Understanding and Eliminating Time & Process Waste in your Dental Practice
Understanding and Eliminating Waste in Your Dental Practice
Think of the last time you saw something happening in your dental practice and thought: "Well, that was a waste of time". Or better - last time that an action or a person generated rework, defects, or complaints.
Waste, in a business context, refers to any activity that consumes resources but does not add value to the end customer (we are not talking about your clinical waste!). In a dental practice, waste can manifest in various forms, from inefficient processes to unnecessary tasks that do not contribute to patient care. Recognizing and eliminating waste is crucial for improving efficiency, reducing costs, and enhancing patient satisfaction.
But how do you start? Let's kick off with the concept of value-added and non-value-added activities.
Value-Added vs. Non-Value Added Activities
Think of the last time you saw something happening in your dental practice and thought: "Well, that was a waste of time."
Waste in a business context refers to any activity that consumes resources but does not add value to the end customer. In a dental practice, waste can manifest in various forms, from inefficient processes to unnecessary tasks that do not contribute to patient care. Recognizing and eliminating waste is crucial for improving efficiency, reducing costs, and enhancing patient satisfaction.
Before we move on to helping you understand how to spot waste, we need to define two key terms: (1) Value-Added and (2) Non-Value Added.
Simplified Example: Making Coffee
Let's start with a simpler example. Imagine you are making a cup of coffee. If you analyze the process, actions that contribute directly to transforming and making the beverage are considered value-added. These actions include scooping the coffee, grinding it, pouring water, and brewing.
Now, suppose you need to make more coffee per hour. To increase efficiency, you might focus on eliminating steps that don’t directly contribute to the coffee-making process. These non-value added steps could include walking to and from kitchen cabinets, refilling the water, or grabbing a cup. Essentially, you would identify and minimize any steps that do not add value to the coffee-making experience. Very similarly, these concepts can be applied to your Dental Practice. You can look at your operation in terms of value-added and non-value added activities.
Value-Added Activities: Value-added activities are those that directly contribute to patient care and that patients are willing to pay for. These activities enhance the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of the service provided.
Examples of Value-Added Activities in a Dental Practice:
Performing dental procedures such as cleanings, fillings, and extractions.
Conducting patient consultations and providing treatment plans.
Educating patients on oral hygiene and preventive care.
Non-Value Added Activities: Non-value added activities, on the other hand, do not contribute to patient care and are not something patients are willing to pay for. These activities consume time and resources without adding any benefit to the patient.
Examples of Non-Value Added Activities in a Dental Practice:
Excessive administrative tasks: transposing information from sticky notes to system.
Long patient wait times due to inefficient scheduling.
Moving patient records or dental tools unnecessarily between rooms.
Defining Waste
So now that we have defined value-added and non-value-added activities, we can explore improvement opportunities. In the Lean management world, opportunities can be spotted through the elimination of waste (again - this isn't your clinical waste!)
Waste is categorized into several types, often remembered by the acronym TIMWOODS: Transport, Inventory, Motion, Waiting, Overproduction, Overprocessing, Defects, and Skills. Here’s a brief overview of each type of waste:
Transport: Unnecessary movement of materials or information.
Inventory: Excess supplies or materials that are not immediately needed.
Motion: Unnecessary movement by people.
Waiting: Idle time when people or equipment are not productive.
Overproduction: Producing more than is needed or before it is needed.
Overprocessing: Performing more work or adding more features than necessary.
Defects: Errors or mistakes that require rework or correction.
Skills: Not fully utilizing people’s talents, skills, or knowledge.
Example in a Dental Practice
"Ok this is great - but how is it relevant to my Dental Practice?" Great question. Let's go through a couple of example to make the concept more relevant.
Scenario: Reducing Patient Wait Times
Problem: At Dr. Smith’s dental practice, patients often experience long wait times even though the schedule appears full. This causes frustration among patients, bad reviews, and reduces the number of appointments that can be handled each day.
Solution: Dr. Smith decides to analyze the workflow using Lean principles. The team identifies several non-value-added activities contributing to the delays, such as redundant paperwork at check-in, excessive movement of patient records, waiting due to tools cleaning and inefficient scheduling.
Actions Taken:
Streamlining Check-In Process: Implementing digital check-in kiosks to reduce paperwork and speed up the initial patient intake. This reduces workload one reception especially during days where only 1 receptionist is present.
Optimizing Scheduling: Adjusting the scheduling system to account for emergency appointments. This ensure that appointment slots are allocated more efficiently, reducing overlap and bottlenecks. Allowing for 1-2 slots for emeregencies per day removes overlaps.
Batching Clinical Work: Accepting work without a structure causes dentists to switch between check ups and clinical work throughout the day. Instead, scheduling to batch allows dentists to concentrate on check-ups in the morning and clinical work in the afternoon. This allows dentists to remain focused on one-task type, set up all the equipment at start of day, and conduct all the cleaning of equipment at end of clinical cycle.
Results: By implementing these changes, Dr. Smith's practice reduces patient wait times by 30%, allowing the practice to see more patients per day. This not only improves patient satisfaction but also increases revenue.
Importance of Identifying and Eliminating Waste
Identifying and eliminating waste is essential for several reasons:
Improved Efficiency: By eliminating non-value added activities, dental practices can streamline their operations, ensuring that time and resources are used more effectively. This leads to a smoother workflow and reduced operational costs.
Enhanced Patient Satisfaction: Reducing wait times and improving the quality of patient interactions directly contributes to higher patient satisfaction. Patients appreciate a well-organized, efficient practice that respects their time and provides high-quality care.
Increased Revenue: Implementation of batching conduces to a more efficient operation. This means that dental practices can save time and see more patients without compromising on the quality of care. This can lead to increased revenue and a better return on investment.
Better Utilization of Staff Skills: By eliminating waste, dental practices can ensure that staff members are focused on activities that utilize their skills and expertise. This not only improves job satisfaction but also enhances the overall quality of care provided.
Final Thoughts
Understanding and eliminating waste is a critical component of running an efficient and successful dental practice. By focusing on value-added activities and minimizing non-value added tasks, practices can improve their efficiency, enhance patient satisfaction, and increase their profitability. Embracing Lean principles and continually seeking ways to reduce waste will keep your practice competitive and responsive to the needs of your patients.
