Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Summer 2019 - 58

Staff Report

TIME is the most valuable
thing on earth.
û More valuable than money
will ever be

û When you spend money,
you can always get more
of it

û When you spend TIME, you
can NEVER get it back

û You know how much

money you have at all times

û You have no idea how much
TIME you have . . .

therefore, you must spend
it very wisely

û You must avoid people who
don't appreciate your TIME
or who take it for granted
û You must stay away from
people who waste your
TIME . . .

well-planned schedules to fall apart. Patients
and parents arrive late, show up on the wrong
day, perhaps bring the wrong child, and walk in
with emergencies. They ask a multitude of questions that cause delays on top of the reality that
we rely on 100% participation from our team
members each and every day. When a team
member is out ill or not feeling well enough to
keep up with the normal pace, we can easily fall
behind in our schedule. Then, there are those
new team members that haven't been properly
trained to do all the necessary procedures or haven't excelled in those skills in a timely manner.
The key is to remain flexible and ready to adapt
to your environment as needed. Ask yourself
throughout the day, "What is the best use of
my time and talents at this current moment?"
It is the same principle described in "triaging"
a situation. Remember, people come before paperwork/computers or projects, so stay focused
on providing that exemplary customer service
experience. Your time will never be wasted when
investing in your patients, parents, referrals, and
team members.
4. How to Utilize Wait Time (time waiting typically on a doctor or supervisor to check your
work or complete the charting, and so forth
before you can move forward).

▫▫ Provide customer service; there should always

as that is the most offensive thing one can do

û TIME should always be

spent doing things you

enjoy and things that make
you happiest! Anytime

you feel miserable, change
something and change it

quickly while you have the

TIME, before your TIME runs
out.

▫▫

be time to build relationships and rapport
with patients and parents, talk about their interests, share with them key highlights about
your practice, and tell them about the latest
patient contests and/or events coming up.
Stay engaged with the patient/parent; don't
leave the patient/parent alone unless you
leave them briefly with an engaging and
educational video or some promotional
materials about your practice to read during
your absence. Use this time to ask open-ended
questions, find out what they think about
your practice, and answer questions they
might have about the specialty of orthodontics and your specific practice.

▫▫ Don't suggest you are waiting on the doctor;

▫▫

continue to interact with them and periodically get an update from a coworker on the time
expectation (ideally through messaging so
you don't have to leave the room).
Be realistic about the time needed for specific
procedures (time yourself to create averages
for commonly scheduled procedures); book
accordingly to those averages, and create
a schedule template to accommodate your
needs, procedures, and personal timing.

5. Time Management Goals
Efficiency: As a team, guided by your doctor/boss,
set monthly goals for key areas in the practice you
want to focus on.

▫▫ Number of new patient examinations per
month

▫▫ Number of same-day starts per month
▫▫ Number of reduced emergencies each day
Effectiveness: Judge your effectiveness skills by
evaluating the following key areas in the practice
you want to focus on.

▫▫ Number of internal and external referrals per
month

▫▫ Number of positive yelp/Google reviews per
month

▫▫ Number of treatment completions within the
estimated treatment time per month

Productivity:

▫▫ Number of total starts per month (break

▫▫
▫▫

down in all categories: full treatment, phase I,
limited treatment, phase II, Invisalign/aligner
treatment, etc.)
Number of pretreatment patients scheduled
per month
Number of payments, collections, insurance,
payment status, and so forth.

6. Team Communication and Invested Time
(well worth the effort)

PCSO Bulletin

Summer 2019

Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Summer 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Summer 2019