Often morning huddles are being done but the dentist is solely running the meetings and they are always just talking about what is being done today. And here lies the mistakes in doing it this way:
The dentist must never soley run the morning huddle so to speak. Now I didn’t say not to have one at all; I just said not to soley RUN it. What the dentist should do is have each staff member talk about his/her individual areas and how they will contribute to the overall office production for that day, week or month. Each person needs to run the show for his or her area.
The hygienist for example would look at all the charts of the patients coming in for the day and look at all the treatment plans that have not yet been done for these patients, any teeth or situations that were questionable the last time they were in and watch to see if it progressed at all and what she is planning on doing. She would explain this to the rest of the staff and the dentist so that everyone is coordinated.
The scheduling coordinator should look at least five to six working days ahead and say how many openings there are and then when Mrs. Johnson comes in and has number 14 that still needs to be fixed, then everyone knows there is a slot for her. This way the hygienists or the dentist can help the front desk fill these slots.
What you are trying to achieve by having your staff members talk briefly about their areas is to have each staff member take ownership for their positions.
Review the patients and production for the day, get a feel for what is in store and make any special arrangements necessary.
Use some type of daily report form. Typically it is the person doing scheduling who is responsible to ensure the form is completed and hands it to the dentist at the start of the meeting. This form allows everyone to see exactly where the office stands in regard to total production, collections, and new patients for the month. It will show you how much you have to produce and collect every day in order to meet your goals. There is no guessing. If the form shows that you need to produce $3,000.00 that day to stay on track and you only have $2000.00 on the books, you know that you have to come up with an additional $1000.00. Then you plan accordingly.
Have all charts and the schedule ready for the meeting. Staff can be of assistance at the meeting by informing the dentist if a patient can have his appointment lengthened. For example, a patient coming in has a lengthy treatment plan but is only scheduled for a few fillings today but it was just found out there is a cancelled appointment and/or free time in the schedule. Dentist and all staff should know about this at the meeting. Then when the patient comes in, everyone knows what's going on and can help motivate the patient to go ahead and get more dental work done that day.
The best offices look into the future and they are handling the problems today that can potentially develop into bigger problems tomorrow and beyond. And this is accomplished not by you running things but by each employee taking ownership for their area. A good place to start is in your morning huddle.
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