Episode 692: Schedule __% of Your Treatment in the Back Office

 That’s 80%, folks. 80% of your treatment should be scheduled in the back office. Tiff and Dana talk all about scheduling in this episode — the importance, the successes that come, and how to go about implementing.

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Transcript:

[music]

0:00:00.0 Kiera Dent: Hey everyone, welcome to the Dental A Team podcast. I'm your host, Kiera Dent, and I have this crazy idea that maybe I could combine a doctor and a team member's perspective, because let's face it, dentistry can be a challenging profession with those two perspectives. I've been a dental assistant, treatment coordinator, scheduler, filler, office manager, regional manager, practice owner, and I have a team of traveling consultants, where we have traveled over 165 different offices coaching teams. Yep, we don't just understand you, we are you. Our mission is to positively impact the world of dental, and I believe that this podcast is the greatest way I can help elevate teams, grow VIP experiences, reduce stress and create A teams. Welcome to the Dental A Team podcast.

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0:00:48.1 KD: Hello dental A team listeners, this is Kiera, and you guys, I'm so excited for consultant takeover. Guys that was me attempting to sing into this microphone for you and I hope you loved it. Today, consultant take over, grab your pens, grab your notebooks, bringing in the heat today. And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the dental A team podcast.

0:01:09.5 Tiff: Hey Dana, back at it again. How are you on this beautiful Friday?

0:01:14.7 Dana: Good. Loving the sunshine that we're having and just super grateful to be here with you.

0:01:19.2 Tiff: Ah, thank you. We are having some beautiful freaking weather. I love it. I don't know if you guys know this or not, but Dana and I are both in the beautiful state of Arizona and we are, I don't know, probably what, two hours away, maybe a little bit further from each other. But I love where we live. Every time I come in, every time that plane lands every other week and I'm exhausted and I look out, I'm like all those mountains, like those...

0:01:47.6 Dana: Yeah.

0:01:47.6 Tiff: I love where I live.

0:01:49.4 Dana: I always think about the weather when we do our thankful Thursday, right? 'Cause I'm like, at the very least I can be thankful for this...

0:01:54.7 Tiff: Yes.

0:01:55.0 Dana: Sunshine that we're having.

[laughter]

0:01:56.5 Tiff: Yes, I know. And the other girls are like, "It's snowing again." And I'm like, "It is May."

[laughter]

0:02:01.5 Dana: Yep, big nope.

[laughter]

0:02:04.2 Tiff: Yeah. I like all this, it's possible. I love it. I do love where we live, good talk. I hope all of your other Arizona practices out there love it as well. Welcome to everyone from everywhere because I don't know if you guys know this or not, but we have listeners literally all over the world.

[laughter]

0:02:18.8 Tiff: We had a practice that joined us for our summit that is in the Bahamas. And I know that she had reached out previously, we've been in communication and contact and we've helped her with a few things. And it's just so cool. We've had practices that we visited in Australia, we've got tons of practices in Canada that we work with, and I know we've had Europe. It's just incredible to me to think that it reaches that far. You just... You think the world is small 'cause you just think of your community and then you realise, Holy cow! Our podcast is hit in The Bahamas. That's insane to me.

0:02:56.0 Dana: But it's just a...

0:02:57.0 Tiff: And so cool.

0:02:57.6 Dana: It's a big testament to write dentistry's everywhere.

0:03:00.1 Tiff: Yes.

0:03:01.4 Dana: Everyone everywhere has teeth and it's just crazy that we get to make an impact in all of those places.

0:03:09.9 Tiff: I totally agree. I totally agree. And it's not going anywhere. So, kudos to everyone for choosing a dental career. [laughter] 'Cause we are set for life.

0:03:16.8 Dana: Yes, yeah.

0:03:17.0 Tiff: It's not going anywhere. I think that our shutdowns proof that one to us. It's going nowhere. It's so cool. Awesome, so on that note, I think, talking about the schedule, which I think is so cool because it hits everywhere. It hits home, for literally and the whole world is able to do what we wanna talk about today and I think the schedule is the most important piece to your practice because it's the way that it works and it's the way that it flows. And we've talked about schedule a lot, we talked about block scheduling. I've got a ton of practices, most of our practices are doing block scheduling to some capacity. I know a lot of you guys out there are doing block scheduling, but we really wanted to hit home on something we don't talk about a lot. And I know my... I know if I were in the front office, I would be jumping for joy right now...

[chuckle]

0:04:05.4 Tiff: On what we're gonna talk about.

[laughter]

0:04:10.3 Tiff: I would literally be jumping for joy. And honestly as a dental assistant at heart, I jumped for joy because I loved creating my own schedule and I do not hide this whatsoever. And my previous team, they knew it in the moment, I didn't hide it then. And they I'm sure laugh every time they hear me talk about it, but I was surely the girl who sat up front and was like, "You could do it." You can... I'm gonna squeeze it. I'm gonna shorten this because I know doc can finish that faster. I'm gonna slide this guy in there and then I could just like... They would come in behind me and I would feel the heat...

[laughter]

0:04:48.3 Dana: Yeah.

0:04:50.3 Tiff: And the anger. And they're like, "Tiff, what are you doing?" And I'm like, "It's fine. If you need help I'll come help you." But I was the dental assistant first that moved up front and was like, "I know your capacity." And then I would flip and flop back and forth and when I was in the back office I was like, no one's doing that to me. I'm building my own schedule. So, I think it's so cool to be able to do that and block scheduling surely helps so that anyone can schedule. But my opinion is, back office knows what you guys are doing. I did really well building a schedule up front, because I knew how the appointments went. I knew what was possible. I knew they could or could not do something and I was the person everybody came and asked. So, we were talking... We wanna talk today about making sure that you're scheduling at least 80% of your treatment in the back office. And that doesn't just mean We Care. We Care should be a 100%. A 100% of We Care should be scheduled in the hygiene chair. But 80% of that treatment that you guys are diagnosing that next visit on your NDTR, 'cause you all are using NDTR, that next visit should be scheduled in the back office 80% of the time.

0:05:55.9 Tiff: Dana, why do you implement that with practices? I can go on a tangent on why I think it's important, but I wanna hear from you. What do you... What successes do you find? Why do you suggest that practices do this when you're consulting?

0:06:09.5 Dana: Yeah, absolutely. And I think the biggest piece is you're the person in the exam. You can link, you heard exactly what the doctor said. You teed it up too. So even having you reiterating it again, but you were in the exam, you heard exactly what the doctor said. You heard exactly how the doctor explained it, the things that he pointed out. And so having that upper hand right to the front office team who didn't really hear any of that, they're relying on the pieces that you give them. And yeah, you can give them great pieces, but there's also something to be said for keeping that clinical environment.

0:06:36.3 Tiff: For, sure.

0:06:37.9 Dana: Keeping those scans up, keeping that x-ray up, pointing to those areas again as you're talking about it and scheduling it that we just can't do in the front that makes it so much easier in the back and being able to use the same words that the doctor used, being able to, again, point to those same areas that the doctor pointed to. One, we're building trust. And two, we really see case acceptance, higher rates of case acceptance when we're getting things scheduled in the back because we can do those pieces.

0:07:12.4 Tiff: Totally agree. I totally agree. I love all of that. And I think, in addition to that, as you were talking, I'm thinking well, yeah, because one, I don't know if y'all know this or not, but the dental assistant year over year over year is still considered the most trusted person in a dental practice. People... How many times, Dana, you were a hygienist and how many times did you have the doctor walks out and the patient looks you square in the eye and says, "Do I really need this?" You are like, absolutely you need it. I would never work for someone that I couldn't trust their diagnosis. How many times? So guess what? Now you're taking that or playing a game of telephone. Doc told me and now I'm gonna go tell somebody else who's gonna tell the patient and I don't know about you guys, but there have been a lot of times in my life where I will be in a store, Lululemon is probably one of the tops and you're in the store and they're like, "Let me help you." And you're like, "This is fantastic." And they're like, "You need these five pairs of leggings and you're gonna love them."

0:08:13.2 Tiff: If that girl who handed me those five pairs of leggings had a little scanner and she was like, "And I'll take your card now." I would walk out with five pairs of leggings, but the amount of time that I have in between her giving me those leggings and me getting to the checkout, I have time to think of all of the reasons I shouldn't be spending this money. And that's drastic because they're not necessary. But you guys, I'm not joking when I say this cost, these fees, anything they're spending money on is lumped into the same category. It is a money out category. So it doesn't matter that it's dentistry versus leggings. It doesn't matter. If there's time in between we come up with the reasons why we don't need whatever it is that we just committed to. And we will find, we will give those reasons and excuses and then now you're following up.

0:09:01.1 Tiff: So I think in the game of telephone, like the patients there, they've heard it firsthand, they're ready to go get them scheduled and committed to that. As a patient, I would appreciate knowing, "Okay, fantastic, this is when what it is. I'm already that committed. My only step, my only hurdle now is finances with the front office." And guess what, if I get up there and I'm like, "You know what, I've gotta figure this out. Take the appointment off the schedule." I think the biggest thing that I hear from practices is, well what if they wanna care the finances first? Cool, then that's fine. Then say, I would love to lock in this appointment for you before we get up front. But I also understand if you do really need to see the finances first, we can definitely coincide those. Which would you prefer?

0:09:44.5 Tiff: So I've given them the option and if they do want to do it, then take them up front. That's fine. Or I hear, what if I schedule them, they get up front and they're like, "I can't afford it." And then we forget to delete the appointment. Well, guess what? Anything you do consistently over and over and over, you build a habit for. So if patients need... If you knew front office knew that that appointment was already scheduled, I guarantee you just like they would schedule an appointment that's not scheduled, they will delete that appointment out of the system or put it on the wait will call however you guys do that in your practice, it will get taken care of. So I think Kiera talks about this a lot and we have to remember that communication, including treatment planning is 80% psychology. Our brains are wired to talk us out of things. Our brains are wired for survival mode and my brain is wired for what can... What fun thing can I spend my money on.

0:10:43.1 Tiff: There's a Shania Twain concert coming up in a couple weeks that a bunch of my girlfriends are going to and I'm like, "The amount of money for the lawn ticket, I'm not sure I wanna spend." But I can tell you right now, for the last four days I have been racking my brain on if that money was worth it or not and should I be going with my friends. Like it's there, it's 80% psychology and I'm telling you, we will spend our money on what we want to spend our money on. And I would much rather myself, my community, my family be spending that money on things that matter that are gonna keep them healthy. Scheduling in the back office does that for us. You guys are trusted. And like Dana said, I loved what you said Dana about like Doc was right there. Doc literally just said it. You get to use the verbiage, you have the x-rays up. Dana, how helpful was that for you when Co-diagnosing and then doc leaves and they're like, "Is this real?" How helpful was that for you always having that stuff up in your operatory, leaving that up and then pulling up the schedule to get the patients on there? How was that for you as a hygienist?

0:11:45.5 Dana: Honestly, fantastic because I feel like then as we're talking about scheduling it, I can say, "Hey, remember when he showed you right here." And you can point to it. Scans are just fantastic for this. There has never been anything before that makes it more clear to patients when they need treatment because they can visually see it and you can manipulate it and turn it and shift it and they can see it from every angle. So it is very clear to them what is going on. And so even using those things just to remind the patient. Doctor's walked out, he's walked them through. Maybe it was overwhelming, maybe we talked about a lot of things. So having those things up that you can refer back to those points and pieces with the patient. Again, it's just that trust. That building that relationship and then you get to customize things. You... We often say like treatment planning, make sure that it's personalized to them. Make sure that it's customized to them. You were there to hear those pieces. They relayed that information to you that, oh, Joe just wants to eat a steak again or Barb has wedding pictures coming up for her daughter.

0:12:46.6 Dana: Those types of things. You are in there and you have them. So, oftentimes utilise those connections with the patient because they're super important. It's why patients choose to come to your office oftentimes than going somewhere else. And I think being in that environment where those relationships are created, it's just so helpful.

0:13:06.2 Tiff: I love that. I love it. So Dana, what do you think would be helpful? Like actionable items, what's gonna be helpful for our doctors and our team members that are listening to actually implement something like this in a practice?

0:13:19.6 Dana: Yeah, I think one it is just figuring out like a little bit of timing. If we're going to schedule in the back, just make sure we've got that two to three minutes built in, that we can do it in the back. And then making sure that we have a handoff from the doctor to the clinical team, your assistants or your hygienist as to what we're scheduling, right? Having that NDTR, right? What do we want them back? For when does the doctor wanna see them back? How long does he want it scheduled for? And then really funneling patients to the right spots on our schedule for that treatment.

0:13:52.8 Tiff: Yeah, I love that. So I think, making sure that you've got the time, which I think if you can schedule a recare, you can schedule this too.

0:14:00.5 Dana: Absolutely.

0:14:01.0 Tiff: In dental assistance, you always have the time. I love you dearly, but there is always a pocket of time in there somewhere. And then doctors doing at least something like NDTR next visit date time, recare because that's what they're gonna utilise in that scheduling. I love that. And then knowing where to schedule. So that schedule funneling, where can they schedule? I think that's where, a lot of people as... I think honestly near and dear to my heart, I love you all to death. I think that's what holds hygienists back is that they don't feel like they know doctors' schedules. So they don't know where to schedule the patient. So they... I hear all the time and I know they are willing, I know it's not just a saying, something they're saying, they say all the time, I'd be happy to do it, but I'm not confident. I don't know where to put the patient. So dial in your scheduling, dial in your timing, make sure that it's consistent. And if you're not consistent on your timing, start timing yourself doctors and you'll get consistent, I promise you, you also get faster. And then just make sure that people know where they can.

0:15:00.0 Tiff: So some sort of, I love the block scheduling idea and either putting in like a high production or a dollar amount plus, like X to x whatever dollar amount or crown here, filling here. Kind of those types of things. But making sure that the team is trained on how to schedule so that it actually gets done. I think we forget that the thing that holds us back the most is that unknown. We were just talking about it with our freaking... With our eyebrows, Dana. And I said, the only reason I'm not interested in laminating is because I don't know what it's gonna be like. I don't know how long it's going to last. And so I was like, "Wow, I could just ask my girl." But we don't think, let's ask, we think let's just not do it. I don't have all the pieces, I don't have all the information. So instead of asking more questions, my brain says, well I just won't do it. I have... It's fine. It's not that interesting. And I think we do that with the scheduling. So instead of saying, awesome, where would a really great place to put this be? We say, hmm, I'm gonna let them do it because they know how to do it already.

0:15:57.6 Tiff: So calibrate with your team... Calibrate yourself on your schedule, calibrate with your team on your schedule. Make sure that it's consistent. And then Dana said, make sure there's time built into your schedule. So make sure that you can do it. And then doctors, make sure you're passing off that information, especially to your hygienist, to everyone. Make it a habit. But make sure you're passing that information for the amount of time specifically off to your hygienist because they don't know off the top of their heads. Your dental assistants do 'cause they're chairside with you all the time. I think those were really great. So time yourselves, make sure it's consistent. Pass that timeframe off to people. Make sure that there's time in your appointments so that you're getting them scheduled. Just freaking do it. And then make sure we're calibrating on the schedule and that everyone knows where certain things can go. I think that's beautiful. Dana, can you think of anything else that could wrap up? 80% guys, 80% scheduled in the back office?

0:16:49.5 Dana: No, I think we hit all the major points.

0:16:52.0 Tiff: I think so too. I'm so excited to see this turnaround for you guys and I hope that you are tracking your treatment already, because I know you're gonna see higher case acceptance, you're gonna see healthier patients and overall you're gonna see a better practice because the flow's gonna be incredible. Your front office. I think that they're gonna love me for this. They might hate me for a second 'cause they might be like, "Duh, they don't know how to do it." But just train them. It's totally fine guys. Totally fine. Make it easy, make it lovely. Make it something that you can look at and be like, "Holy cow, we created this and it's so cool."

0:17:21.8 Tiff: Have so much fun. As always, if you have questions, if you need help with it, please reach out, [email protected]. There is a slew of people behind that email and we are all just waiting for you to reach out so that we can help you and give you information. And also, as always, if you love the information, please drop us a five star review. It's how we get out to so many people in the Bahamas and in Europe and in... It's, like all of these cool places. That's how we get out there, is that those reviews help us, it helps our ranking and it helps spread the word. So share these reviews... These reviews. Share your review with us, share these podcasts with your friends, your families and your teams, and we cannot wait to talk to you again on our podcast next time. Thanks Dana.

0:18:07.5 Dana: Thanks for having me, Tiff.

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0:18:10.7 KD: And that wraps it up for another episode of the Dental A Team podcast. Thank you so much for listening and we'll talk to you next time.