The choice is yours

shutterstock_383139733Gary Anders explains how expert help from external agencies can ease the complexities of running a dental practice.

As any dentist knows only too well, owning and running a dental practice involves a whole lot more than just caring for patients and staff. And whilst dentists are eminently qualified in the clinical aspects of providing highly skilled treatments and patient care, there are now many more calls on their time and resources, taking them into unfamiliar areas where sometimes they could do with just a little more help.

Whether you’re starting a squat or are part of a well-established team, running a practice can be a complicated jigsaw puzzle. Regardless of whether a practice is predominately NHS, totally private or somewhere in between, there are a raft of business and personnel matters to be dealt with, whilst continuing to meet patient expectations and keeping the business on a sound financial footing.

Knowing where to begin and identifying where the priorities lie can be a time-consuming process for practice owners and their teams, and time spent dealing with administration and non-clinical matters rather than treating patients is effectively a loss of revenue and ultimate profitability.

Further complicating this scenario is the fact that dentistry has become increasingly competitive in recent years. There is now a need to actively attract new patients and retain existing ones by making a practice stand out from the crowd. There was a time not long ago when the idea of marketing a practice through a website or on social media was unheard of. However, with today’s patients being mobile responsive and demanding 24/7 access to the internet, dental practices are quickly learning they have to change.

Help is out there

Prioritising what needs to be done to keep a practice running efficiently and profitably and then trying to source the best available help is not easy, and it can sometimes be the case that principals are not even sure themselves what it is they are actually looking for.

This is where specialist service providers can be of great help, and external organisations can provide expert support to the practice team. Often when running a business it’s hard to see where the priorities lie, so having a fresh pair of eyes looking at your business from a different perspective can really help to indicate where things are going well, and where you may need some extra help.

As a specialist service provider, DPAS Dental Plans concentrates on our core business of delivering excellent dental plan administration, providing everything a practice needs to maximise the success of their plans. With our local practice consultants and business development managers actively involved with practices on a day-to-day basis, we have become widely regarded as trusted partners and are regularly approached by dental team members for their opinion and advice on a range of dentistry-related topics. These include recommending third party organisations who can fulfil specific requirements outside of plan provision, be that for CPD, compliance, patient finance or marketing and of course we always do our best to help.

Expert support

I believe that dental practices need and deserve expert support in all areas of their business and in recognition of this we have teamed up with a range of highly respected external service providers to help solve some of the most widespread problems faced by practices looking to further develop their business.

Business Bites is an initiative that provides practices with all the convenience of a ‘one stop shop’, but gives them the flexibility to choose the products and services that are best suited to meet their specific needs. Teaming up with some of the dental industry’s leading providers, DPAS clients have easy access to a wide range of support services, which are delivered directly through our third party partners.

Caring for and treating patients is at the heart of every dental practice, but as the dental market evolves and becomes more competitive, the business landscape is changing and the profession needs to keep pace. It is true that no single person or business can be an expert in every part of a business, so by facilitating the introduction of external suppliers that are able to deliver services in which they have both expertise and reputation, we can help your business to move forward whilst you provide the very best of care for your patients.


For more information visit www.dpas.co.uk.

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