More than likely (and hopefully) every day you and your staff are meeting 15 minutes prior to your first patient’s arrival to prepare for the day as a team.
It is a short quick meeting, but it is there to set your practice up for success that day.
So… are you and your team doing everything to make your huddle is as effective as it should be?
Well here is a little checklist for you to make sure your morning huddle is effective and profitable.
#1 Make sure everyone is on time
It needs to be made clear how important the huddle is to the team. Shortly before starting have your office manager sweep through the office to tell everyone huddle is starting in 2 minutes.
Have a designated space for the huddle to take place, that way your dental assistant isn’t running around trying to find you guys.
Have your hygiene coordinator or dental receptionist put a sign up that reads;
“Good Morning! We are in our team huddle, please treat yourself to some coffee and we will be with you shortly.”
That way they don’t have to run out if a patient comes in early.
Now your team has a full and uninterrupted 15 minute to complete the huddle.
# 2 Assign huddle responsibilities
The huddle is not the time to pull up charts and review them as a team.
Rather, this should all be done the day before. Your team should know who is responsible for knowing what and what needs to be presented.
Here is a breakdown of huddle duties.
Hygiene coordinator or receptionist:
Who has confirmed and who hasn’t for the hygiene schedule.
Who are new patients?
What is the pending treatment for those patients?
Was the patient made aware of the pending treatment when confirming their appointment?
Where on today’s schedule can we fit them in for the doctor if they want to complete treatment?
Confirm that insurance verification is complete for all hygiene patients.
Hygienists:
Discuss any health issues or anxieties that the team needs to be aware of on the hygiene schedule.
Let team know if an updated health form is needed.
Notify team of event’s in patient’s life – like a vacation or having a grandbaby, etc.
Treatment coordinator or office manager:
Who has confirmed and who has not confirmed their appointments.
Is there any pending treatment that could be added to today’s treatment?
Confirm insurance verification is complete and current treatment plan is still accurate.
Dental Assistant:
Discuss any health or anxiety issues on the doctor’s schedule.
Let team know if an updated health form is needed.
Notify team of event’s in patient’s life – like a vacation or having a grandbaby, etc.
#3 Don’t waste time discussing non-crucial information
It is very easy (and fun) to go down the rabbit hole of gossiping about patients and the silly things they do, but don’t. It will only take away from the short amount of time to prepare for the day.
#4 Discuss numbers and goals
Production on the doctor’s side and hygiene side should be discussed as a team. This lets everyone know where we stand and where we need to push.
Have your Office Manager announce:
Treatment Production for the day:
Hygienist production for the day:
Treatment production month to date:
Hygiene Production month to date:
How much more is needed to hit monthly treatment production goals:
How much more is needed to hit monthly hygiene production goals:
This gives you a chance to game plan with the team.
For example: If the treatment production for the day is low. You can talk about who has outstanding treatment that is scheduled to come in and how to get them to accept same-day treatment.
#5 End on a positive note
Read a motivational quote or affirmation. Have a fun little chant. Talk about something great that someone on the team did the day before.
Just do something fun to get your team excited and send them off feeling good.
If you are missing any of these items from your morning huddle, incorporate them tomorrow morning. These items on this checklist should help get your team on the same page so they stay on time and your patients get the care they deserve.
Smiles
Holli Perez
DirectDental
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