I find most practices disperse at the end of the day; often not even at the same time. Each leaving and doing things as if they are independent parts that have no impact or bearing on each other.
They leave without closure to the day. They leave without accountability to the outcomes and results of the patients who moved in and out of the practice the hours preceding the close of business.
Regardless of your protocol, I know this – there is no way to successfully manage, capture and maximize the opportunity, patient flow and growth of your practice without end-of-day oversight from all people.
Additionally, there is no possible way to make the most of and effectively prepare for the next day without strategic organization prior to the morning huddle.
We have long followed a very simple rule: each team member is responsible for the actions, decisions, results – and patients – they deal with on a daily basis.
This is decided by the column of patients in the schedule for the clinical team; the incoming and outgoing phone engagement of patients throughout the day; the financial tracking, monitoring, following of the money; and treatment acceptance every step of the way through a patients journey and cycle through your practice.
No real team leaves the conclusion of a game without first reflecting on what happened. They take account of anything of valuable importance or significance prior to leaving and starting all over again tomorrow.
I see tens of thousands of dollars of treatment pile up; opportunities get missed; and patient relationship, proper communication and customer service neglected. All because there is no real mandated responsibilities and method to closing out a day. There is no parameters or benchmarks to whether or not the day was success, whether or not individuals performed well, whether or not we should be proud of or disappointed by the outcomes of the day.
We have talked about this before, right here, there is no possible way to produce more in an extra 30 minutes at the end of your day than what you will make tomorrow and the coming weeks ahead by using that time to properly conclude the day and effectively prepare for tomorrow.
There comes a time when a more sophisticated, professional and responsible approach to being a team (and beginning and ending the day) is the most important thing you can do to ensure everyone is focused and working to their highest potential through forced, structured, disciplined time and task management.
I’m hoping this is enough food for thought for this week. Ask yourself how are your days ending, what is discussed, how are outcomes tracked today before you move on to tomorrow, never to look back again.
