Mastering Dental Scheduling in FQHCs
Best Practices for Streamlined Care
By Donna Bridge, DMD, Senior Advisor, Facktor
Is your health center team struggling to keep control of the dental schedule?
Patients are canceling on short notice or fail to show up
No-shows are impacting the flow of the day
Days begin with numerous holes in the schedule
The clinical team is running behind
Here are some best practices to implement when managing the schedule:
Establish scheduling, confirmation, and no-show policies
Ensure patients understand what constitutes a confirmed appointment and the consequences of canceling on short notice. It is important that health center staff reinforce these policies when scheduling appointments so that patients understand the importance of keeping their appointments. Care team members can help patients understand what the consequences are for skipping appointments, both operationally and clinically. Setting and sticking to these rules – while of course making exceptions where appropriate – can increase appointment adherence and prevent costly missed appointments.
Confirm all appointments
This step is critical in managing a health center’s dental schedule – ideally, there should never be a day that starts with unconfirmed appointments still on the schedule. Care team members can help reinforce that patients must confirm their appointments via text, email, or phone, within a specified timeline that allows the team member to fill a spot that opens up
Keep a list of patients that are available at short notice
Most dental software programs can manage an “ASAP” list of patients who could be available for an appointment on short notice. This list should include patients that the dentist may ask to be brought in sooner than an appointment is currently available, or patients who ask for an earlier appointment if one opens up. This list can be used to fill a similar appointment slot that opens up during the confirmation process.
Keep schedules current
It is important for health centers to ensure that they develop and regularly update a procedure for keeping each day’s schedule up to date. This includes managing appointments scheduled weeks in advance as well as keeping to the confirmation process and keeping the schedule filled. For shorter turnaround openings, the scheduling team can refer to the ASAP list or by moving similar appointments up. Of course, it is important to speak with the patient/parent before moving the appointment.
Ensure all dental front office staff understand the basics of dental care
This includes an understanding of the types of procedures being scheduled and the time to be allowed for each procedure. Work with your clinical leadership to create a list of procedures with associated appointment times and make this list available for all schedulers. This helps to prevent unnecessary chaos of always running behind and ensures that enough time is allotted for each appointment.
Use a scheduling template
Ideally this template incorporates input from the dental providers and leadership. The scheduling template should take into account providers’ productivity requirements and preferred times for procedure types. Having team input ensures that there is ownership of the productivity requirements and a shared understanding about the need for clinical efficiency.
Communication is key
Communication between the front office and clinical teams, or back office, is the most essential part of managing the schedule. It is important that there is constant communication between the front and back offices to ensure that each knows of any changes with individual patients. For example, if a patient calls to notify the clinic that they are running late, front office staff should verify how late the patient will be and ensure that the schedule allows for the late check-in. Then, the front desk can communicate with the clinical team so that any needed adjustments can be made. Conversely, clinical staff should plan to communicate with the front office if an appointment is taking longer than expected so that the front office can manage expectations with the next patient(s). Communication is also critical in the event of any changes in treatment, particularly if this involves a change in fee, impacting patient collections. Most dental software systems have a messaging module for real-time communication; the use of these platforms should be a part of your schedule management procedures. Chart preparation sessions involving collaboration between the front and back offices are extremely important, helping to ensure that any procedures scheduled are clinically appropriate and that dental insurance or patient copays can be verified before appointment confirmation. Ensure that concise notes are added for each appointment so that visits run smoothly and efficiently.
Other best practices include:
Tracking no-show rates
Documenting appointment status, e.g. patient arrival, patient in treatment
Having a dedicated team member assigned to overseeing schedule management
Training all scheduling team members how to implement YOUR scheduling procedures; avoid letting untrained employees schedule appointments
Keeping your clinical team involved and up to date on the schedule
Avoiding scheduling too far in advance