Creating a Front Office Ninja – Building a High-Impact Scheduling Team

Course Objectives

1. Recognize the Critical Role of the Front Office in Practice Success
   Learners will understand the front office’s impact on revenue, patient retention, scheduling productivity, and overall patient experience.
   
   
2. Hire for Both Culture Fit and Core Administrative Skills
   Learners will define the essential traits—such as adaptability, hustle, multitasking, customer service, and willingness to take feedback—that create successful front office team members.
   
   
3. Design an Effective and Supportive Onboarding Process
   Learners will implement a structured, phased onboarding program that prevents overwhelm, focuses on skill building, and accelerates new hire success.
   
   
4. Establish Financial and Scheduling Goals That Guide Team Priorities
   Learners will set clear daily, weekly, and monthly production targets based on financial needs, provider efficiencies, and skillsets—ensuring scheduling decisions support business goals.
   
   
5. Create Customized Block Scheduling Based on Practice Needs
   Learners will design block schedules that protect high-value procedures, new patient slots, and perio maintenance appointments—aligned to provider strengths and efficiency patterns.
   
   
6. Train the Front Office Team in Strong Verbiage and Patient Communication
   Learners will develop scripts and communication strategies that instill value from the first call, reduce cancellations, and handle rescheduling with confidence and professionalism.
   
   
7. Implement a Priority List System for Same-Day Opportunities
   Learners will build and maintain an ASAP (priority) list using software tools like Open Dental to efficiently backfill cancellations with minimal disruption to the schedule.
   
   
8. Prepare for and Manage Same-Day Cancellations Proactively
   Learners will use pre-morning huddle preparation, family member opportunities, and same-day communication protocols to mitigate the impact of schedule changes.
   
   
9. Assign Ownership of Schedules to Individual Team Members
   Learners will implement a system where each provider's schedule has an assigned owner responsible for reactivation, hole-filling, and day-to-day optimization.
   
   
10. Utilize Tools Like BlueNote for Efficient In-Office Communication
    Learners will adopt internal communication systems to quickly alert team members of patient arrivals, cancellations, or available appointment slots—streamlining operations across departments.