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New Patient Scheduling Strategies
I've heard doctors boast of being booked solid for weeks. What's the fallacy? I've also heard patients ask me if we can start -- and finish -- eight porcelain veneers within the next two weeks. What's wrong with thinking that it's okay to have a full schedule for weeks to come? The majority of patients make big decisions based upon emotion and their bank account today.
It's no secret why insurance companies bully patients into believing that pre-authorization of benefits is required prior to commencing treatment. Simple. The insurance companies know that if they can delay treatment by four to six weeks, there's a better chance that treatment won't happen at all. The car radiator goes, Johnny needs a new wardrobe or the interest in the treatment has simply "cooled down." When a patient says, "Yes, when can we get started," get them in immediately! No time in your schedule? Reserve blockouts. It's equally essential for new patients. Every practice -- busy or otherwise -- should be in the habit of reserving new patient and production blockouts.
Don't need them yet? Always have a little time open? Even if your practice routinely has some open time in the schedule, get in the habit of using new patient blockouts. As your practice grows and more patients schedule for longer cosmetic and reconstructive treatments, you'll find yourself unable to schedule a new patient within the next couple days.
Getting to "yes" demands the ability to get them in while they're hot! You've been dreaming of that two-passenger Mercedes ever since you got your dental license. You've decided that now's the time. You pick up the phone and call your local Mercedes dealer; he can't get you in for a test drive for two weeks. They've been really busy, and don't have the model you want to try. Do you wait two weeks or call another Mercedes dealer?
The patient called you because they were hot on the idea of a change in their smile. Get them in immediately -- today if possible. But if not, at least offer them something within the next couple days. Impossible? Hardly.
Decide how much time you typically book for a new patient. How many new patients are you seeing daily, on average? Insert new patient blockouts into your schedule. For example, if you'd like 30 minutes of the doctor's time for new patients, and you're seeing an average of two new patients daily, then that's exactly what you block out in advance.
The rule is that nobody uses a new patient blockout for anyone other than a new patient. Production blockouts are never used for anything other than big-ticket case preps (e.g., the start of a number of porcelain veneers, or a quadrant of Concept™ inlays). If the blockouts can't be filled with the appropriate patients, they are erased or released three working days before they occur. For example: Today's Monday the 5th. There's an unfilled production blockout this Thursday, the 8th. It's time to release the blockout, and fill it with anything you can. It's better to fill this with miscellaneous treatment a few days in advance than to allow it to go unfilled and unused. Ideally we hope to fill all blockouts with the intended treatment.
If you can't manage to insert any blockouts because you are already booked out several weeks, then you are in critical need of these blockouts! At least begin blocking them out whenever your schedule begins to open up. "But if I start blocking out time during the first available spots, I won't be able to get my recall patients back in for treatment."
A valid concern, but it depends upon what you were considering getting them back in for. If they need an amalgam or a reline, I'd rather you put them out further than the start of eight porcelain veneers. Place two or three hour production blockouts into your schedule. You be the judge of how many you need. We typically place one or two a day, "ganged" immediately before or after a couple of new patient blockouts. Why gang them? Why not space them throughout the day?
If you gang a couple 30-minute new patient blockouts adjacent to a two-hour production blockout, you have reserved a "protected" three-hour blockout, which could be used for a three-hour veneer or bonding visit. This is the only exception to releasing a new patient blockout for anything other than a new patient, prior to three business days in advance of the date. After all, I'll give up a new patient blockout any day to commence a two-visit $8,000 case!
Where and when do you insert the blockouts? Every practice has its easiest and toughest appointment times to fill. Most of us find that 11:00 a.m. to about 2:00 p.m. are the slowest hours. Even a practice booked solid a month in advance can figure which are the weaker times ... simply look to the first weeks that aren't filled. Where are the openings? Note: The rare exception to mid-day weakness might be, for example, downtown Manhattan -- Wall Street. The majority of patients will sneak over during their lunch break, and nobody wants to be caught in a dental office after 5:00 p.m.
So do you place the blockouts in the easiest or the toughest times to fill? On the surface it would seem that you'd want to put them in the toughest times to fill. Why not place blockouts from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.? Wouldn't it make sense that you would both avoid blocking out time that others might want to take advantage of and channeling patients into times that otherwise don't easily fill?
In actuality, the best time for blockouts is the most precious, preferred or easiest-to-fill times in the book. Once you get busy enough that the blockouts make or break record production for you, they will be the only times left available in your schedule (unless filled with the patients for whom they were intended). Mr. Smith says yes, he'd like to start his smile makeover. If the only times available for three weeks happen to be prime time, you're far more likely to get an immediate scheduling. Conversely, if you don't end up filling some of your blockouts, and it's within three days of the date, it's much easier to last minute shuffle patients into prime time than it would be to convince them to move up into inconvenient mid-day appointments.
Give blockouts serious thought. I've worked with them and without them. The majority of the most successful high-production cosmetic practices are block booking. In fact, they go into far more detail regarding what you can and can't book -- blocking certain times specifically for each procedure (exam times, prep times, seating times, emergency times or bathroom times). If that works well for you, great. But if you've not yet done any block booking, don't attempt more than production and new patient blockouts -- at least in the beginning!
You've piqued their interest with the manner in which your team handled the first phone call. You, a successful, busy cosmetic practice, have moved them immediately into your schedule for a no-charge smile analysis. You've given them a prime time appointment, and gathered intelligent data to help establish a rapid bond at the first visit. Blow them away with Five-Star VIP Customer Service! At least don't hand them the clipboard as they walk through the door! With this simple block booking strategy, watch your productivity skyrocket!
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