Explaining the Schedule Further

Hygiene Scheduling

Note: If you're not Canadian (or just unfamiliar), Nancy explains what a "PDA" does around the 11min mark. Similar to an RDA. The official definition can be read here.

Here practice manager and consultant Nancy Somerville goes deep to help you understand what it takes to the make and maintain the perfect hygiene schedule. As Dr. MacInnis said in the introduction, the art of the perfect schedule is not a simple matter of filling it up. In fact, as is said elsewhere in the Platform, a focus on being booked in advance is at cross purposes with a patient focus. Rather, the perfect scheduling method is about maximizing the schedule by accommodating as many patients as is possible each day while remaining resilient to the uncertainties such as the cancellations and emergencies which present are a real and constant challenge to running a profitable business. So, as well as creating maximum opportunity for hygiene production, a well-filled schedule also creates openings for same-day restorative care.

As Nancy gives the rationale behind scheduling techniques, and the remedies for certain stumbling blocks, she also reminds us that the perfect schedule is a work in progress that requires thoughtful effort to maintain, and, most importantly, that it represents the time and organized effort of many people. The consequences of the state of the schedule are clear then: If the schedule has problems, patients will wait longer than they should, and the practice will lose patients, hourly team members will lose hours, and everyone loses production. On level directly relevant to each member of the team, in a practice that pays everyone on production, you must take care of the schedule so it can take care of you.