How to Manage the 4 Most Common Dental Scheduling Challenges

By Traci Snover, Senior Director of Implementation for PracticeSuite.

Effective appointment management is one of the foundational pillars of running a successful dentistry practice. Efficient scheduling significantly reduces the administrative burden on staff, empowering them to focus on their primary role: providing high-quality dental care that earns patient trust and keeps them coming back.

To truly optimize your operations and protect your income from unnecessary leakage, adopt a proactive scheduling approach rather than reacting to problems as they arise. In this guide, we’ll cover the most common dental scheduling challenges and how you can address them before they impact your practice’s financial health.

Patient No-Shows and Last-Minute Cancellations

It’s estimated that no-shows cost the healthcare industry $150 billion each year, and just one no-show per dentist per day can cost dental practices $200,000 annually. However, no-shows are often a symptom of an ineffective communication strategy rather than a willful disregard for booked time.

The solution is to implement a confirmation and reminder sequence to ensure your patients don’t forget their upcoming appointments. Here’s an example of what your process might look like:

• After booking, send out an initial confirmation email that lists the appointment date, time and location.
• Send a text message or email reminder 72 hours before the appointment. You may also include instructions on how to reschedule the appointment if the patient needs to do so.
• Send a final text message or email reminder 24 hours before the appointment.

You may also ask patients to confirm their appointment with these messages to ensure they have seen them and are committed to arriving on time. For instance, some providers send text messages asking patients to text back “C” to confirm their attendance.

Having a system like this in place minimizes the risk of patient no-shows, as appointments stay top-of-mind. This allows your staff members to worry less about revenue loss and focus more on delivering value-based care to patients.

Sudden Gaps in the Schedule

Even with reminders in place, patients inevitably have to cancel at times. Many dental offices maintain waitlists to fill those empty timeslots, but pen-and-paper lists can quickly become disorganized or cumbersome. Instead, implement a dynamic, digital waitlist system that operates automatically to identify patients who match the newly opened time slot.

For example, let’s say a patient has booked an appointment to have a dental implant placed, a procedure that typically takes one to two hours per implant. When they cancel, you’re left with a large chunk of time that needs to be filled.

A robust practice management software solution with dynamic waitlists will automatically match the available time slot length to another patient needing a procedure of the same duration, such as another patient who needs an implant. The system should automatically send a notification to the top eligible patients. The first patient to respond gets the slot, preventing you from losing revenue and giving patients a more professional perception of your practice.

Inconsistent Appointment Flow and Staff Fatigue

Since dental offices handle a range of procedures, from complex and time-consuming to quick checks and routine work, scheduling can become complicated or chaotic. When practices schedule a mix of these services on the same day, it can lead to unpredictable downtime that reduces overall efficiency. 

For consistent success, practice procedure batching: strategically blocking off segments of the day or week for similar procedures. For example, dedicate Tuesday mornings solely to new patient exams, which require additional administrative onboarding. You may then reserve late afternoons for routine hygiene appointments or shorter follow-ups.

A focused approach like this enables staff members to establish a rhythm that fosters a more stable work environment. Ensure that your scheduling system accurately reflects your procedure batches as well. For instance, Kanopi recommends enabling customers to book appointments online through your website. During scheduling, have customers select the type of appointment they’re booking (such as routine check-ups or root canals). Then, show them the time blocks you have available for that specific type of appointment.

Underutilized Scheduling Technology

According to PracticeSuite, many practice management software solutions include scheduling features that streamline the appointment cycle for dental practices. This software automates tasks your staff would typically perform manually, saving you time and reducing the risk of human error.

Most scheduling tools offer advanced capabilities that can further improve your scheduling management, such as:

• Digital Patient Intake: Allowing patients to complete forms online reduces check-in time and ensures necessary payment information is collected upfront.
• Color-Coding and Room Management: Set up color codes within your software to indicate procedure type, required equipment, or specific provider. This gives your team a quick, at-a-glance view of the day’s demands.
• Reporting: Use built-in reports to track no-show rates by day of the week or time of day, helping you adjust scheduling policies based on data.

More advanced practice management software solutions may include additional capabilities, such as medical billing and electronic health records. Regularly train your staff on best practices for your software to ensure you’re maximizing its features. Additionally, if the platform releases new features, be sure to host training sessions about them as well.

Ultimately, your goal is to create a highly efficient and predictable daily schedule that fosters a healthy work environment and ensures patient satisfaction. Prioritize resolving your scheduling challenges, even before they become a significant issue, and you’ll empower your team and minimize revenue leakage.

Traci Snover is a Healthcare Information Technologies professional with more 20 years of experience in all aspects of project management, implementation and client training. She’s worked at various other software companies, most notably NextGen Healthcare. Now, she serves as the Senior Director of Implementation for PracticeSuite.