Block scheduling is something you have heard about. So the first part of block scheduling is the new patient examination. I just had an opportunity of interviewing Jason Stoner who is a very successful periodontist in Columbus, Ohio, and he talked about the importance of dedicating himself and dedicating the entire staff to the new patient examination. What does that mean? It means that we don’t necessarily comfortably and successfully fit in new patient examinations between surgical procedures, and that’s what many of us do. After all, think about it. You are looking at a surgical procedure. You’ve got to get it done. You’ve got to get it exactly right and sometimes frankly we just don’t go by the clock. Sometimes we go a little bit long, don’t we? I do. So then there is a new patient examination. The new patient is already running late on that first visit. Add to that the fact that the staff is dedicated to the surgery and then suddenly not only you, but they have to shift gears towards a new patient examination and it can make for a very disjointed experience. Here’s what we do: We have a certain time set aside during the day for new patient examinations only. Nothing else is going on during that time but new patient examinations. Therefore everybody is focused on the same thing, on the new patient examination. Try that if you haven’t tried it already and see if your acceptance rate doesn’t go up.
Want to learn more about how the IDS can help you?
Email us at AAIPsheldon@gmail.com. IDS membership and IDS consulting can make every periodontal practice better.