Daily opening procedures for the front desk team.
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Add this checklist Browse moreArrive early to complete all opening procedures.
Everything else on this list takes about thirty minutes. Arriving with the first patient means the day starts behind and never catches up, and patients notice a practice that is still opening around them.
1. Plan to be at the door thirty minutes before the first appointment. 2. Work this list in order. 3. If you are running late, call ahead so someone else can start it.
Open the physical office space.
An alarm that trips during business hours brings a response call and a fee. Lights and unlocked doors are also the first thing a patient sees, and a dark reception reads as closed.
1. Unlock the main entrance. 2. Disarm the alarm within its delay window. 3. Turn on reception and hallway lighting. 4. Unlock interior doors the team needs.
Power on workstations and log into Open Dental.
Workstations and practice management software take several minutes to start and sometimes want updates. Discovering that with a patient at the desk is what turns a two minute check-in into ten.
1. Power on every front desk workstation. 2. Log into the practice management software. 3. Let any pending updates finish now rather than mid-morning. 4. Confirm the schedule loads.
Activate phones and process overnight messages.
Overnight voicemail routinely contains a cancellation or an emergency. Hearing it at nine means you can fill the gap; hearing it at eleven means the gap is already lost production.
1. Switch the phone system off night mode. 2. Play every overnight message. 3. Act on cancellations and emergencies first. 4. Log each message so nothing is handled twice or not at all.
Review practice email and patient portal.
Patients increasingly cancel by email or portal rather than phone. An unread message is a chair sitting empty that could have been filled from the short call list.
1. Open the practice inbox and the patient portal. 2. Scan for cancellations, reschedules and emergencies. 3. Action anything time-sensitive before the day starts.
Print schedules for each provider.
A printed or reviewed schedule is what the whole team works from at the huddle. Reviewing it now is also when you catch a double booking while it can still be fixed by a phone call.
1. Open the day view for each provider. 2. Check for double bookings and unrealistic back-to-back timing. 3. Print or distribute per your practice convention.
Check confirmation status and call unconfirmed patients.
An unconfirmed appointment is the single best predictor of a no-show. A call at nine in the morning recovers a chair that is otherwise empty and unbillable.
1. Filter the day for unconfirmed appointments. 2. Call each one, starting with the earliest. 3. Leave a message with a callback number if there is no answer. 4. Note the outcome on the appointment.
Review for cancellations or additions from automated systems.
Automated reminder systems take cancellations overnight without telling anyone. A gap you find at nine can be filled; the same gap found at noon is production you will not recover.
1. Compare today against what you left yesterday. 2. Identify new gaps. 3. Work the short call list to fill them. 4. Tell the clinical team about anything that changed.
Ensure all records and paperwork are ready.
Chasing a missing form or an unsigned consent with the patient already seated delays the provider and looks unprepared. Preparing ahead also surfaces expired medical histories.
1. Work through the day patient by patient. 2. Confirm the medical history is current. 3. Confirm required consents and signatures. 4. Flag anything the patient needs to complete on arrival.
Count and verify starting cash balance.
A drawer that does not reconcile at closing is impossible to investigate if nobody recorded the opening balance. Counting now is what makes an end of day discrepancy solvable.
1. Count the drawer. 2. Compare against the expected starting float. 3. Record the figure. 4. Report any difference immediately rather than at close.
Walk through reception to check cleanliness.
Reception is the first impression and it is the one part of the practice every patient sees. It also tends to accumulate yesterday's clutter that nobody owns.
1. Walk reception as a patient would. 2. Clear cups, magazines and leftover paperwork. 3. Wipe high touch surfaces. 4. Confirm seating is arranged and clean.
Prepare beverages and entertainment.
Amenities are a small cost that patients consistently mention in reviews. An empty coffee pot or silence in the waiting room is a cheap thing to get wrong.
1. Start coffee and refill water. 2. Restock cups and supplies. 3. Start the music or media at a low volume. 4. Check the temperature is comfortable.
Verify adequate supply of intake forms.
Running out of an intake form means handing a new patient a photocopy or asking them to wait, which is a poor first impression at the exact moment you are trying to make a good one.
1. Check new patient, medical history, consent and financial forms. 2. Restock to par. 3. Reprint or reorder anything low before it runs out.
Confirm eligibility verified for all insured patients.
An unverified plan is the most common reason a claim is denied and the patient is billed for something they thought was covered. Verifying before treatment protects both the collection and the relationship.
1. List today's insured patients. 2. Confirm eligibility and remaining benefit for each. 3. Note frequency limitations that affect today's planned treatment. 4. Flag anything unresolved for the treatment coordinator before the patient is seated.