We discussed last time how in order to produce more, you can either work more days, or increase your production per day. Improving your production per day is our preferred option, and one of the ways you can get started is by asking this question: “Are my chairs full?”
When it comes to Capacity, 95% or above is what is recommended, but what I see with clients over and over again is that it’s under that threshold. Because it doesn’t take many no-shows or cancelations to make that 95% plummet down into the 80s or 70s, it becomes incredibly easy to find yourself operating at a deficit and not even realize it.
Knowing your Capacity is the starting point, and calculating it is a breeze! It’s a simple division equation — if there are eight available hours, divide the number of hours you have patients in chairs by the eight available hours. If you then keep track of that over the course of a month, you’ll have a clear picture of your schedule utilization.
Calculating this percentage is key, because it enables you to implement countermeasures and see some real results. If you’re at 85% capacity and increase it to 95%, you reduce so much: the number of days you need to work, the number of new patients you need to see, and the amount of pressure you face.
The amazing thing about improving your capacity is that you’re not adding hours or days — you’re simply filling a chair that you already planned on being full, increasing your production per day without using any extra energy.