Botanics Dental Care, Glasgow

Strachan Hill Dental Surgery opened in Glasgow during the Mid 1950s and continued to grow in the following decades. Many patients remember former principal John Whyte as the driving force behind the practice for over twenty years.

In March 2008 Colin Gardner became the practice owner and Botanics Dental Care was formed. Jill Taylor, who had been a nurse there for over ten years, was appointed to the post of practice manager. Thanks to good communication with the patients, when the transfer of ownership took place, patients embraced the change and Colin has become a much loved figure locally. He wrote a letter to all patients introducing himself, his team and his new adult and child maintenance plans, offering everyone the opportunity to join, with no registration fee.

Problem

• There were too many brands associated with the practice
• Wanted to assert the practice identity

The practice had originally converted to a Bupa capitation plan during the Christmas period of 1998. It was a direct response to a personal experience Mr. Whyte had while having his dog attended to at the local veterinary clinic. He received the blood tests for the dog back the same evening and was surprised at the amount of time spent with his pet and the speed and efficiency with which the diagnosis was made. That evening he decided he wanted to adopt a similar approach, spending more time with, and offering better materials to his patients than he could under the NHS.

Acceptance from the patients was outstanding, with comments at the time including “I can totally see where you’re coming from. I want the best”.

However there was always a feeling that patients could get easily confused by a nationally branded dental plan. Patients had a strong connection to the practice and the team. The decision was made that a practice-branded plan was a much better option.

Solution

• Converting plan administrator to DPAS
• Introducing a ‘practice branded’ dental plan
• Strengthen relationship with patients

If practice manager Jill Taylor could sum up the DPAS service in one word it would be “Excellent”. Jill adds “From the offset we experienced great support, advice and training. We were worried that patients had become secure with the Bupa brand and wondered how they would feel when we changed. However it was a seamless transfer. That initial transfer took place eight years ago and we offered a mirror of the plans already in place. Our range of plans has extended dramatically since then. Colin introduced a maintenance plan when he took ownership of the practice with the intention of converting all existing patients within two years. Our worries about people not liking change were unfounded and again acceptance was great.”

The practice has an ideal setting in the heart of Glasgow’s West End and everyone who attends does so because of word of mouth based on the great service levels offered by all of the team. The practice branded plan helps to solidify this relationship.

Jill feels that the support offered by DPAS is very personal and “Valerie, who’s our local Business Development Manager, is brilliant. The team love it when she comes into the practice; she’s like one of us now. She’s delivered training twice in the past year and been so comfortable and confident with what she’s been talking about that it’s made us feel the same. Valerie regularly pops in and the team feel it’s more like seeing a friend, which is a lovely relationship to have and really makes a difference. We also have a designated customer service advisor, Stacey Hume, who is always there for us and has also been brilliant with her support every time we need it. However, we speak to Stacey less these days as we find the new web portal so user friendly that we pop on there quite frequently to answer basic questions and look at our recent reports. It’s a great service”.

All in all Jill feels the practice operates even more smoothly with DPAS working in the background, with brochure stocks continually maintained via post and insurance claims always processed efficiently.

Benefits

• Great service
• The practice has its own personality
• Affordable and reliable

Jill feels the top five benefits of having DPAS administer their dental plans are:

Service – “Everyone is so friendly and helpful, whether in person or at the other end of the phone it seems all DPAS staff have smiles their faces. They are always so eager to help. I feel as if I know them because we’ve built a relationship and I’m always asked if there’s anything that can be done better”.

Ownership and responsibility – “When you e-mail or call you always get a response and are kept constantly updated. Communication appears to mean everything at DPAS. As well as being friendly the team are highly efficient”.

Practice personality – “The practice branding means we have our own personality. They are our patients and we know them better than anyone. They know it’s our dental plan and that it’s run effectively”.

Reliability – “Whatever needs doing is done, and done on time!”

Affordable – “The savings we experience with DPAS are passed onto our patients. They know the quality of care they receive in the practice. It’s all about prevention. Colin wanted to focus the direction of the practice towards preventative dentistry and felt he would only be able to provide this on a fully private basis. Botanics Dental Care has a full range of preventative treatments and advice available to our patients, including regular visits with our hygienist. This is why over 50% of the young patients we now treat are on our Children’s Plan. The low cost of DPAS administering the plans means we can keep dental care affordable for our patients”.

To find out more about the Botanics Dental Care Conversion and how DPAS can make your existing payment plan administration work more efficiently, please visit www.dpas.co.uk or call us on 01747 870910.