Practice Plan Regional Support Manager (RSM), Richard O’Brien, explains why introducing a dental membership plan can be great for your patients.
As patients face the double whammy of rising cost of living and limited access to NHS dental care, the demand for private dentistry is increasing as more are turning to private practitioners to ensure they have access to regular oral healthcare. For many, they feel this is the only way they can be sure of being able to get an appointment with a dentist.
A way to help patients with this is by introducing a dental membership plan. It’s a simple, structured way to help your patients commit to regular care. By becoming a member of your practice’s membership plan they can secure regular appointments while also spreading the cost of their oral health maintenance.
Membership plans explained
Simply put, private dental membership plans offer patients the peace of mind of knowing they can get a regular appointment at their usual practice while also spreading the cost of maintaining their oral health.
Plans can be tailored to the needs of the practice, but the most common format sees patients receive two oral hygiene examinations and two hygiene appointments annually. In addition, many plans offer discounts off other treatments.
Generally, payments for the plan are collected monthly by direct debit. In addition, they are always structured in such a way as to represent a saving on the cost of the pay-as-you-go fees for these services representing a great deal for patients.
Key benefits for patients
Budgeting and affordability
We live in a time of ever-increasing costs. Many households are having to watch every penny and think hard about how they spend their money. In these circumstances, facing a bill for an exam and a hygiene appointment can have quite an effect upon a patient’s pocket. Being able to spread the cost of these over a 12-month period can be a great help when money is tight.
By offering a dental membership plan, patients can budget for their oral healthcare. Predictable monthly payments mean there will be no nasty shocks when they attend for their appointments as the cost will already have been covered by their monthly fee.
Encourages preventive care
Having two examinations and two hygiene appointments included in plan membership means patients are seen regularly by a dental professional. This allows any emerging problems to be spotted early and nipped in the bud and could also head off more invasive procedures.
In addition, we have found that dentists report that plan members are more likely to attend their regular appointments than pay-as-you-go patients. In effect, their appointments have already been paid for so there’s nothing to be gained by stretching the interval between appointments as can sometimes be the case with fee per item patients.
Access to consistent, personalised care
With so many media stories about dental deserts and patients driving hundreds of miles for a dental appointment, introducing a membership plan can offer members the reassurance that they WILL be able to see a dentist regularly. Not only that, but they will also be able to see the same dentist.
Dentistry is a personal, and intimate service. There needs to be an element of trust involved in the relationship between patient and dentist. Before there can be trust there needs to be rapport which can only be developed by getting to know the patient. As plan patients attend the surgery relatively frequently it’s easier to develop a good patient/dentist relationship. All this means a patient can expect truly personalised treatment and care.
Exclusive perks and value
Often, dental membership plans offer more than simply spreading the cost of regular oral healthcare. In many cases there can be discounts off treatments. Depending on the level of discount you choose to offer, this can bring some treatments within the reach of patients who may not have considered them previously.
Practice Plan patients who experience a dental emergency while they are away from home are also eligible to request assistance from the Worldwide Dental Emergency Assistance Scheme. This is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and reinforces a message that you are helping to look after your patients even when you are closed.
Peace of mind and trust
Oral health plays such a big part in general health and wellbeing it should be taken seriously. The shortage of practices offering NHS dental care has made private dentistry the only option for many patients who make caring for their smile a priority.
However, in the current economic climate, affording that can be a struggle. By introducing a private dental membership plan you can help take away some of the worry surrounding affordability by allowing them to spread that cost over the year using a tried and trusted method. With the fees already built into their monthly budget they can have the peace of mind that comes from knowing they can turn up for their oral health exam or hygiene appointment free from worries about how they will pay for them.
Why patient benefits = practice benefits
For more on this, read our blog on ‘The benefits of a dental membership plan for practices’
As well as being good for the patients, dental membership plans are good for the practice too. Having a stable base of patients who are able to attend regularly, offers greater opportunities to build great relationships with them. A membership plan not only offers patients the opportunity to spread the cost of their oral health maintenance, it also helps them to feel part of the practice. They see their regular dentist and hygienist, get to know the front of house and nursing staff and can genuinely feel that they belong to the practice.
One of the benefits of having happy regular patients is that they are likely to leave a positive online review and recommend the practice to their friends and family. Both of which are great and cost-effective ways of marketing the practice and attracting new patients.
Crucially, a membership plan provides a predictable monthly income. This can help smooth cash flow and ensure money is still coming in when the dentist is not available for work. It also helps build a sustainable business and supports future growth.
It can also be a great support to practices that want to move away wholly or partially from being dependent on NHS income or from the vagaries of fee-per-item private dentistry by helping to replace lost income.
How to introduce a plan in your practice
Practice Plan has been helping practices introduce membership plans since 1995 and is the leading provider of practice branded membership plans. The team can help tailor plans to suit the needs of practices and their patients. By putting the practice’s name front and centre on the plans, patients get to feel part of their dental practice, increasing their sense of loyalty.
If you’d like to find out more about how Practice Plan can help you increase patient loyalty while receiving a predictable monthly income why not arrange a no-obligation conversation with us? To find out more go to our the benefits of a membership plan page or read our blog Benefits of a membership plan for dentists [add link when published]
