Not to sound old, but when I grew up, the sports coach would be standing there with a stopwatch hanging around his or her neck, holding the stopwatch and punching buttons to see how fast you could run. This was a classic image of a coach who is using measurements to determine which players were best suited for different sports or positions.
UNDERSTANDING PRACTICE VOLUME
Let’s think about your practice for a moment as a sport. In a sport, the goal is always winning the game or competition. In dentistry, the ultimate goal is increasing practice production. At first, this may not be an obvious thought, but I can assure you that every industry has one metric or measurement that is more important than all the others. In dentistry, this metric or measurement is production. Production tells us more about a practice than any other single statistic, especially when it becomes part of ratios, such as production per year, production per day, production per patient, production per hour, production per provider, etc.
The bottom line is simple. If you have excellent and growing production, you will always be fine. And one of the best ways to do this is to think about your practice a little bit like a sport.
The goal of maximizing practice production in a practice is to use time as optimally as possible.
Let’s tie all of this back to production, stopwatch studies, and efficiency. Production is a manifestation of the volume of patients coming through the practice at specific fee levels. And that leads us to the stopwatch. Stopwatch studies (or what we at Levin call “procedural time studies”) are used to determine how to effectively use time, and that leads right into the practice schedule.
So, what do you measure with the clock? You start by timing exactly how things are today. You don’t rush, and you don’t cheat. Do what you normally do and simply record the amount of time that is being taken. By measuring how long a patient is in a chair, how much time an assistant spends with a patient in an appointment, and how much time a doctor spends with the patient in an appointment, you can begin to determine exactly how time is being used.
We often find, for example, that there is a lag time in moving the dentist between chairs, causing patients to be in the chair longer and reducing the potential volume of the practice in a given day. Once this scenario is recognized through procedural time studies, you’re then able to reorient the schedule to be more efficient, see more patients comfortably, and increase practice production.
We recommend timing each type of frequently performed procedure at least 10 times. Don’t time it only once. You need an average of multiple times to be most accurate. By using the “measure 10 times” approach, you are able to get a realistic understanding of the situation in the practice, and this is essential because it will then mathematically be recalculated back into a new schedule.
We have seen practices increase volume by 10%, 20%, 30%, and even more by going through this process. It is simply about how time is used. We have based this information not only on experience but on results. Many dentists have told us that even though their volume is higher, following the procedural time studies, they feel more relaxed, less fatigued.
SUMMARY
Time management in any business is typically one of the most important success factors. We all remember when Tesla was an excellent product and receiving all kinds of recognition, but they couldn’t produce enough cars and their profitability was poor. That is one example of high quality with poor economic results. Time management in the factory was the issue, and the next year the problem was resolved. The solution for Tesla was the result of time studies and building more efficiency into the manufacturing process.
The same is true for dental practices. Procedural time studies, or “stopwatch” studies, are a proven technique to understand how time is being used in your practice and increase volume. Perform your stopwatch studies just like a coach, measure the procedure at least 10 times, and then mathematically recalculate your schedule to allow for an increased volume of patients.
The additional benefits include less fatigue, less stress, calmer days, and a more enjoyable practice.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Roger P. Levin, DDS, is the CEO and founder of Levin Group, a leading practice management consulting firm that has worked with over 30,000 clients to increase production. A recognized expert on dental practice management and marketing, he has written more than 60 books and over 4,000 articles and regularly presents seminars in the U.S. and around the world.
To contact Dr. Levin or to join the 40,000 dental professionals who receive his Practice Production Tip of the Day, visit www.levingroup.com or email rlevin@levingroup.com.
FEATURED IMAGE CREDIT: Dmitriy Prayzel/Shutterstock.com.
