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Howard Speaks Howard Farran, DDS MBA, MAGD

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The Waiting is the Hardest Part

Howard Farran, DDS
MBA, MAGD
Publisher,
Dentaltown Magazine
 You're finishing up a crown prep on a patient and as your assistant is cementing the temporary crown, you notice a tooth that needs a filling. You've got a spare 10 minutes, but you know Mr. Jones is sitting in your lobby, waiting for his partial denture impressions. So what do you do? You go ahead and take care of that filling, which is a bad idea for two reasons. 1. You never charged up front for that procedure, which likely means someone on your staff is going to have to track that patient down later on to obtain that payment; and 2. You thought you could do the filling in 10 minutes, but due to unforeseen circumstances here you are 15 minutes later and you're still cleaning out the tooth. Meanwhile Mr. Jones, who has been patiently waiting for you for more than 30 minutes, is considering checking out the dentist his co-worker was just raving about.

Doctor, you don't run on time because you don't value your patients' time. We're all guilty of it. It's up to our dental assistants to keep us on track, to let us know how much time we have left or what we don't have time for. If the dental practice were a football field, dental assistants would be the quarterbacks and dentists would be the receivers. That's the way you need to operate. If my assistant, Jan, hadn't been barking orders at me for the last 21 years, I'd just now be seeing patients who'd filled out the sign-in sheet in 1996!

Sometimes, however, no matter how smooth you think you've got things running, you're going to run late. It happens. And when it does happen, it's up to your front desk to follow the eight principles of waiting as developed by former Harvard Business School professor David Maister (see list at left).
Eight Principles of Waiting
  • Unoccupied time feels longer than occupied time
  • Pre-process waits feel longer than in-process waits
  • Anxiety makes waits seem longer
  • Uncertain waits are longer than known, finite waits
  • Unexplained waits are longer than explained waits
  • Unfair waits are longer than equitable waits
  • The more valuable the service, the longer I will wait
  • Solo waiting feels longer than group waiting
Source: The Psychology of Waiting Lines by David Maister, 1985

Howard Live

Howard Farran, DDS, MBA, MAGD, is an international speaker who has written dozens of published articles. To schedule Howard to speak to your next national, state or local dental meeting, email colleen@farranmedia.com.

Dr. Farran's next speaking engagement is July 11, 2009, for the Academy of General Dentistry in Baltimore, Maryland. For more information, please visit www.agd.org/baltimore09 or call 888-243-3368 ext. 4339.

Seminars 2009
July 11 • Baltimore, MD
Academy of General Dentistry
www.agd.org/baltimore09
888-243-3368 ext. 4339

August 14 • Irvine, CA
Keating Dental Arts
Call Colleen at 480-718-9914

August 23 • Litchfield Park, AZ
Arizona State Dental Hygienists' Association Meeting
www.asdha.org
602-254-7210

August 28 • Fresno, CA
Fresno-Madrea District
Dental Society
fmdds@cvip.net
559-438-7284

September 18 • Fort Worth, TX
AGD Fort Worth

September 25 • Ft. Lauderdale, FL – Nova Southeastern University

Oct. 3, 4 • Honolulu, HI
ADA Annual Session

Oct. 31 • Fort Wayne, IN
Mid-west Oral Surgery
  1. Unoccupied time feels longer than occupied time
    Give the people in your waiting room something meaningful to do. Preferably something that relates to dentistry. Use this time constructively to generate interest in dentistry–especially elective procedures such as cosmetic dentistry! Don't hang up unrelated artwork; hang up before-and-after pictures of beautiful cosmetic dentistry cases!
  2. Pre-process waits feel longer than in-process waits
    Have your front office staff begin the patient's appointment by updating all necessary information in the patient's chart. This not only fills a vital need for your management information system, but makes patients feel like their appointment has started and they are not just sitting there feeling like they've been forgotten.
  3. Anxiety makes waits seem longer
    This applies to the medical and dental profession especially! Anything you can do to ease the tension in the waiting area with friendly staff and distractions such as television or Nintendo Wii for the kids will make the waits feel shorter. A play area for kids eases the stress for both mom and kids.

  4. Uncertain waits are longer than known, finite waits
    The worst part of waiting is when you don't know how long it will be. It is simple courtesy to let a person know how long they can expect to wait. When an airplane is waiting for its turn for departure the pilot usually makes an announcement to tell if you are fifth or 15th for departure. An important key is to have friendly extrovert personalities in your front office staff.
  5. Unexplained waits are longer than explained waits
    If no one explains why the doctor is late, a patient might assume that he is out on the golf course! However, if someone explains that a little boy just fell off his bicycle and knocked out his front tooth, an understanding person would wait patiently for much longer. The right staff can use these times to build up the doctor's reputation regarding his policy to see emergencies right away.
  6. Unfair waits are longer than equitable waits
    Suppose you arrive on time or early for your appointment but someone who arrived 20 minutes later gets seated before you! This feels unfair and makes continuing to wait unbearable. Again, the key is having friendly staff who are not afraid to explain why what seems to be unfair actually is fair. For example, it could be that the doctor is running late, but that person's appointment was with the hygienist who is running on time.
  7. The more valuable the service, the longer I will wait
    Of course I will wait longer for a meal at Ruth's Chris Steak House than for a burrito at Taco Bell! But more importantly, after I have gotten what I came for, I don't want to wait at all! Again, do anything you can before an appointment to help speed up the customer's check out at the end of the appointment when waiting seems the longest of all.
  8. Solo waits feel longer than group waits
    Misery loves company. Notice how Disneyland has implemented the "snake" lines so that people waiting could pass the time people watching and discussing how adorable the kids are while waiting in line. Notice how they send you through waiting stages in groups before you even set foot on the ride. There develops a sense of community while waiting with other people. We are all in the same boat!
After he put the eight principles of waiting together, Maister admitted that it was by no means an exhaustive list – seeing as there are many cultural and class differences when it comes to waiting tolerance. However, this list is a very good start, and should help when it comes to managing your patients' waiting experiences. Remember, your patients' satisfaction doesn't start when they're seated in the operatory – it starts the moment they walk through your door. Do everything you can to make sure your patients know they're valued customers.
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