Originally published in 2021 and updated regularly.
It’s 10:05 am, and your patient was due at 10. Every bone in your body wants to call him right away and ask where he is. The operations team often waits up to 10 minutes at an appointment to call a patient, who then says they are “pulling into the parking lot now.” However, they don’t get into the office until 10:15am. and of course they have to use the toilet.
We’ve all been through this, probably more often than we’d like to admit. As a new graduate, it may feel impossible to recover from this situation. It’s easy to fall behind in our day after being 15 minutes late. Furthermore, if we fall behind, we may lose credibility with our patients.
I have become an expert in time management during my years in clinical hygiene. I’m excited to share four tips to improve your time management skills so that when a patient or doctor runs behind, you can take control of your schedule.
Pre-check your graphs
Determine what patients will need that day. Every patient 18 years of age and older needs a complete periodontal chart once a year, and periodontally involved patients need a periodontal chart every three months. Depending on the information being dictated, a complete periodontal map can take five to eight minutes to collect via voice dictation.
Patients need an updated medical history every year. If a patient has a complex medical history, it may take five to eight minutes to complete, so you should plan accordingly. Determine what the patient needs for films such as an FMX. An FMX can take anywhere from eight to 15 minutes depending on the patient’s tolerance and compliance during placement of the digital sensor. Each of the services the patient needs during an appointment should be listed in the appointment book. This list will allow the team to help you if you are running behind.
Success leaves clues
Mark Hyman, DDS, is a dear friend and mentor, and he consistently reminds dentists of our notes—treatment notes should be detailed enough that any clinician can pick up where we left off. I like to follow up on the home care recommendations I made on the previous visit to reinforce the importance and proper use of a product.
I highly recommend using patient note templates. I have one for periodontal maintenance, sealants, pediatric hygiene visits, preventive patients, and scaling and root planing. This saves time and allows your notes to be very comprehensive without requiring hours of dictation.
A comprehensive note will determine what series of appointments are needed to treat a patient. For example, if the patient needs multiple restorations, the visits should be split into appointments such as NV1 and NV2. Completing comprehensive notes will allow you and the team to optimize communication with your patient and expedite information gathering based on the patient’s primary concern and risk assessments.
Set up in advance
An effective way to stay on time is to make records ahead of time. This allows you to have everything you need on disk and be ready. You can carry the dirty instruments and tray to the sterilization area if you run back. In a perfect world, a team member will help you complete the sterilization process. You can then focus on decontaminating the room and simply grab a pre-made tray with the sterile cassette and arsenal for your next patient.
The 20 minute rule
If you scale more than 20 minutes, it is not predictive. During the first 20 minutes of the appointment, medical history, oral cancer screening, periodontal mapping, and films should be collected. This will allow you to determine if the patient is a gingivitis patient, a periodontally involved patient, or healthy. Then you can determine the treatment plan.
If the patient arrives 20 minutes late, the appointment time should be used for assessment. The patient should be called back for hygiene treatment. If they are 20 minutes late, you will only update the medical history, oral cancer screening, periodontal charting and films. Many hygienists rush the appointment and skip assessment tools such as oral cancer screening. After all, we think the patient was late and we shouldn’t be penalized for being late.
It is important to focus on the things we can control. Applying these time management skills will reduce stress in practice. When we look less stressed, there is room for more confidence. Not only do our patients love the trust, so do our employers. A confident employee is often a happy employee. Happiness is contagious and patients want to be treated by a happy dentist!
