One dental office. Two worlds. The front and the back. So close, yet so far apart. There are also “swing” employees who work at different times in the front and the back, but no one quite knows where their loyalties lie. Could they be double agents?
The ongoing tension between front and back is most apparent in the schedule. The front thinks that all the puzzle pieces are in the right place; the back is convinced that some patients are jammed into slots in a way that will surely cause chaos.
There are many talented and experienced team members who are experts at proper scheduling, but there are others who sufficient lack time on the job and knowledge to understand the nuances of efficient patient appointing When you add a new front employee whose instruction consists of on-the-job training (or trial and error) and the odds of scheduling headaches increase dramatically. The result is less production, more internal recriminations, and lower morale.
Experienced front staff should be tasked with training newcomers, but provided training is often not sufficiently structured or comprehensive.
Another way to close the front/back communication gap is ask assistants to weigh in on scheduling issues before patients arrive at the office. Here is a protocol to head off scheduling issues that not enough practices use:
- A lead assistant looks two weeks ahead on the schedule. If they see scheduling that is less than ideal or simply will not work, the assistant informs the team member at the front while there is still time to change the schedule. This communication clarifies expectations and helps the front learn how to schedule more efficiently. Over time, the assistant finds fewer problems in the schedule when they look ahead, because the front has learned to better avoid conflicts and bottlenecks. Of course, the doctor can be part of this training process, but the team needs to learn how to work together to improve scheduling.
- In some instances where the patient’s needs are not easy to assess over the phone, the front should check with the assistant before appointing the patient. Based on what the patient is reporting, how much time should be allotted? What is the best slot for this patient in terms of the how the rest of the day will flow? Quick feedback from an assistant regarding what questions to ask, additional information to gather, and how to best serve the interests of the patient can often avoid problems on the day and time the patient is seen.
Scheduling problems occur due to lack of early communication. The best way to put out fires is to prevent them in the first place. Practices are well advised to use the combined expertise of the front and back to plan smooth flowing days for the patients and the team.
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