Always in control

DSC_0021Kate Evans, practice manager at Absolute Dental Care, Tenby, talks about how DPAS Dental Plans puts them in total control.

My husband and I opened our practice in Tenby in April 2014. We had previously lived and worked in Cardiff, and as a practice manager there I had been dealing with DPAS and got to know them well, especially Louise Beddow who was our practice consultant at that time. The service DPAS provided was exceptional. I liked the fact that they tailored everything to the practice rather than to themselves and I believe patients have a much more personal relationship with the practice because of this. In addition I found everyone at DPAS customer service very friendly and always ready and willing to help.

When we took the decision to open our own practice there was no question that we wanted DPAS to administer our dental plans. Key to this decision was not just the great service they provide, but also that their costs are considerably less than other plan providers, whilst still providing the additional support we felt we needed, and this enabled us to make our plans more cost-effective for our patients. We knew that having worked with DPAS in the past we would have complete control of our plans, and when you know something is working, you don’t think about going anywhere else.

Choice of plans

021Opening a private practice from scratch in a new area involved a lot of research into the social make-up and demographics of the area so we could ascertain the type of patients living in the area. Being a seaside town in a very beautiful part of the world we have a large transient tourist population, as well as people moving here from other parts of the country to work or retire, so we had to think hard about the options we would give to our patients.

Working closely with DPAS we developed a choice of three plans. Our most popular plan covers routine and preventative maintenance, another is for total care, and we also have a plan specifically for children. Uptake of all three plans has been fantastic. We have been open for less than two years and we’ve already employed an associate because we are so busy. Parents especially love our children’s plan as it covers all routine care, including fissure sealants, at a very affordable price. We want to encourage children to visit the dentist from an early age and if you treat them well we believe they will keep coming back, possibly until they too are parents.

Our practice consultant Louise was on hand to help us at every stage of launching our plans. We had total control of the process but were grateful for the advice DPAS provided, although we made all the final decisions. We worked closely with Louise on the design of the promotional materials for our plans and everything was tailored towards us featuring our practice branding. DPAS takes care of all our promotional materials as an inclusive part of their service; I don’t have to worry about dealing with printers, I can order more literature at any time and if we want to make any alterations it is never a problem.

Cost effective

Kate Evans
Kate Evans

Having patients on plans gives us a guaranteed monthly income and by knowing what a proportion of our revenue is each month allows us to budget confidently and to plan ahead. DPAS also provides insurance as part of their plan provision so we can quickly treat patients with dental trauma, which is very important for our patients’ peace of mind as well ours.

The whole team at Absolute Dental Care actively promote the plans to our patients. I never feel like I’m ‘selling’ a plan because I totally believe that what we are offering is of benefit to our patients. Once a patient understands how little the ‘per day cost’ of regular dental care is and compares this to the relative cost of being a fee per item patient, they quickly see the financial benefits.

In a short time we have developed a great reputation within the local area, much of which has been thanks to word of mouth referral, and despite the transient population our plan patients continue to return for routine appointments and more are joining all the time. We are very satisfied with the personal service DPAS provides for us and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend their services to any other practice.


For more information on DPAS’ flexible, comprehensive and effective dental plans, contact DPAS Dental Plans on 01747 870910 or email [email protected].

www.dpas.co.uk

Facebook: DPAS Dental Plans

Twitter: @dpas_ltd

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