Claire McMullan, who owns Dental32 in Magherafelt in Northern Ireland, has seen a huge growth in patients since she transferred across to Denplan from another payment plan provider. She has most recently benefitted further from joining our Denplan Plus membership scheme.
“Since transferring across to Denplan from another payment plan provider in 2012 things really expanded for us. We had so much more support as a business. With our other provider we had started transferring patients onto private plans, but it was very noticeable that while they may be competitive on price, as a practice we were not getting any additional support or benefits that we really needed,” says Claire McMullan
Business support
Supported by Business Development Consultant Joanne Hall, based locally in Northern Ireland, Claire and her practice team have maximised all of Denplan’s benefits.
“I started seeing the support my dentist friends that were on Denplan were getting; every time there were changes from CQC they had support from Denplan with manuals and guidance. I saw that Denplan offered so much more as part of their plans. Marketing support, professional support, training, events – plus knowing we had Joanne based in Northern Ireland was a great benefit too. She has been a huge support and invaluable in what we have achieved. From day-to-day queries to training and business planning. And the nice touch of a box of chocolates being hand delivered when we’ve hit a target is invaluable,” says Claire.
Involving the whole practice team
Claire stresses a key reason for her practice’s patient growth since has been the whole team coming together with everyone really believe in the product. “It’s not just the dentist saying a patient should join a plan, it’s part of our ethos and the message gets reiterated to patients by our receptionist team and hygienist too – and they notice that,” she says.
The demand for their hygienist went up from two to five days a week, all from Denplan patients.
“While the hygienist part of the plans may not be as financially favourable, as a dentist it frees up my time. It gives gaps in my books for me to focus on the bigger treatments such as implants. For me it’s all about looking at the bigger picture and what you want to practise day to day, as well as what benefits our patients. We are certainly a more profitable practice since joining Denplan and implementing all these changes,” says Claire.
Denplan Plus
Dental32 joined Denplan Plus in February 2021 just after the membership scheme launched.
“We were working towards a lot of the benefits within Denplan Plus, but it has given us a better framework and new targets – which is always good to have. It felt like the natural next step for the practice both in terms of educational support for the team, to keep patient growth, but also from a compliance and quality assurance perspective.
“Waiving the patient joining fee is a key benefit for us. It is a conversation starter with a patient to say we are now as an additional benefit able to waive the joining fee, meaning a lot of the plans actually do work out cheaper from day one versus pay as you go. It feels like a nice offer and gives the team even more confidence starting the conversation about the Denplan payment plans.
“We have already hit 50 per cent of our growth target and it’s clearly given us new motivation to have the additional support, as well as the added benefits of prize draws and other team incentives,” says Claire.
Claire and her team have recently started our growth training programme. Staff members that have recently joined the practice have access to online resources, meaning they can upskilled on Denplan products with minimal support from other team members that are under other work pressures. Claire is looking to apply for Denplan Excel accreditation in the coming year, which Denplan Plus also enables.
To find out more about Dental32 visit: https://dental32.co.uk/
