The Business of Dentistry Podcast

Thomas discusses the different business structures used by dental practices and how they differ. He details practical steps to take and the relevant paperwork to put in place in order to avoid future conflict with your business partners.

What you’ll hear:

• The difference between Expense Sharing, Traditional Partnership and Limited Company models for practice ownership
• Details of the documentation necessary to set up these arrangements correctly
• Examples of where things can go wrong
• How to handle a dispute with a business partner.

Who should listen:

• Anyone who co-owns a dental practice
• Anyone considering entering into a business partnership
• Dental associates considering buying into a practice.

Sarah focuses on the key financial considerations practice owners should make when putting their dental practice on the market. She also outlines the different types of buyers in the market and discusses realistic time scales for preparing to sell.

What you’ll hear:

• Appropriate timeframes for selling your practice and when to beginning planning
• The importance of a comprehensive valuation from a specialist sales agent
• Things a potential buyer will look for in a practice
• The pros and cons of selling to corporate groups, dental associates and introduced buyers

Who should listen:

• Practice owners looking to sell their business or retire
• Dental associates considering buying a practice
• Practice owners starting to plan an exit strategy

The issues faced in dental urgent and emergency care settings are often a magnified reflection of the problems in dentistry as a whole. Yasmin Allen discusses the current situation with Nigel Jones, explaining the improvements that are urgently required and the benefits of both NHS and private dentists understanding what urgent and emergency care settings are dealing with.

What you’ll hear:

• Details of the current challenges facing urgent dental care
• The ways in which things can be improved
• The benefits digitisation could bring to an urgent care setting
• Lessons that can be taken from the urgent care setting to benefit dentistry as a whole

Who should listen:

• Dental professionals working in urgent dental care services
• Commissioners who are procuring, or who are about to procure urgent dental care services
• Any practicing dentists

Yasmin Allen discusses how dentistry cannot ignore advancements in digital technology. She talks about the importance of workforce strategy and training in order to maximise the potential for digital change within both NHS and private dentistry.

What you’ll hear:

• What ‘digital’ means in the context of dentistry
• The ways in which practices, patients and clinicians can benefit from digitisation
• How to bridge the gap between digital skills and technology, considering limitations within the workforce

Who should listen:

• Forward-thinking practices looking to the future
• Practice owners and managers trying to improve patient experiences
• Clinicians and staff responsible for digital uptake and innovation

Colin shares some personal insights into why he has committed to work within dentistry until he is 85. He talks about the advantages of a long-term approach which removes some of the pressures of day-to-day work.

What you’ll hear:

• Why Colin has chosen a long-term approach over a short-term ‘exit strategy’ approach
• Examples of how such an approach benefits the organisation, the team and the patient
• How this is happening in many business settings as an alternative to the classic model of build and exit strategy

Who should listen:

• Practice owners considering their long-term plans
• People thinking about buying a practice
• Anyone who wants to consider an alternative way of working

Barry Oulton, dentist and communication expert, talks about the benefits of better understanding the way you communicate. He explains a Neuro Linguistic Programme model that can help you achieve this.

What you’ll hear:

• The importance of good communication
• Examples of why it’s not what you say, it’s the way that you say it
• Details about how being congruent is essential for great communication

Who should listen:

• Anyone in practice who communicates with a patient
• Hygienists who want to help patients improve their oral health
• Dentists who want to develop good relationships with their patients
• People wanting to communicate better with colleagues

Employment and HR specialist, Sarah Buxton shares details of the latest changes to Employment Law and how these impact practices and teams.

What you’ll hear:

• Recent changes with regards to parental bereavement leave
• The consequences to employers of not understanding these changes
• Steps an employer can take to protect themselves
• Details of other changes on the horizon

Who should listen:

• Anyone with responsibility for team members
• Anyone with HR responsibility
• Practice managers keeping on top of HR changes

In a podcast of two halves, specialist solicitor, Thomas Coates, discusses a new policy introduced by the CQC that is making practice sales, purchases and restructures significantly more difficult. He also talks about an updated policy from the NHS regarding ‘24-hour retirement’ which makes the process more straightforward.

What you’ll hear:

• The historic position in respect of CQC and NHS on the sale of a practice
• Details of the new position being adopted by CQC and how it is obstructing the sale and purchase of NHS practices
• An explanation of ’24-hour retirement’ and how it has been historically used
• Details of recent NHS guidance which has made the process more straightforward 

Who should listen:

• Practice owners considering selling thier practice
• Anyone considering buying a practice
• Practice owners who hold an NHS contract and wish to start claiming their pension

Employment and HR solicitor, Sarah Buxton talks to Nigel Jones about how to deal with sickness absence in your team and explains the risks if you don't handle it correctly.

What you'll hear:

• The best way to handle frequent short term absence
• What to do if a member of the team has provided a long term sick note
• What your responsibilities are if a team member has a disability

Who should listen:

• Managers responsible for a team
• Anyone handling HR in practice

Barry explains the concept of Neuro-Linguistic Programming and how becoming aware of your language can impact your communication, positively affect your relationships with patients and increase your profits.

What you’ll hear:

• An introduction to how language can influence the subconscious mind
• Easy ways to turn negative statements into positive ones
• The importance of being aware of how you use the word ‘but’

Who should listen:

• Dentists & hygienists wanting to improve their communication with patients
• Team leaders looking to improve internal communication
• Front desk teams who are often a patient’s first point of contact