Over the last few months I have seen increasing numbers of practices either wanting to introduce a dental plan or increase the number of patients joining an existing plan.
For me, its something that will be a practice builder, especially as we are seeing many practices withdraw NHS dentistry or reduce their contracts.
In some areas practices are being asked to provide access to higher needs/urgent dental care as a priority over those whose dental health is good and stable. Some practices are having difficult conversations with patients who have been attending every 6 months for many years, who are now deemed to be not in the high need group.
So how do we communicate this with our patients?
I believe there needs to be a clear and honest approach and other options provided to this group of patients.
It’s likely that your Front of House teams will be at the forefront of these conversations.
Offering NHS patients the choice to join a member plan is a great way for patients to be able to continue the care and frequency of visits they have been accustomed to, but it is vital that these changes are implemented and offered very carefully.
Here are some considerations to plan for:
Can you offer a range of plans appropriate for different age groups
0-6 years
7-18 years
Young Adult Plan – 18-25
Adult Simple
Adult Comprehensive
As with any plan, you can customise what is included (or not). Using a Plan provider still allows you to do this.
Check your financials – what are your hourly costs, and what do you need to generate per hour to make the profit you require?
Zoning – Calculating how many patients you will need to provide Exams for over the year and allocating and zoning accordingly.
Example – 600 plan patients, 15 minute x 2 visits for an exam per year, means you will need to zone approximately 6.5 hours per week to do the Exams. This can then be applied for hygiene visits etc and so on.
Decide how you are going to notify the patients, plan your marketing, remembering to be confident and positive about your service.
Ensure that your patients feel and experience added value. I have witnessed so many conversations whereby a patients practice has withdrawn NHS care and offered private options. The patient has commented that if they are going to have to pay, they will find a “proper” private practice not an NHS practice that has just decided to become private with no added value for those converting.
Train your team to not fall into these conversations and show them you are a “proper” practice and will deliver an amazing service.