7 Easy ways to save money and time in your dental practice in 2018

Save money and time in your dental practice in 2018 by Jonny Jacobs

One of the aims we have always looked to achieve at GDPUK is saving money or producing special offers from our advertisers and partners for our 11,000 members. Running and operating a dental practice (or any business) can be extremely expensive and time consuming. Not all expenses or direct debits, will get checked every month because they aren’t always the first priority but often expenses can go out of our control.

Below is a short guide we have produced that looks at some ways you can save money and time in your dental practice in 2018.

**Disclaimer** A few of the money and time saving suggestions, are services that are offered by GDPUK via third parties. These services are available elsewhere but the suppliers we have mentioned have produced excellent savings for our members and provide a service that they have been extremely happy with. Only our opinion!

Insurance

Dental Practices need all sorts of insurance. Insurance is always worth shopping around for when you consider the amount of cover a dental practice needs on a regular basis.

There are a number of insurances that a dental practice may choose to buy such as dental practice insurance, dental locum insurance, pressure vessel inspection, keyman protection insurance. All the policies are worth comparing the market, with a number of companies specialising in this area such as All Med Pro, Lloyd & Whyte and MIAB.

Dental Supplies

Over the years on the GDPUK Forum, our members have found that it is worth doing a price audit on their top 20-30 supplies in the practice based on volume per month and it can be found that with a bit of shopping around of dental suppliers, you can make some considerable savings for the practice. Obviously, credibility, reliability and efficiency of the suppliers also need to be taken into account for important supplies but some considerable savings can be made. This is certainly worth auditing a couple of times a year.

Credit Card Fees

We’re always looking to help you reduce costs without compromising the quality of your patient care. That’s why we’re working with nexpay to ensure the fees you pay on credit card processing are extremely competitive and save your dental practice money. Just contact us by the link below, nexpay will review your existing account and undertake a full market comparison. They will then produce a report that shows you the potential new tariff savings. Some GDPUK members are saving thousands of pounds a year on card processing fees.

You still provide the same service to your patients but save on the processing fees, which over a calendar year can often be quite a saving! Find out more here.

Water

Water is used a lot in an average dental practice. On 1 April 2017, businesses were given the freedom to choose which water supplier to buy their water and wastewater services. This means there are loads of dental practices that will be paying over the odds for their water supply, certainly worth a quick shop or call around. Companies like amber energy and openwater will offer a comparison service and advice on what is a good offer. Once again a great opportunity to reduce costs in the new year.

Energy

GDPUK.com has teamed up with a leading independent business energy brokerage who is constantly striving to source the best products and most competitive market rates for businesses. With a vast array of suppliers and products available to the business market, quite often businesses are left without clear guidelines as to which is the best deal. Our broker can offer a comprehensive panel of suppliers who are vying for your business. For more information, please follow this link - https://www.gdpuk.com/energy Other similar type services are also available.

CQC and Regulation

Compliance is changing faster and faster. From the CQC Fundamental Standards in 2015, to the GDC standards in 2014 to changes in employment law, health and safety, sharps regulations and a whole lot more. Because the volume of compliance and regulation in a practice can seem to be overwhelming, it can be difficult for a dental practice owner or practice manager to keep on top of it all.

Services such as icomply and rightpath4, help to tell you what to do and keep you updated on the latest changes and legislation. This can help to save the practice a lot of time, stress and misunderstanding. It does help having everything in one place.

Right Path 4 who have always been great supporters of GDPUK have a special offer on for members of GDPUK. All future updates to the Right Path 4 system are included in this monthly fee. Further information here on how they can help you in your practice.

Software Systems

Although not necessarily saving you money in the short term, dental practice software systems certainly make your practice streamlined and more efficient for all members of the team.

You can save a lot of time in your practice by going paperless. One of these paperless systems is offered by iSmile, who offer your very own branded Patient Portal, where you can give your patients the ability to fill in medical history forms on their desktops, tablets and mobile devices prior to their appointment. iSmile can automatically email medical history forms to your patients, which are filled out securely online and then transmitted back to iSmile and stored within the patient's file, significantly reducing workload and paperwork at the dental practice reception.

Further information on this subject can be found via the GDPUK Forum:- Going Paperless.

We hope you found this guide to saving money and time in your dental practice extremely useful and it has got you thinking about areas that could be improved in your business.

Thanks for reading.