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Schedule Utilization and Hours Worked

How to Set Up and Measure Efficiency in Your Dental Practice

Emily McClendon avatar
Written by Emily McClendon
Updated over 2 weeks ago

Schedule Utilization is one of the most important key performance indicators (KPIs) for dental practices. It measures how effectively providers’ available hours are being used for patient care. By monitoring utilization rates along with related metrics such as open time, cancellations, and failed appointments, you can identify scheduling inefficiencies, optimize chair time, and ultimately increase productivity and revenue.

Where to Find Schedule Utilization KPIs in PbN

You can track Schedule Utilization across several dashboards in Practice by Numbers (PbN):

  • Doctors Page: In the Avg Production/Hour panel (click the provider icon to expand the list).

  • Hygienists Page: In the Avg Production/Hour panel (click the provider icon to expand the list).

  • Productivity Page: Located in the Advanced section for deeper analysis.

These dashboards allow you to view utilization trends by provider or across the entire practice.


Key Schedule Utilization Terms

1. Schedule Utilization %

  • Definition: The percentage of hours a provider is booked for patient appointments (productive hours) versus the total time they are supposed to work (available hours).

  • Calculation: Productive Hours ÷ Available Hours.

  • Step-by-Step Method:

    • Identify the total productive hours (time scheduled for patient appointments).

    • Reference the available hours from Office and Provider Hours settings.

    • Divide productive hours by available hours and multiply by 100.

  • Formula: Schedule Utilization % = (Productive Hours / Available Hours) × 100.

  • For accurate tracking of worked hours, use the Month-to-Date range to exclude future dates.

2. Available Hours

  • Definition: Total hours a provider is scheduled to work, including both productive hours and open time.

  • Source: Based on settings configured in PbN > Office and Provider Hours.

  • Adjustments: Events such as holidays, team meetings, or early departures may alter available hours.

3. Productive Hours

  • Definition: The total hours a provider spends seeing patients.

  • Calculation: Summed from the appointment book by adding hours in the provider’s schedule with completed procedures in the ledger.

  • Exclusions: Time spent on specific non-productive codes (e.g., X-rays, hygiene exams) defined in PbN Settings > Service Code Sets.

  • Formula: Available Hours - Open Time.

4. Open Time

  • Definition: Unbooked time when no patients are scheduled for the provider.

  • Calculation: Gaps in the appointment book across all columns.

  • Formula: Available Hours - Productive Hours.

5. Days Worked

  • Definition: Total days a provider has completed appointments with production > $0 and more than one appointment.

  • Source: Calculated from the practice management system (PMS) schedule.

6. Patient Hours

  • Definition: Total hours a provider spends with patients, including time on excluded codes (e.g., hygiene exams, X-rays).

7. Office Open Hours

  • Definition: Total operating hours of the office, subtracting lunch breaks, as set in PbN Settings.


Practice and Provider Efficiency

  • Whole Practice:
    Tracking utilization trends over time can reveal when it makes sense to add operatories, expand provider hours, or adjust scheduling templates.

  • Individual Providers:

    • Underutilized: Consistently high open time may point to scheduling issues, lack of demand, or inefficient patient flow.

    • Overutilized: Constantly booked providers may signal the need to balance workloads, extend hours, or hire additional staff.


Impact of Multiple Columns on Calculation

  • Using two or more columns for the same provider does not impact the Schedule Utilization calculation.

  • The system derives the provider's available hours solely from the "Office and Provider Hours" page.

  • As long as provider hours are accurately defined, the calculation remains consistent regardless of the scheduling grid's configuration.


Accurate Setup for Reliable KPIs

  • Set Up Office and Provider Hours Configure working days and hours for the office and individual providers:

  • Adjust for Special Events Modify available hours in Provider Hours Worked Settings for:

    • Early departures.

    • Team meetings.

    • Vacations (automatically detected if no appointments exist).

  • Zero Production Codes Exclude certain procedures (e.g., X-rays, hygiene exams) by adding them to Schedule Utilization Ignore Codes in PbN Settings > Service Code Sets.


Patient Hours vs. Productive Hours – A Quick Recap

  • Patient Hours: All time with patients (including ignored codes).

  • Productive Hours: Only billable, revenue-generating time.

This distinction ensures you can evaluate both provider workload (patient hours) and financial efficiency (productive hours).


Final Takeaway

By carefully setting up provider hours, ignored codes, and office schedules, and by monitoring KPIs regularly, you gain reliable insights into how efficiently your practice operates. Optimizing schedule utilization not only improves provider productivity but also ensures your patients are being served at the highest level while maximizing revenue potential.

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