How To Optimize Schedule
Purpose –
• Efficient Treatment Flow - better for patients, techs and clinic flow
• Efficient Time Management - efficient use of labor hours
End Result will be -
1. Back to Back Treatments = 50% of Tech Time must be for doing Treatments
2. No Show Rate = Less than 5%
3. Large blocks of free time available
4. All pts must have Recurrent appointments thru expiration
As Techs
3 Things Before you get Started
1. LOOK AROUND YOU IN THE CLINIC. THAT DEFINES IF WE ARE BUSY. NOT the schedule on the computer. Don’t look at the schedule and assume we are busy. There are a lot of gaps that need to be filled. Unless we have back to back treatments all day in all rooms, we are NOT busy
2. KEEP NO SHOW RATE LOW
Must be 5% or less. Some clinics have a 20% No Show rate right now! This needs to be changed. Do the following to improve No Show Rate:
• Educate clients on No show fee policy during consult and every visit. Call after their missed appointment
• Enforce the No Show Policy. Give 1st time warning. Contact log the 1st warning. If repeat offender – 2nd no show and beyond – charge $75 fee.
• Factor in the No Show Rate, when you plan your day (then the sch may not be as busy as it looks)
3. SCHEDULE RECURRENT APPOINTMENTS thru series/package expiration
2 Steps on How to Move appointments and condense the schedule –
Follow these 2 steps below. Make sure SAME TECH will do the treatment
Step 1 = Condense Booking Time
*This is the most common mistake so please pay special attention to this step
On Appointment View >>Start with 1 Tech column and go all the way down the column to condense Tx time. Then start with next column and go down that column >> until all columns are condensed for the day. Then go to the next day and repeat the process.
On the Appointment View >> Make sure Booking Time is correct
See price list for booking time for each procedure
Decrease time slot to accurate booking time
Be sure to ‘add-on’ additional procedures on the right side
Write the name of the procedure in the notes section on the left side
Assign Treatment Room - – eg eLight or Velashape etc
Click Update and Close
On the Room View >> Make sure every Patient has a Room assigned
Make sure the ‘Room Schedule view’ and the ‘Appointment view’ match
If you need to make an exception to this rule, ask Dr K first. Case by Case exceptions will be made. eg a tall person with long legs, a Fairly Obese (300 lb) patinet for Velashape etc.
When you are done with this Step 1 – the pt’s appointment arrival time will not change but now you will see a few ‘holes’ in the schedule. i.e. Treatments will not seem as ‘back-to-back’ as they were before you started Step 1
Step 2 = Book Recurr Appn & Move Clients - to ensure back to back treatments
When you book recur appn, try to book the tx so as to have a back to back schedule. Keep the same tech as much as possible. This is to ensure continuity of care so the same tech will treat the pt
Only CM to change the schedule -
If patient calls/emails to ‘early cancel’ and reschedule – Only CM (or person in charge) to make the change. If tech answers the phone, take a message and let the CM make the change on the scheduler. This is to ensure schedule is not changed inadvertently.
Problem & Solution
Plan B (practice drills) discussed before hand & training - What to do in case of Equipment failure, Tech No Show, Extreme Weather Conditions (snowfall)
End Result will be -
Use Large blocks of time available to -
1. SCHEDULE MORE TREATMENTS –
(3 ways =
i. Condense schedule & move pts for back to back
ii. Create Wait list – call them when there is a large block or cancellations or no shows
iii. Increase clinic sales so more pts will need treatments)
2. SALES –
Make more sales. Look at your dashboard for f/u sequence and make sales calls. Look at your ‘Sch. at a glance’ for the month – contact log, sales forecast, sales ticket
3. MEDICAL –
Study Slow Responders - LHR & pts not seeing results and have a game plan in advance before the pt comes for her treatment
4. MISC (at Manager’s discretion) –
Customer Service phone calls, Training, New Projects– eg Wish List
Check-in, Check-out Guidelines
• Anyone treated OR seen (office visit) in the clinic MUST BE ON THE MINDBODY SCHEDULER. This applies even for staff treatments.
• CHECK-IN >> ‘Check-in’ pt when they arrive in the clinic. DO NOT treat pt without check-in
• CHECK-OUT >> After Procedure is over – ‘check-out’ pt in MB and make sure they have RECURRENT appointments thru series expiration.
This goes directly on your ‘Procedures Performed’ report. If you do not checkin/checkout pt, you will not get credit for performing the treatment
• NO PAYMENT NO TREATMENT - During Check-in, confirm they do not owe balance (Red Ticket), or there should be a good reason (contact log) for Red Ticket. Anyone with a balance MUST have a autopay schedule
• NO CONSENT NO TREATMENT – A properly signed consent must be on file.
• NO SHOWS >> At the end of the day confirm No Shows and give first warning or Charge $75 (repeat offenders). Always contact log ‘No Shows’ for future reference
• NIGHTLY CHECKLIST >> At the end of the day, confirm all pts are ‘checked-out’ and confirm all ‘No Shows’ for the day
FYI. Glossary of Terms from Mindbody
• Booked - (Appts) Any non-confirmed appointment booked in the future. Any appointment from the past will be considered Arrived, Completed, or a No Show.
• Confirmed - (Appts) Any future appointment where the client has told staff member at your clinic that they will indeed be coming, and that staff member checked the "Confirmed" checkbox on the client's Modify Appointment Screen.
• Arrived - (Appts) The "Arrived" checkbox has been checked at the top of the client's Modify Appointment Screen. This means that the client has physically shown up for the appointment. This status is retained until the appointment is completed/checked out.
• Late Cancel - (Appts, Classes & Workshops) This means the client canceled, but not within the cancellation window per the business cancellation policies. The client will be charged for the Late Cancel. These are better than No Shows because the Clinic has some forewarning that they can fill that spot.
• No Show - (Appts) Client booked an appointment. But the appointment was never checked out, early canceled, late canceled, marked arrived, or marked as confirmed. Meaning, your staff member either 1) never checked the appointment out or the client never showed up. Your client was also not charged for this no show.
• Completed - (Appts) The appointment has been checked out and paid for.
• Signed-In - (Classes & Workshops) Clients have the checkbox ticked for a class or workshop's Signed-In column on the Sign-In Screen or have signed in via the Sign-In or Self Sign-In Screens.
Purpose –
• Efficient Treatment Flow - better for patients, techs and clinic flow
• Efficient Time Management - efficient use of labor hours
End Result will be -
1. Back to Back Treatments = 50% of Tech Time must be for doing Treatments
2. No Show Rate = Less than 5%
3. Large blocks of free time available
4. All pts must have Recurrent appointments thru expiration
As Techs
- 50% of your time should be spent in the treatment rooms
- 30% on Admin duties – EMR, Scheduling Pts, etc
- 20% on Training
- 40% of your time to be spent on doing Consults/Referrals/Customer Service
- 40% in treatment room
- 10% on Admin duties
- 10% on Training
3 Things Before you get Started
1. LOOK AROUND YOU IN THE CLINIC. THAT DEFINES IF WE ARE BUSY. NOT the schedule on the computer. Don’t look at the schedule and assume we are busy. There are a lot of gaps that need to be filled. Unless we have back to back treatments all day in all rooms, we are NOT busy
2. KEEP NO SHOW RATE LOW
Must be 5% or less. Some clinics have a 20% No Show rate right now! This needs to be changed. Do the following to improve No Show Rate:
• Educate clients on No show fee policy during consult and every visit. Call after their missed appointment
• Enforce the No Show Policy. Give 1st time warning. Contact log the 1st warning. If repeat offender – 2nd no show and beyond – charge $75 fee.
• Factor in the No Show Rate, when you plan your day (then the sch may not be as busy as it looks)
3. SCHEDULE RECURRENT APPOINTMENTS thru series/package expiration
2 Steps on How to Move appointments and condense the schedule –
Follow these 2 steps below. Make sure SAME TECH will do the treatment
Step 1 = Condense Booking Time
*This is the most common mistake so please pay special attention to this step
On Appointment View >>Start with 1 Tech column and go all the way down the column to condense Tx time. Then start with next column and go down that column >> until all columns are condensed for the day. Then go to the next day and repeat the process.
On the Appointment View >> Make sure Booking Time is correct
See price list for booking time for each procedure
Decrease time slot to accurate booking time
Be sure to ‘add-on’ additional procedures on the right side
Write the name of the procedure in the notes section on the left side
Assign Treatment Room - – eg eLight or Velashape etc
Click Update and Close
On the Room View >> Make sure every Patient has a Room assigned
Make sure the ‘Room Schedule view’ and the ‘Appointment view’ match
If you need to make an exception to this rule, ask Dr K first. Case by Case exceptions will be made. eg a tall person with long legs, a Fairly Obese (300 lb) patinet for Velashape etc.
When you are done with this Step 1 – the pt’s appointment arrival time will not change but now you will see a few ‘holes’ in the schedule. i.e. Treatments will not seem as ‘back-to-back’ as they were before you started Step 1
Step 2 = Book Recurr Appn & Move Clients - to ensure back to back treatments
When you book recur appn, try to book the tx so as to have a back to back schedule. Keep the same tech as much as possible. This is to ensure continuity of care so the same tech will treat the pt
Only CM to change the schedule -
If patient calls/emails to ‘early cancel’ and reschedule – Only CM (or person in charge) to make the change. If tech answers the phone, take a message and let the CM make the change on the scheduler. This is to ensure schedule is not changed inadvertently.
Problem & Solution
- Staff Moving Clients on the Schedule
- Only CM to change the schedule
- Educate Staff
- Repeat Staff Offenders – Disciplinary action
- Tech 'No Show' OR Slow Tech
- Doing Tx slower than allotted time = Hold accountable for accurate Tx time
- Tech No Show for work = Enforce HR Policy for Attendance Policy
- Client 'No Show'
- Educate right from consult visit & every visit about No Show Fee policy. Then Enforce it.
- 1st time warning then charge $75 fee
- Equipment ‘No Show'
- Proper Care and Use of Equipment
- Regular Equipment Cleaning & Maintenance Checks per protocol
- Mother Nature - eg Snow. Not much we can do but this instance is rare
Plan B (practice drills) discussed before hand & training - What to do in case of Equipment failure, Tech No Show, Extreme Weather Conditions (snowfall)
End Result will be -
- Back to Back Treatments = 50% Tech time will be in Treatment Room
- No Show Rate = Less than 5%
- Large blocks of free time available
- All pts must have Recurrent appointments thru expiration
Use Large blocks of time available to -
1. SCHEDULE MORE TREATMENTS –
(3 ways =
i. Condense schedule & move pts for back to back
ii. Create Wait list – call them when there is a large block or cancellations or no shows
iii. Increase clinic sales so more pts will need treatments)
2. SALES –
Make more sales. Look at your dashboard for f/u sequence and make sales calls. Look at your ‘Sch. at a glance’ for the month – contact log, sales forecast, sales ticket
3. MEDICAL –
Study Slow Responders - LHR & pts not seeing results and have a game plan in advance before the pt comes for her treatment
4. MISC (at Manager’s discretion) –
Customer Service phone calls, Training, New Projects– eg Wish List
Check-in, Check-out Guidelines
• Anyone treated OR seen (office visit) in the clinic MUST BE ON THE MINDBODY SCHEDULER. This applies even for staff treatments.
• CHECK-IN >> ‘Check-in’ pt when they arrive in the clinic. DO NOT treat pt without check-in
• CHECK-OUT >> After Procedure is over – ‘check-out’ pt in MB and make sure they have RECURRENT appointments thru series expiration.
This goes directly on your ‘Procedures Performed’ report. If you do not checkin/checkout pt, you will not get credit for performing the treatment
• NO PAYMENT NO TREATMENT - During Check-in, confirm they do not owe balance (Red Ticket), or there should be a good reason (contact log) for Red Ticket. Anyone with a balance MUST have a autopay schedule
• NO CONSENT NO TREATMENT – A properly signed consent must be on file.
• NO SHOWS >> At the end of the day confirm No Shows and give first warning or Charge $75 (repeat offenders). Always contact log ‘No Shows’ for future reference
• NIGHTLY CHECKLIST >> At the end of the day, confirm all pts are ‘checked-out’ and confirm all ‘No Shows’ for the day
FYI. Glossary of Terms from Mindbody
• Booked - (Appts) Any non-confirmed appointment booked in the future. Any appointment from the past will be considered Arrived, Completed, or a No Show.
• Confirmed - (Appts) Any future appointment where the client has told staff member at your clinic that they will indeed be coming, and that staff member checked the "Confirmed" checkbox on the client's Modify Appointment Screen.
• Arrived - (Appts) The "Arrived" checkbox has been checked at the top of the client's Modify Appointment Screen. This means that the client has physically shown up for the appointment. This status is retained until the appointment is completed/checked out.
• Late Cancel - (Appts, Classes & Workshops) This means the client canceled, but not within the cancellation window per the business cancellation policies. The client will be charged for the Late Cancel. These are better than No Shows because the Clinic has some forewarning that they can fill that spot.
• No Show - (Appts) Client booked an appointment. But the appointment was never checked out, early canceled, late canceled, marked arrived, or marked as confirmed. Meaning, your staff member either 1) never checked the appointment out or the client never showed up. Your client was also not charged for this no show.
• Completed - (Appts) The appointment has been checked out and paid for.
• Signed-In - (Classes & Workshops) Clients have the checkbox ticked for a class or workshop's Signed-In column on the Sign-In Screen or have signed in via the Sign-In or Self Sign-In Screens.