriented Scheduling For Dental Offices [print this page] Goal oriented scheduling refers to scheduling according to specific production goals. These goals represent set dollar amounts established by the Dentist, and are based on the amount of revenue necessary to support practice overhead as well as the Dentist's personal financial goals.
These goals represent set dollar amounts established by the Doctor, and are based on the amount of revenue necessary to support practice overhead as well as the Doctor's personal financial goals.
Usually the Doctor begins by establishing a yearly goal for the practice at the beginning of each year. For example, let's say the Doctor wants to produce $1,000,000.00 for the year. Then he or she must calculate the number of days to be worked, and divide the annual goal by the number of days, to obtain the daily production goal. So, if the goal is to be $1,000,000.00 and the practice is going to see patients on 200 days, then the daily production goal would be $5,000.00.
In addition to arriving at the daily production goal, the Doctor must also decide how much of the goal can feasibly be produced by each provider in the practice. Provider refers to producers, which usually are defined as the dentist(s) and hygienist(s) in the practice.
In order to further assess the amount of daily production each provider will be responsible for, the Doctor will first need to determine how much of the total daily production will be done in operative dentistry. This will depend on how many operatories (treatment rooms) are available, and whether or not auxiliary personnel are effectively utilized.
For our purposes here, let's say a practice has one dentist, two chairside assistants, and 2 full time hygienists. Realistically, the dentist has determined that he will need to produce $3,000.00 per day in operative dentistry, and that each hygienist will be responsible for $1,000.00 per day.
So, as the schedule coordinator builds each day on the schedule, her goal for production is $3,000.00 on the Doctor's schedule, and $1,000.00 for each hygienist. This is what is referred to as goal oriented scheduling. Goal oriented scheduling is the opposite of "anything goes" scheduling.
There are two different kinds of sales people. One is a real professional. This person actively listens to the prospect's (patient's) wants and needs, and skillfully guides him or her toward the product that will be most beneficial for them in fulfilling those. She is not afraid to offer a more costly or different product (appointment time) than was originally requested. She specializes in "win-win", realizing that "NO" does not necessarily mean NO. Often it just means "KNOW", or "I need to know more about it". The real professional understands that really doing her job means serving the needs of the customer (patient) and her employer to the best of her ability, at all times.
Then there is the other kind of sales person- the order taker. This person needs no special skills. She just waits for prospects (patients) to approach her, and simply fills out their order form, never attempting to go beyond their original request, to show them how another product (or appointment time) might actually benefit them (and the practice) more. Don't be an order taker. In dentistry, nowhere is more skill required than in building a productive schedule. Many times patients don't really know what they want. But, when given too many choices, they start to believe they can only come in at certain times, can't afford to take off work, etc. It never ceases to amaze me when I observe a dental team member "take orders" from a patient, allowing the patient to dictate when they come in, paying little or no attention to the goals or needs of the practice.
Dentistry is a business, just like any other business. Whenever we need to go to the hospital for an MRI, we don't tell the hospital scheduling department when we will come in. They tell us when they do these procedures, and offer the available times on their schedule. We happily accept it, never even thinking about questioning it any further.
Unfortunately, in dentistry this has not always been the case. We have trained patients to believe that they can dictate certain things, like appointment times and even payment arrangements. This will not work. Again, dentistry is a business. Our responsibility to our patients is to provide them excellent care, in an atmosphere of caring and trust. We must also provide this treatment in the most comfortable manner possible, ever conscious that the patients' needs and wants are being met. However, we do not have to compromise ourselves in this process. By this I mean it is okay to establish production goals, and a structure for accomplishing those with as little stress as possible.
In order for a practice, or any business to survive, it must remain profitable. We must learn to work smarter, not harder. This is the theory behind "goal oriented scheduling". Why should we spend the first half of our day doing no charge, easier procedures, and then do the most productive, meticulous procedures at the time in our day when we are not as fresh and energetic? Or, why should we have some days where we produce $9500.00, and others where we produce $500.00? I'm sure many will agree that often it is the $500.00 days that wear on you the most. With goal oriented scheduling, we "plan our work", and "work our plan". There is no need to do it any other way.
