In another 2025 year end and 2026 goal setting meeting last week, the doctor had an epiphany of sorts… “I don’t want to be in clinic 5 day a week.”

Below were the reasons for this decision, but please don’t overlook the fact that, as a practice owner, justifying changes to your schedule or the “rules” in general is not necessary. If it makes sense to you and contributes to your well-being as well as the bottom line of your practice, try it for a period of 3 months and assess the results.

1. There are some days when the schedule is not full.
2. The doctor is working towards blocked surgery time (one morning a week)
3. Building a reputation for treating children, especially athletes, requires later appointment times. I suggested adjusting clinic hours one day a week (starting later and scheduling until 5:30 or 6:00 p.m.).  These later appointments would be very attractive for after school, sports, and work.
4. A growing population of older patients would substantiate an earlier start time. I suggested starting and ending patients earlier one day a week.
5.  Full-time (38-40 hours, 5 days a week) clinic staff schedules could be condensed down to approximately 30 hours, 4 days a week (they would have the 5th day off when a virtual assistant, used for scribing purposes during clinic hours, would answer phones, schedule appointments, and perform eligibility and benefit checks). *Inventory/ordering, stocking, cleaning, and other tasks that need to be performed when there are no patients would be done while the doctor is in surgery or doing consults.
6. The doctor would like admin time and “me time” built into the week. I agree with this model to avoid burnout and continually work ON, rather than just IN the practice.

I suggested meeting with the staff to discuss the changes (providing time for them to make arrangements), adjusting the EHR scheduler and marketing the “accommodations” to patients. Something as simple as “We understand that life is busy and are now offering early morning and later afternoon appointments every week.”

No matter what changes you decide to make, go with your gut (and maybe bounce the idea off someone like me). I’m here to help if you need one-on-one consulting at a discounted hourly rate for members. Just email: Cindy@pinnaclepa.com.