February '07, Questions from the Field
Your Monday numbers may be really skewed if you also took off January 15 to observe Martin Luther King Day!
Dear Coaches:
After completing the recent module on the Statistical Management System; I went back and reviewed my January numbers with a more discerning eye. I discovered an unsettling pattern: My Mondays which are historically my busiest day of the week were off dramatically this month. What gives
Dr. G
Dear Doctor G:
Great question and great observation! There really was a Perfect Storm brewing which, in my opinion, contributed to this slow Monday Phenomenon. The major holidays of Christmas and New Years both fell on Mondays this year. The impact of being closed on two of your busiest days in a row is significant and creates a fairly significant negative momentum spiral. For example, being closed on Christmas Day there were no patients seen that day and, therefore, no patients would be scheduled for follow-up appointments at their weekly interval. Typically, in my practice, the day of the week after being closed for a day is usually slower than average for this reason.
This experience is then compounded by repeating it the following Monday for New Years. It is hard to make up that lost momentum when this occurs back to back on your busiest days.
Your Monday numbers may be really skewed if you also took off January 15 to observe Martin Luther King Day! DC Mentors philosophy is to only observe the 6 major holidays in the U.S. each year: New Years Day, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. The remainder fall into what I refer to as Hallmark Holidays, holidays designed to sell cards and thats about it! Incorporating DC Mentors Rejuvenation System into your holiday plans can extend your time out of the office without any significant loss of momentum.
To get your Mondays back up to speed make sure you are very deliberate about your scheduling recommendations for follow appointments. Not See you next week, but See you on Monday. This awareness alone will help rectify the slow Mondays youve experienced since the Holidays. Remember though, it will take several weeks to reclaim your lost momentum.