![]() ![]() Operator speed then increases automatically with experience. This means that the dentist and staff are knowledgeable about each step of every procedure and that they take their time to do procedures correctly, as opposed to just doing them quickly. Speed in completing patient procedures depends on the dentist doing the procedure correctly without remakes. Operator speed is not really dependent on “hand skills” and physical speed. The dentist’s speed when doing patient procedures determines the length of appointments and therefore the number of available appointment slots. The assistants are responsible for chairside assisting during patient procedures, set up, break down, and disinfection of the operatory between patients. Generally, dentists assign one chairside assistant to one operatory. ![]() The additional six operatories become nothing but expensive waiting rooms. Seven operatories will not let a dentist see more patients than one operatory, without staff support. However, the dentist must be sure that proper staffing levels support the operatories. The number of operatories has an obvious and important effect on the dentist’s ability to see patients. What Determines CapacityĬapacity is affected by all of the management decisions dentists make in the office. The dentist’s practice philosophy guides the changes made in the operational and marketing systems to achieve goals. Both sides (driving demand and then seeing those patients generated) need to be satisfied for success. Although capacity defines a dentist’s ability to see patients, marketing brings those patients in and fill available chair time. As the practice matures, the number and type of patient visits change. This configuration can (and should) change over time. The way dentists plan and organize the office ultimately decides the ability to see patients. It is the maximum number of patient visits (or appointments) that the office has available for a given period. Table 21.1 Efficiency versus Effectiveness EfficiencyĬapacity is the ability of the office to see patients. ![]() In all of office decisions, dentists must be sure that they are both efficient and effective. So simply doing something less expensively does not necessarily lead to more profit. ![]() Using the foreign lab costs less, but dentists are not doing their job as well. So here, effectiveness trumps efficiency. However, dentists may be less effective in crown and bridge work because of more remakes and lower patient satisfaction that result. The outcome of effectiveness is improving profitability by working smarter.Īs an example of the difference in a dental practice, dentists can be more efficient (lowering costs) if they use a foreign lab. Effectiveness then is a quality measure, not a cost measure. It measures how well the job gets done, or the correctness of a product or service. The intention is to improve quality at a higher level than the individual process, thereby raising performance levels. Here, the focus is the benefit or outcome of the process. EffectivenessĮffectiveness looks at how well something is done. Clinical decision making is the prime factor that increases clinical speed. Not only does the dentist have the cost of additional materials, staff, and lab charges, but he or she has also lost the additional production he or she could have during the time spent with the remake. In dentistry, efficiency comes from doing procedures correctly the first time, without remakes. The result is to improve profitability by working harder and quicker. In this way, the process is no worse than others in the industry. Efficiency measures productivity at the individual process level, regardless the collateral effects of the decision ( Table 21.1). To become more efficient, people simply must lower costs. The intention is to save money, time, or effort regardless quality. EfficiencyĮfficiency looks at how cheaply something is done. In operating a productive practice, dentists need to be both efficient and effective. ![]()
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