Over the past few years in the practice we have had a project to increase the occupancy of surgeries.
Once we understood how we could measure occupancy within the practice and to see how full the surgeries were on a day-to-day basis, then we had a project to try and fill the surgeries with patients who wanted to come.
We have one member of staff who is part time dedicated to surgery occupancy, which seems like a lot, but when the value of what she does is so high it massively outweighs the cost of putting somebody into position. At the management meeting in the practice this week we hit 95% across the surgeries.
95% is enough.
The problem with 95% is that you think there is 5% extra to get, but of course this is law of diminishing returns.
When Bradley Wiggins (probably soon to be discredited) won his Tour de France his coach said he always hit 95% of the sessions and that was why he was so good. He never hit 100%.
In the world of inflation that we live everybody thinks 100% is achievable and in essence it probably isn’t. By the time you get to 99.99% the obsession with chasing the last little bit will probably drive you mad and certainly wear you out. When you hit 95% of survival and success in anything it is probably good enough.
I told the guys today that if we were 95% across the board in everything in the practice, we would probably have the best dental practice in the world. So let’s set that as a target!
Blog Post Number - 1329