Orthotown July/August 2024 - 42

in the procedures to be more effi cient for the
practice. Most practices we see on a fi rst consulting
visit have plenty of assistants because
they thought if they just hired more bodies it
would alleviate the doctor time bottleneck, yet
all it did was infl ate the overhead without solving
the main problems.
8
Develop diff erent daily templates from
the master. Once the main master schedule
looks great, customize it for each variation
of the practice's diff erent days and hours. Try
to work the same template every day so your
team can get good at it. If the master template
is built for Tuesday and Wednesday from 8 a.m.
to 1 p.m. and from 2 to 5 p.m., you could use the
same template for Mondays starting at 9 a.m.,
with lunch from 2 to 3 p.m. and ending the day
at 6 p.m, while Th ursday could be from 7 a.m.
to noon and from 1 to 4 p.m. It's easy to add
hours, work half-days, and even to create specifi c
growth templates in the summer with eight to
12 indirect bondings in a morning to catch the
summer starts. Th e fewer templates, the better,
but each should be designed to match as closely
as possible to the others so the team can sense a
regular routine.
9
Run the new templates and fi x what may
be broken. Once most clients start on this
scheduling system, they still use it-even
20 or 30 years later. Th ey may have to tweak it a
few times, particularly when they have a lot of
growth, but in many ways, when you run this
system systematically, you can easily begin to see
if something isn't working and fi x it. If the doctor
is always running behind at 2:30 p.m., it may be
as easy as moving an observation patient out of
2:30 to another time to cure the problem. If they
didn't plan enough A20s or DBs, the scheduling
coordinator will fl ag that she needs more of them
and fewer of other codes. By making incremental
changes, you can get closer and closer
to perfection.
10
Gain true commitment from the doctor
and team. Both doctor and team
must be committed to staying on time
and following the established systems. No system
works eff ectively if it isn't followed-it needs
receptionists placing patients into the right
codes, and assistants and doctors committed to
hustling to stay on time and working to the doctor
and assistant time allotted. Taking patients
back a few minutes early for the start of the day
and start of the afternoon can help you stay on
time. Starting the day late each day proves a
lack of commitment to customer service and
practice growth.
Conclusion
On-time doctor time scheduling isn't rocket
science, but it does require logic and experience
to be brought together to form a system that is
highly eff ective when worked properly.
Th ere is a simple principle in life that regularly
holds true: " You get what you plan for. "
If you have no plan or a bad plan, you're reaping
its problems daily-but if you have a good plan,
even if it's not perfect, you'll be far closer to your
goals than if you just threw up your hands and
gave up trying. Once a good plan is learned and
implemented, it often becomes a permanent
fi xture for practice growth and success. OT
Ken Alexander and Ryan Alexander of Alexander
& Sons Consulting are considered two of the top
consultants in orthodontic practice management
and transitions, having worked with more than
1,500 orthodontists over the past 35 years.
Website: alexanderandsons.consulting
JULY/AUGUST 2024 | 42 | ORTHOTOWN.COM
http://www.ORTHOTOWN.COM
Orthotown July/August 2024

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