Denplan awarded Best Large Stand at BDTA

Winner!

Denplan’s stand at the BDTA Dental Showcase is the winner in the Best Large Stand category!

The editor of the UK’s leading exhibition and events magazine Exhibiting, James Barrett, conducted an independent review of all the stands at this year’s showcase and decided that:

“The Denplan brand was very well represented by its stand and staff. Staff were bright and attentive, and the stand design, promotional giveaways and staff attire all linked in to its brand values and image.”

Our stand

The Denplan stand asked “Do you do Denplan?” and showed why we are still the only dental payment brand that consumers can ask for by name, along with demonstrating the great benefits available to our members.

With lots of free goodies, including stress-relieving squishy apples and sparkling fruit cocktails, we had great fun at the event and loved meeting a huge variety dentists, practice team members and other dental professionals.

We’re delighted to have received this award and pleased that our stand continued to highlight the benefits we offer our members.

You can see some photos of our stand below

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Denplan’s brand goes from strength to strength

Delegates to this year’s Dental Showcase were welcomed up the steps of ExCel with the friendly wave from Denplan flags featuring patients asking ‘Do you do Denplan?’

Unique among dental payment plans, Denplan is the only brand patients can ask for by name and this theme was reflected on the stand too, with its familiar warm welcome and hospitality.

Brand recognition among consumers is high too, with research revealing that one in three adults in the UK is aware of Denplan⁽¹⁾. 54% of those asked said they would be willing to pay more for a nationally branded dental payment plan over a practice branded plan⁽²⁾.

Denplan’s Marketing Communications and Brand Manager, Sarah Bradbury, said: “With strong recognition among consumers, the Denplan brand has the strength and credibility to drive patients into practices. Our recent Tooth Fairy campaign in conjunction with Twentieth Century Fox harnessed this power providing a 26% return on our reader offers – five times the industry standard.

“Of the coupons redeemed at Denplan practices around the country, 85% were potential new patients. This provided Denplan dentists with a great opportunity to recruit new patients.

“A similar nationwide campaign is planned for 2011 – so watch this space!”

_{(1) AXA brand preference tracking survey among 926 respondents, June 2010.
(2) Consumer Omnibus survey run by TNS, covering a sample of 1,044 UK respondents aged 16-64, June 2010}

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Denplan sparkles at Dental Showcase as it celebrates 15 years of Professional Services

 

Denplan Stand

 

Following the recent avalanche of regulation, it seemed fitting that Denplan celebrated 15 years of providing Professional Services at this year’s Dental Showcase.

With a suite of road shows already under its belt offering practical solutions to decontamination and revalidation requirements, the focus at Showcase was firmly on Care Quality Commission registration and beyond.

Focus on Care Quality Comission

Denplan’s Chief Dental Officer, Roger Matthews and Deputy Chief Dental Officer, Henry Clover, hosted a series of free seminars for members addressing the impact of CQC registration requirements, helping to demystify the procedure and to support members through the process. They also clarified that those with Denplan Excel Accreditation will, for the most part, be at the bottom of the CQC’s list of practices to assess.

‘Plain English’

The seminars supported Denplan’s online ‘plain English’ guide, its dedicated email update service and practical assistance relating to CQC registration.

Commenting at the Showcase celebrations, Roger Matthews, who also celebrated 15 years as Denplan’s Chief Dental Officer, said: “Denplan’s support for the profession has always been to clarify, simplify and provide practical support when it comes to issues impacting practice life.

“To say our Professional Services team has been busy is a bit of an understatement. Denplan’s quality programmes have set standards that others are only now adopting, and the icing on the cake came when we learned that our Excel Programme is a key proxy indicator of quality in relation to CQC Essential Standards. Needless to say, applications to become Excel accredited have risen somewhat with over 300 expressions of interest in the last eight weeks!

“Given that the CQC has already registered 22,000 care homes and hospitals over the summer, we don’t believe it will be derailed for 8,000 dentists and had decided some time ago that our energy would be better spent supporting our members through the process. Our participation in the CQC’s Dental Advisory Group has provided us with great insight, enabling us to publish our ‘plain English’ guide to the application process six weeks ahead of the CQC’s own guide.”

To learn more about Denplan Excel, visit http://www.denplan.co.uk

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Roger’s Column – CLOSED FOR THE DURATION

 

I suppose I should have known. I was running through my internet sources today (one week after That Election) and checked the Department of Health. My “direct to dentistry” link came up with an error page, so I tried the DH Health homepage: “taken down for revision” it said. Gosh, they do take these changes of administration seriously.

Now everyone understands that a period of “purdah” exists for all public servants during an election. Look for example, at the Head of the NHS’s letter (6 April) to all NHS Chief Executives and Arms Length Bodies (the DPB in old money) warning them to avoid any act or statement that could give rise to claims of political bias in the run up to the election.

I’ve written before that behind the scenes, much of unseen Government carries on behind these locked doors during and immediately after the Election. Schemes, projects, draft policies and papers all continue to be developed ready to be dropped in their hundreds into the new Minister’s red boxes in time-honoured “Yes Minister” fashion.

This time there will be, of course, a new factor to be taken into account: the Coalition Government’s agreement that there will be ministers of both parties in every Government Department – and for the duration of the Parliament.

The tradition has been that coalitions are rather short-lived in Britain (unlike most other European countries with proportional representation, where they are a fact of life). However the Con-Lib agreement is to be bound for five years, which is a little scary, is it not? Imagine getting married and having to agree legally not to split for that length of time? It would kill Hollywood nuptials stone dead.

So the two partners will jolly well have to rub along together. It could, I admit, be a recipe for considered and responsible Government, or for utter stalemate.

As I’ve maintained all along, dentistry is unlikely to figure highly in anyone’s political priorities, and I don‘t expect the budget to deliver anything major in terms of the NHS, following Andrew Lansley’s early confirmation that there would be “real terms” increases in NHS budgets for the next five years.

In the slightly longer term, I would be looking out for any suggestion that dental ring-fencing was extended, or that the autumn Steele pilots were still going ahead. On the latter, there have been mixed messages – some suggesting that Steele progress would be stopped, while others saying that any contract changes would be “fully piloted with the profession”.

There will undoubtedly be pressure on local commissioners to extract value for money, but at the same time, it seems inconceivable that a standstill in public service pay will not similarly bring about a similar effect for NHS contractors. I also doubt we shall see future hand-outs of decontamination equipment, computer systems or other largesse.

Still on the subject of money, I noticed a recent dispute settlement on the NHA litigation Authority’s website: it involved a clawback demand for over £525,000, the largest I have seen. Coupled with a requirement to pay up within three months, this must be causing once contractor some headaches.

The case raised in my mind a series of issues – although of course I have no knowledge of the detail behind it. But why would such a sum only now (April 2010) be subject to review, given that it is more than two years after the contract ended (in February 2008)? It also seems that the PCT had quite close and detailed knowledge of the under-performance from the outset of the contract, yet was seemingly unable to take any decisive action. Indeed it allowed a significant “carry forward” of un-delivered UDAs into year two.

The PDS Agreement (for this was such) contains the same clauses as the GDC contract: namely, that the PCT can terminate arrangements following a breach where it believes that it is necessary to protect itself from ‘material financial loss’. Half a million sounds pretty material to me. It is certainly material to one practitioner right now.

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Click and Smile

For many dentists and practice managers an unstable financial climate is enough to prevent them investing in new technology. However, while there is more to running a successful practice than flashy gadgets and technology, these things can often differentiate you from the competition.

The following information is designed to help you keep up to date with 21st Century practice, allowing you to not only attract new patients, but help your business thrive long into the future.

Computerised records –It makes good business sense for every practice to have a networked computer system capable of offering patient records, charts, appointment books and ideally practice accounts. This not only eliminates the need for an untidy display of manila folders, it also opens up a world of marketing opportunities and time saving measures for the whole practice team.

Websites – Any business without a website is missing out on one of today’s most important, yet inexpensive advertising tools. The best websites are visually appealing, informative, inviting and regularly updated – invest in a good basic design by a professional and the rest can be done in-house.

Social media – And what about more current obsessions, like Twitter and Facebook? Twitter needs to be constantly updated, but can be great for patient feedback and updating your followers on practice news and offers. Facebook is also a great way of passing on information about your practice – just start a patient group and invite your patients to join. And the best thing is – most social media is completely free!

Mobile phones – For dental practices, the mobile phone’s simplest application has proven to be its greatest asset. The humble text message can save thousands of pounds in lost revenue by reminding patients of their forthcoming appointments, sent automatically on a daily basis, as part of a practice management software system.

Money talks – Practiceworks indicate that a two-surgery practice could have a basic networking system installed from under £10,000, while with digital imaging and other innovations you could be looking at closer to £25,000. With a little effort to make the best use of the new technology, recruiting new patients and minimising missed appointments, it estimates that most practices will cover the cost of such an investment within 12 months.

The extra mile – So, what else is out there that could make your dental practice stand out from the crowd? Some dentists are now progressing to enabling patients to book, amend and cancel appointments online, while the most advanced SMS systems can also allow the patient to interact with the practice by text, updating the appointment ‘book’ automatically should they be unable to make the appointment.

Some payment plan providers also offer a wealth of services including the ability to share patient information to ensure your records are always up to date; a wide range of professional and personal discounts; and a range of verifiable CPD courses to help integrate your team into new systems or ways of working. So if it’s time for an injection of technology to bring your practice into the 21st Century, my advice to you would be to consult the experts and take that leap.

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DENPLAN APPOINT NEW DEPUTY CHIEF DENTAL OFFICER

In support of its motto, ‘By Dentists, For Dentists,’ Denplan is delighted to announce that Henry Clover (BDS) has been promoted to Deputy Chief Dental Officer. Henry will also join the Denplan Executive Leadership Team (Denplan’s Board), representing Professional Services.

A former general dental practitioner, Henry converted his own practice to private practice in 1993. With his experience as a Denplan member dentist, he joined Denplan’s Professional Services department on a part-time basis in 1998 and full-time in 1999, with responsibility for professional support and member services.

Commenting on Henry’s promotion, Denplan’s Chief Dental Officer, Roger Matthews said: “Denplan was set up by dentist, for dentists and Henry’s promotion means the profession now has even stronger representation at the fore of the UK’s leading dental payment plan specialist. This is good news for dentists, good news for the profession and great news for Denplan!”

Henry added: “I am delighted to take on this new role and look forward to the challenges that leading the Professional Services Team will most certainly bring. Here at Denplan we always strive to listen to our members and offer services, solutions and training designed to meet their individual needs, particularly at a time of increasing regulation and change within the profession. I will do everything I can to help my team achieve this goal.”

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Denplan Customer Services celebrate success

DENPLAN CALL CENTRE DOES IT AGAIN!

After achieving second place at the CCF European Call Centre awards, Denplan is celebrating once again after out-performing national competition and coming second in this year’s Top 50 Call Centres for Customer Service. The Top 50 Call Centres for Customer Service is the biggest ever call centre benchmarking exercise, conducted by independent market research company GfK Mystery Shopping.

The study was commissioned by Call Centre Focus magazine and Denplan came in second place for the second year running, with a score of 94.78%. First place went to F&C Investments with 94.95% and third place went to last year’s winners, First Direct, with 91.73%.

Julia Dawson, Director of Customer Services at Denplan commented: “This is another fantastic accomplishment by the customer advisor and customer services teams here at Denplan. Everyone here really values the great customer service we offer and to have all our hard work recognised in these recent accolades is just wonderful, especially given the quality of the competition.”

Simon Thorpe, Programme Director – Top 50 Call Centres for Customer Service commented: “Customer service is becoming more important than ever as consumers are more careful about where and how they spend their money. Companies are realising that in order to retain customers during difficult financial periods customer service has to be first class. We would like to congratulate Denplan for their excellent performance. We hope this initiative will inspire other call centres to improve their levels of customer service to reach the standards set by our Top 50 members.”

http://www.top50callcentres.co.uk/home

Members of the Denplan Customer services team

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Dental Talk – Denplans new dentist video site

Calling all non member dentists, ask Denplan a question?

Denplan’s brand new website has just gone live www.dentaltalk.co.uk

It’s an innovative way of informing non members of Denplan’s range of products and services and features member dentists relaying their own life-changing experiences with Denplan – on film. www.dentaltalk.co.uk contains a series of small video clips with each dentist conveying important messages about Denplan membership.

This site is definitely worth a look. And, it’s the only one of its kind out there. It’s interactive, so you can ask questions directly. And it gives you the ability to join Denplan without any commitment, so you can get a flavour of the service.

Alternatively you can book an appointment with a consultant who will come to your practice to talk through your options.

Have a look at www.dentaltalk.co.uk

See the difference Denplan has made

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Payment plans in the recession

Denplan have conducted national consumer surveys monitoring delaying behaviours among dental patients, both private and NHS, to understand those most likely to delay or cancel appointments. We found that overall 34% of fee per item patients have, or would, cancel appointments.

Furthermore, patient figures demonstrate that payment plan patients (including Denplan) are least likely to delay a check-up and are also least likely to cancel a scale and polish. Cash plan, NHS non-exempt and PFPI patients – where a direct payment for the service would be required by the dentist – are most likely to cancel.

It may be worth considering the range of products and services you provide that gives your patients options and choices that will see them through any financial difficulties without having to cancel their plan entirely, yet continuing to provide you with secure and guaranteed payments. Some payment plans enable the patients most likely to cancel for financial reasons the opportunity to pay a small fee to keep registered with the practice of their choice. 

Thousands of dentists recognise that payment plans, whether maintenance or capitation based, enable them to plan for the future of their practices as well as seeing them through lean times.

For more information on how to weather the storm, call the Denplan team on 0800 3283 223.

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