The Business Side of Dentistry - Andy Sloan

Modern dentistry is as much a business as it is a profession dedicated to providing high standards of dental care. To maximise business potential it is only natural that you should seek to make cost savings in as many areas as possible. This may include making savings through reducing wastage, or doing things in a more time-effective way. It may also include cutting costs directly with suppliers, or raising the price of certain treatments in line with demand.

Make the most of your business services

Business services are one particular area of concern for many practices, as the cost of dealing with many different service providers can soon spiral out of control. To combat this, organisations such as dbg harness group buying power in order to negotiate substantial discounts with providers. These discounts often more than pay for the cost of membership alone, and when taken across a number of business services can make a significant impact on the practice accounts.

Credit card processing is one area in particular where dental practices can save huge amounts by joining a buying group that offers credit card processing with a lower negotiated fee. Depending on the size of your practice, the number of surgeries you run, and the level of treatments you offer, these discounts can range from hundreds to thousands of pounds. Many different providers will offer discounts on credit card processing. But it does pay to shop around and find the provider offering the best discount. Over the course of a year, even a very small difference in percentage rate can make a massive difference.

Waste management is another area where significant cost savings can be made. Finding the right company to work with here can be tough, and in the ideal world waste disposal companies should be experienced specifically in dentistry, and be able to offer complete peace of mind. Thankfully, there are providers out there offering discounted rates through membership and these discounts can be applied a number of different waste disposal packages for a complete flexible solution.

Finding extra savings

Aside from credit card processing and waste management, there are many other areas in which savings can be found. Telecommunications is one example where, percentage discounts are available for dbg members, and similarly, a number of document shredding providers also offer discounts for flexible document destruction solutions. Further savings can also be made when arranging practice insurance (including locum cover), accountancy services, energy, patient plans and recruitment services.

Another avenue through which savings can be obtained is in the area of employment law. Some companies will offer template contracts and legal forms completely free of charge,  of which they can be tailored to your meet your practice’s needs. These can range from employment contract templates to legal documents covering maternity leave and even employment disputes. Services such as these don’t just provide a saving in the short term. But in the long term if a problem should arise, you can potentially save thousands of pounds by having a set of contracts that can’t be questioned in a tribunal or court of law.

Help is at hand!

As all dental professionals will know, running a successful and profitable dental practice is no easy task. With so many different contractors to organise and working relationships to manage sometimes just finding a good business service provider alone is hard, and this is without even taking into account factors such as cost.

Finding a provider that offers a range of beneficial business services could save your practice money and valuable time as well.  With a little research, and some careful planning, there are certainly many savings to be made and discounts to be had out there. It’s just a matter of knowing where to look.

For more information call dbg on 01606 861 950,

Or visit www.thedbg.co.uk