Elmet Dental (Full Conversion)
The co-owning principal dentists of our practice had already completed principal-led conversions a couple of years ago, leaving NHS dentistry to the associate dentists. We successfully introduced a membership plan at the practice with PPD to manage the transition. It was well received by patients and allowed the principals to take the time to deliver the care their patients deserved. Fast forward to 2020, we struggled to make NHS care commercially viable at the practice. Our contract value was too low to deliver the care our patients needed, and we were becoming increasingly frustrated in working in a time-pressured environment. It was hard to explain this to patients, considering their lack of understanding of the NHS system from a practice perspective. We have seen increased patient needs due to lockdowns and people having more time at home with a greater opportunity to snack! We were inundated with cases of caries, which made our NHS operations even more challenging on top of the challenges of operating under Covid restrictions.
We knew the writing was on the wall, and ultimately, we had to move to drop our NHS contract, but we were naturally apprehensive. Considering the global pandemic, the whole thing also seemed daunting, but we contacted Patient Plan Direct to explore our options.
Why did you choose Patient Plan Direct?
“We had previously had a positive experience with Patient Plan Direct supporting us through our principal-led conversions, and we were soon put at ease when the PPD team talked us through the process and options of managing a full practice conversion. They took the time to fully explain the best way to communicate the change to patients, the target number of patients we would need to retain, and the timeline for managing each step. We were confident we would receive the necessary support from PPD, and despite the challenges of COVID-19, we decided to leap!
We gave the NHS and our patient base three months’ notice and communicated to patients their option of staying with us as private patients. Before communication, we held several virtual training sessions with PPD to ensure the team was fully prepared for the changes. The sessions worked well and were highly engaging, ensuring the team came away confident that the conversion was right for both the practice and our patients.
How did Patient Plan Direct help you succeed?
“Our conversion has been a great success, and we’ve exceeded our targets by some margin, thanks to a well-thought-out and well-executed plan with the support of Patient Plan Direct. It’s never a simple transition to make such big changes, and there have been some unexpected challenges along the way, such as dealing with the local press. Still, we have planted solid foundations for the future – we can provide the maintenance-focused dentistry we want in a less pressured environment. We also know that the patients who have stuck with us want to come and see our team rather than access NHS care at any old practice. We are thrilled to have the support of PPD through this process. I’d encourage other practices to leap private dentistry.”
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