Ever notice how first thing in the morning and right after lunch are super busy times? Almost as busy as 3:30 pm when the school bus drops off and all hell breaks loose (if that happens in your office we need to talk…). What is going on? We know that patients love early morning appointments but why is it so busy right after lunch? The answer is in the way traditional schedule templates are set up. First thing in the am and right after lunch we go from a treatment area with zero patients to a full load – instantly! If you have more than just a few columns/chairs scheduled then there is bound to be a backlog because the doctor must get to each chair in turn and you will likely run behind almost immediately and spend the rest of the morning or afternoon catching up. And that is if you have all cylinders firing on time and the team makes sure that butts are in chairs right at 8 and 1…

This kind of thing is tough to fight. It used to happen in my office too but the team has figured out the deal and they started seating patients who show up 5 or 10 minutes early ahead of schedule. I didn’t ask them to do this but they know I’m always early and that I’m in the building before the witching hour and they figured out that if they can stagger the initial load of patients that happens first thing in the morning and right after lunch then they don’t create a bottleneck where they are waiting on the doctor to get started. They know this makes our day easier, makes patients happier and everyone benefits. Starting 5 or 10 minutes early to stagger the filling of the clinic makes all the difference. Try it and see for yourself.