Dental Office Monday Holidays are Predictable
Dental office Monday holidays are awesome! Right? The dental practice can extend the weekend a bit. Spend a little more time with family and friends. Travel if we desire to do so. And maybe rest at home too! It’s a nice break in our usual weekly routine. However, a long weekend presents challenges to our practice. In fact, a dentist I worked with used two phrases to describe these challenges. Pre-vacation hell and post-vacation hell fit the bill perfectly for him.
There were those late Thursday afternoon toothache phone calls. And this wasn’t a surprise. Anyone who works in dentistry for a bit, knows this scenario. “I used to be a patient. But I lost my insurance. And I haven’t been in the office for some time. But I’ve had this toothache for nearly 2 weeks now. And right now, it’s killing me. I know it’s a long weekend coming up. That’s why I’m calling now. Because I really need to be seen before the weekend.”
Pre-Vacation Hell No More!
So, now we have two choices. We can put this person somewhere in our afternoon. Or we can tell them we can’t see them this afternoon. But wait! There’s a little more to this to consider. Remember, it isn’t a surprise. What we couldn’t predict, was who would call. But we knew there would be a call. Perhaps more than one! So, I’ve got a great idea to consider. Try this on your next extended weekend or vacation from the office.
Dental Office Holiday Mondays Plan: Avoid Pre-Vacation Hell
Keep the afternoon schedule completely open for emergency care the last day before your holiday! Schedule a full morning of production and meet your office goal with your morning. And then, keep the afternoon open for a more relaxed wind down to the weekend. Then, if there truly are no emergency patients on this day, everyone has the chance to slowly unwind and slip into holiday mode. However, I bet you’ll see some activity for the afternoon. And can take advantage of this opportunity to welcome some new patients into the practice. Or maybe even reactivate a dormant patient who needs some treatment!
The Advanced Dental Block Scheduling Guide is a "How To" Available to You for FREE With Your Dental Practice Operational Manual Here
Post-Vacation Hell Be Gone!
Then, we do exactly the same thing in our schedule. With just one little twist. We schedule all our production for the morning. And again, we leave the afternoon free for emergency care and immediate needs.
However, we do this one important thing differently in our morning. We only schedule patients we truly trust to show up. Of course, anything can change. And it will. But our most dependable and reliable patients only are scheduled the day after a holiday break.
Dental Office Holiday Mondays Success
That’s really it! These simple steps relieve so much stress. And eliminate our need to have a pre-vacation and a post-vacation hell experience. Let’s have a better dental office day every day. And feel like we truly had a restful break from the daily grind.
We might also find we are more excited to return from a holiday break. Because we know we’ve set the stage so well. And we have the time and energy to manage the day so much better. Cheers!
Build Your Schedule by Design
We really have only ourselves to blame and hold accountable for our daily schedules. After all, we are the creator!
Begin today to live the dental office day you truly want. Download my Advanced Dental Block Scheduling Guide. Follow the steps included to help you create the schedule your practice needs.
Include the team and be sure everyone understands the reasoning behind sticking to the plan. And when it’s okay to color outside the lines.
