Block scheduling is not just an effective way to productively schedule dental patients, it is also a valuable tool for the front office team. Many dental front teams struggle to keep up with their workload, and many of the challenges relate to ineffective time management.
Management coach Brian Tracy once said, “There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing.” There is always enough time for the front team to tackle their most important tasks.
The key is for the front team to block time for important tasks when the dentist and clinical team have longer procedures. Longer procedures create bigger blocks of time without having patients checking in and out, allowing the front team to concentrate without as many interruptions.
When a dental practice has more than one person in the front, it is critical for the team to coordinate who will tackle important tasks and who will handle patient calls and other interruptions.
I’ve noticed something quite revealing about human nature when dental teams block their time. First, they consistently get important tasks finished. And when important tasks are out of the way, the team still finds a way to get lower priority items completed. However, when you try this in reverse, spinning your wheels and energy on lower priority items, the important unfinished items just pile up higher.
As Brian Tracy said, there is always enough time for the important stuff. The key for dental front office teams is to always block out time for their priorities.