Most of you reading this are wondering what the heck APSR is, not just what kind of shape it is in.

APSR stands for Automated Payroll, Scheduling and Reporting.

99% of dental offices have automated their billing functions but still do most management functions manually. The irony here is that most managers end up spending most of their time doing these paper based chores manually, instead of actually managing the office. And in small offices, the dentist (or their spouse) has to complete these tasks.

How many managers really feel that they have the time to do a thorough job of selection of new staff, including screening several applicants, checking references, a comprehensive orientation, extensive training in how you want things done before seeing patients including adherence to your office systems (unless you have not had time to create them yet!), and then adequate follow up to make sure they are actually doing what you hired them to do?

This is just one example, but there are countless things that can be done to make an office more productive, or equally importantly to run smoother with fewer errors and upset patients if there is the time available. The number one concern we always hear is that there just are not enough hours in the day to get it all done.

How would your world change if you could automate these functions so they can be done in a fraction of the time? Here are some examples of functions dentist are doing manually that can now be automated:

Payroll

For example, even when you use a payroll service, you still need to calculate how many hours to submit for payment. This sounds simple until you take into account full time, part time, shift changes, overtime, stat holidays, bonuses, etc. You have to calculate all of this before the payroll service even gets involved. An APSR takes into account your labor laws so you never need to worry about complaints to the local government labor standards board.

We all spend a lot of time verifying prior hours or days worked as staff often request us to confirm their prior shifts. This can be down in seconds.
How would life feel if the whole payroll process could be reduced to one minute per employee per pay period?

And once the parameters have been set, the computer never makes an error so accuracy goes way up and payroll adjustments go way down.

Scheduling

What about scheduling? The larger an office grows the more complex this becomes. Some dentists work with one assistant, some with two; some work the same hours each week, some vary their schedule or work a different shift every second week; When scheduling is automated, it can be rolled forward indefinitely once it is set.

Most offices have a big calendar in the staff room with everything written in pencil. If someone wants a day off, they just erase their name! In an automated system changes are only possible by the administrator and every change is documented.

You can also check from home: your shift dates and times can be checked from home on line by the dentist or the team members if they are not sure when they are working.
Vacation Requests: How many times has someone not shown up and swore that they asked you for that day off months ago? Imagine a system where all requests come in on line, so you both have a record of what days off were asked for and your responses.

Shift Swapping: Everyone dislikes the process of going to the manager/owner to ‘beg’ for a day off. Yet often others in the office are looking for extra hours. A shift swapping program enables team members to post shifts they do not want to work, and others in the office can simply click on that shift and it takes the other person out and inserts them in to the schedule. This happens without annoying the manager or taking up his or her time; they simply get an email noting the change took place.

Temps: If you have temps that fill in for your staff, they can be given access to the shift trades posted and take on some of these shifts from home;  also requiring no time from the manager.

Temp agencies: As a last resort, if shifts have not been filled a day or two prior, arrangements can be made for temp agencies to access the postings and fill them in; still no manager time required.

Reports

A lot of offices do not even pull reports because no one has time to do it. Yet feedback is critical to proper management of your practice. All your key areas that determine your practice’s health need to be looked at monthly at a bare minimum. If you wait until year end it is too late to do anything. The purpose of timely, accurate reporting is to alert you to areas in your practice that require attention. And like I said, if it is a chore to create the reports, no one is going to do it. Automating these key numbers to pop up instantly saves management time, but more importantly, if it is easy, you are far more likely to study them and take action.

Better yet, automation enables your staff to check the Key Result Areas that you want them to focus on. That way they can make sure they are on track instead of waiting for the dreaded ‘Staff Evaluation’ session. And believe me it is dreaded by both the manager and the team member.

Budgeting; a big part of reporting is projecting where you would like your practice to be. Wouldn’t it be nice to calculate the % increase you desire in real time and track during the month whether you are on budget or not? This can now be available at the push of a button because otherwise you won’t do it, and the awareness it creates is mind blowing.

And More:

Security: What would happen if you lost this data? All this crucial data can be automatically stored off site so that in the event of a flood or fire, this information is always retrievable. It can also be printed and stored in a safe place if you want double protection.

Task Delegation: No one thinks that getting someone to do something can be automated, but listen to this: How often do we ask someone to do something, it does not get done and we both forget about it until the problem it creates shows up? Then we point fingers as to whether they were in fact asked to do it or whether it was clear what was wanted. Now, on an automated system, when someone logs in, if it is their turn to clean the sterilizer that week, a note pops up to remind them. But it gets even better; it pops up every day until they click to acknowledge that it has been done. And it won’t let them log out at the end of the week if they still have not done it. This is digital nagging at its finest, and the best part is the computer is the bad guy, not you.

Coaching: Now all your meetings with your staff can be calendared so you can verify exactly when you met someone and what you talked about; crucial information if you are ever in a position where discipline or even termination of an employee is required.

Policy Acknowledgement: Your entire Office Manual with all your office policies can be put on line and each staff member must click to acknowledge that they have read and understand and agree to the office policies. This also eliminates the confusion that can result from team members claiming they were never told the rules.
All in all it is like HR for Dummies, as an excellent APSR program can guide you through all the legalities and help you avoid the pitfalls associated with being an employer. And let’s face it, most of us are totally unprepared to deal with all of these seemingly trivial but critically important details.

This type of automation has never been available before and incorporating these enhancements to your practice will save you more than money; they will save you time. Successful people realize that our time is our life, and any time wasted is life wasted where you could be doing something that fulfills you.

 It is also important to get all of these functions in one integrated package so all the data integrates with the rest; that is when the whole becomes greater than the sum of the parts; the end result is your office becomes organized, the manager/owner has more time available, you will not get caught unexpectedly in a labor law violation, your staff knows the rules and can even monitor their own performance.
If you manage an office but can’t even imagine taking the time to implement this, you need it more than anything else. This is an area where a bit of upfront investment in the time to set it up will pay rewards every day thereafter.

Then you can do the real work of management like improving the office that you have not been able to because you have been buried under a mountain of paper. After all, that is what a manager is supposed to do.

Dr. Dave Robertson is a dentist in Calgary Alberta. His office has 10 dentists and 60 staff in total, so they had to find a way to bring sanity to the office manager position, hence the creation of the office automation software available at www.AutomatedManager.com . He has spoken to dental groups internationally; he consults on practice management and has written several home study programs on practice management available at www.DentalManagementSecrets.com.