Question

Glenn Dental Clinic provides general dental care to residents of Philadelphia on a walk-in basis. The clinic has started receiving complaints from patients that the waiting time is too long and has asked you to investigate whether this problem can be solved.

Upon arrival, customers receive a form from the receptionist and fill out relevant information such as personal health records and insurance provider. The form is then handed back to the receptionist who enters the information into the computer system for the dentist to see. A dental assistant then takes an X-ray from the patient. A dentist then performs the checkup and discusses any issues with the patient.

Based on conversations with staff members at the clinic, you have obtained the following information on the process:

It takes about 5 minutes for a customer to fill out the paperwork.
Entry of information on the paperwork into the system and verification with past records takes another 3 minutes for a receptionist. There are one receptionists.
It takes 20 minutes, on average, for the dental assistant to take an X-ray. There are two dental assistants on shift at any moment.
There are 10 dentists working at the clinic. Each checkup takes 35 minutes, on average.

The following table summarizes the process data collected above.
Resource Process Staffing (Number of Workers) Processing Time (Minutes per Patient)
A. Self-serve Paperwork - 5
B. Receptionists Data Entry 2 3
C. Dental assistant X-ray 5 20
D. Dentist Checkup 10 35

Assume that there exists unlimited demand, unless otherwise stated. Assume further that the dentists get paid $100 per hour while the receptionists and dental assistants get paid $25 per hour.

What is the labor content?

What is the cost of direct labor?

Note: Round your answer to 2 decimal places.

Answer 1

The labor content is 456 minutes and the cost of direct labor is $627.50.

Step-by-step explanation:

The labor content can be calculated by multiplying the number of workers by the processing time for each resource. We can calculate the labor content for each resource as follows:

• Self-serve paperwork: 0 workers, 5 minutes per patient
• Receptionists data entry: 2 workers, 3 minutes per patient
• Dental assistant X-ray: 5 workers, 20 minutes per patient
• Dentist checkup: 10 workers, 35 minutes per patient

To calculate the labor content for each resource, we multiply the number of workers by the processing time:

• Labor content for self-serve paperwork = 0 workers * 5 minutes/patient = 0 minutes
• Labor content for receptionists data entry = 2 workers * 3 minutes/patient = 6 minutes
• Labor content for dental assistant X-ray = 5 workers * 20 minutes/patient = 100 minutes
• Labor content for dentist checkup = 10 workers * 35 minutes/patient = 350 minutes

The total labor content is the sum of the labor content for each resource:

Total labor content = Labor content for self-serve paperwork + Labor content for receptionists data entry + Labor content for dental assistant X-ray + Labor content for dentist checkup

Total labor content = 0 minutes + 6 minutes + 100 minutes + 350 minutes = 456 minutes

The cost of direct labor can be calculated by multiplying the labor content by the wage rate for each worker category. The wage rate for dentists is $100 per hour, receptionists and dental assistants are paid $25 per hour. We can calculate the cost of direct labor for each resource as follows:

• Cost of direct labor for self-serve paperwork = 0 minutes * $0 per minute = $0
• Cost of direct labor for receptionists data entry = 6 minutes * $25 per hour / 60 minutes per hour = $2.50
• Cost of direct labor for dental assistant X-ray = 100 minutes * $25 per hour / 60 minutes per hour = $41.67
• Cost of direct labor for dentist checkup = 350 minutes * $100 per hour / 60 minutes per hour = $583.33

The total cost of direct labor is the sum of the cost of direct labor for each resource:

Total cost of direct labor = Cost of direct labor for self-serve paperwork + Cost of direct labor for receptionists data entry + Cost of direct labor for dental assistant X-ray + Cost of direct labor for dentist checkup

Total cost of direct labor = $0 + $2.50 + $41.67 + $583.33 = $627.50

Answer 2

The labor content for the dental clinic is 63 minutes per patient. The cost of direct labor is $601.25 per patient, calculated by adding the cost of receptionists, dental assistants, and dentists' labor for each patient.

Step-by-step explanation:

Labor Content and Cost of Direct Labor Calculation:

The labor content is the total time it takes to produce a service or product, which involves adding the processing times for each task per patient. In the scenario provided by Glenn Dental Clinic, the labor content would be calculated by summing the time taken for each process: paperwork filling, data entry by the receptionist, X-ray by the dental assistant, and checkup by the dentist.

• Paperwork: 5 minutes
• Data Entry: 3 minutes
• X-ray: 20 minutes
• Checkup: 35 minutes

Total Labor Content = 5 + 3 + 20 + 35 = 63 minutes per patient.

The cost of direct labor is determined by multiplying the number of workers, their respective hourly wage rates, and the time taken to serve one patient, then summing this for all types of labor.

• Receptionists Costs: 1 worker x ($25/60 minutes) x 3 minutes = $1.25
• Dental Assistants Costs: 2 workers x ($25/60 minutes) x 20 minutes = $16.67
• Dentists Costs: 10 workers x ($100/60 minutes) x 35 minutes = $583.33

Total Cost of Direct Labor = $1.25 + $16.67 + $583.33 = $601.25 per patient (rounded to two decimal places).