The recent extreme weather could have, through no fault of their own, caused practices to close or suffer lots of patient cancellations. Unfortunately, the timing couldn’t have been worse, being so close to NHS contract year end and potentially having huge implications on meeting UDA targets.
Providing a service where income generation is hugely reliant on chargeable time spent with the patient is a reoccurring problem for many practitioner-based businesses such as dental practices. So, what could you do to generate income…even when you’re not working?
Introducing a patient membership plan into your practice is one potential answer. Offering your patients the ability to spread the cost of their routine dental treatment across the year, through monthly Direct Debit payments, allows you to iron out the financial peaks and troughs in your practice creating a consistent and reliable income, even when the practice is closed or experiencing a dip in footfall.
It’s important that revenue streams remain open and that your business is still on track, with the goal of long-term success intact. After all, a poor month in terms of income generation can result in cash-flow problems or UDA headaches further down the line, leading to increased pressure, stress and worry. It’s a well-known fact that most smaller businesses that fold, do so because of lack of cash flow to keep their business operating.
Introducing a plan into your practice is a simple process and spreading the cost of routine treatment is a win for both you and your patients, ensuring predictability in income, an increase in patient loyalty, a reduction in FTAs and an increase in treatment uptake. Some may argue that spreading your earning across the year is like taking out a loan. However this is a misunderstanding – your monthly fees should take into account the practice owner’s full salary, clinical hours, overheads and future investments.
A patient membership plan provider, such as DPAS Dental Plans, have experts on hand to help you assess the viability of a plan for your practice and if it’s right for you, with proven processes and systems in place to get your plan and team up and running quickly and effectively.
A regular and predictable income is essential for any business and that’s no different for dental practices. A patient membership plan is a simple and effective way of helping you to achieve that goal. So, if you’d like to relax next time you face extreme weather conditions or your practice is struggling to maintain their UDA target, start thinking about introducing and building a plan in your practice.
If you’d like a free consultation to explore your options, the team at DPAS are here to help. Please visit www.dpas.co.uk, email enquiries@dpas.co.uk or call 01747 870910.
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