The 3 Ps of Scheduling

Episode #364 with Christina Byrne

When you create the schedule you want, your life will be so much better. And to help you create that ideal schedule, Kirk Behrendt brings back one of ACT Dental’s superstar coaches, Christina Byrne, to share three key things to know about productive scheduling. Stop chasing patients who don't value what you do! Understand and implement the three Ps of scheduling and increase your number of “A” patients. To start creating the schedule you want, listen to Episode 364 of The Best Practices Show!

Main Takeaways:

Profitability, predictability, and productivity are the three important Ps.

Create the schedule you want from the very beginning.

Scheduling needs to be strategic.

Identify the kinds of patients you're putting into your schedule.

Don't chase patients who don't want to be in your office.

Choose to see your “C” patients, but on your own terms.

Quotes:

“[Scheduling is] a huge problem because everybody has their own idea of what a good schedule should be. And it depends on where you are in your career, where you are in your ability to get patients in and see the right patients. And so, there's often this huge struggle between the front and the back with regards to the schedule, and then even tighter between the doctor and the assistants. And hygiene is usually tapping their foot too because they need the doctor’s time. So, it seems like it’s easy to just, a patient is in the schedule, and just do dentistry, and everything will work itself out. But it won't. And it has to be something that's done really strategically.” (2:19—3:02)

“From the very beginning, just create the schedule you want. Don't get sucked into thinking you have to throw everything into the schedule wherever it fits. Really create the schedule that you want.” (3:09—3:21)

“I've noticed in my years of coaching and also being in the dental practice, like I said, I was an assistant, I worked at the front desk, then I went to hygiene school. So, I know what the schedule means to every single role in the office. And the three things that I keep coming up with when I coach teams is that they want three things, and all of them start with “P.” They want profitability, they want predictability, and they want the schedule to be productive.” (6:08—6:36)

“If I had to pick one [of the three Ps] that is the most important one, I would have to say it’s predictable. Because from predictability, you will become profitable. You will have productivity in your schedule, and you're also going to have happy team members. So, I think predictability is probably the highest one.” (6:56—7:16)

“To me, [predictability] means that we know when we start, we know when we break for lunch, we know when we end for the day. It means that we have done our due diligence and our homework to know that when I do a crown prep, 85% to 90% of the time, it’s going to take me six or seven units to do that. When I do a seat crown, it’s going to take me three. And that has its own things, ‘Is my lab good? What does my scanning look like?’ So, if you get that stuff predictable, then your seat crown appointment is going to be predictable. You should never have to schedule more than three units for that, 85% of the time.” (8:18—8:59)

“This is healthcare, and there are things that come up. But just imagine, if you could be predictable in 85% of your day, then those things that do come up are not going to cause the chaos that normally happens.” (8:59—9:11)

“It’s all about making sure that the people who you are serving value what you do.” (10:12—10:19)

“Patient identification is a way to decide where and when you're going to put the patients in your practice, into the schedule. And it’s really about understanding who values what you do, basically. Do...