What We Do

The Scheduling Institute can add 10 to 50 percent more new patients to your practice with little or no changes in your marketing or advertising by simply leveraging one of your existing assets. This asset also happens to be your biggest expense - your staff. It might seem so simple that it may be hard to believe one thing can have such a positive impact on your practice. But once you understand the process it's really very enlightening and exciting. The greatest discovery is when you see the results.

What exactly does the Scheduling Institute do to generate new patients?

The Scheduling Institute doesn't “generate” new patients, it actually “recovers” patients that you're currently losing, but don't know about.

Ninety-eight percent of new patients call before coming into your office. This means your front desk staff is their first impression and the “gatekeeper” to your schedule. If your staff is trained properly they could be revenue producers in your practice and help you increase new patients.

But if not, they could be costing you more than just their salary or hourly rate. What does this mean to practice owners? Research has found that most dentists are losing 10 to 50 percent of potential new patients. If you're averaging 20 new patients a month, you're losing two to 10. If your average new patient is worth $1,500, this could be costing you $3,000 to $15,000 a month - that's $36,000 to $180,000 a year. Think about how much this number increases if your new patient value is greater than $1,500.

What is the process for training staff?

The process starts with establishing three growth measures in your practice.

1. Average Number of New Patients (usually a six or 12-month average)
2. Baseline - a number above the average
3. Goal - a number above the Baseline. This number should be attainable, but more of a stretch goal that will achieve a greater level of practice growth.

Next we work on changing the staff 's mindset and getting them to focus on new patients. If you went right now and asked your front desk staff what is their number-one priority, they wouldn't say to schedule new patients.

Then, incentives are used to motivate them. After these three things have been covered training begins to teach the staff concepts and strategies for effectively handling new patient calls. Accountability tools are put in place to ensure that the staff stays focused on new patients and steadily progresses towards certification.

What is the testing and scoring system and how does it relate to training?

The most accurate way to determine if your staff is focused and handling new patient calls more effectively is to put them to the test with a mystery call. We call the practice posing as a new patient, ask the usual new patient questions and present common buying signals. We wait to hear how the staff handles the questions and whether or not they respond to the buying signals.

We evaluate five major components within each call and “score” each component using our unique “5 Star Rating System.” Some components weigh more than others based on their impact on actually scheduling an appointment. The score of each component is added up and translated into an overall rating. Zero being the worst, five being the best.

How does a practice and its staff achieve certification?

Certification is like the “final exam” in school. It is a very important part of the training process. In order to be certified, a staff member has to fully complete our training program and demonstrate he/she has mastered how to effectively handle new patient calls. A mystery call that gets a rating of four or five would be “certified.” A staff member cannot even apply for certification until both things are achieved - completion of the training program and a four or five-star mystery call rating.

Learning is an ongoing process and we have to constantly refresh and brush up on skills to continue being effective and good at what we do. Doctors must realize that their staff is only as good as their last rating. So if someone scored a five three weeks ago and today they scored a two, that's a problem.

It's really about maintaining a four or five-star rating on every call that comes into the office. We continually monitor this for the doctor.

What does certification mean to the doctor and the practice?

From the beginning, as staff moves through the training program a doctor will start to see a steady increase in new patients congruent with the staff 's increased ability to handle new patient calls. Once a staff has achieved certification a doctor will see a significant increase in new patients and his/her bottom line. New patients are the life-blood of a practice so when they go up, everything gets better.

Certification is the point when our clients take huge growth spurts in their practice. When you have a fully engaged staff and a significant flow of new patients, the fun really begins. We then work with our clients to address capacity issues that arise from the abundance of new patients. We guide them through expanding their facilities or bringing in associate doctors - whatever it takes to achieve the level of growth they want.