Integrated Dental Holdings (IDH), Europe’s largest dental corporate, has boosted its support for frontline clinical teams through changes to the structure of the business. It has increased the number of area managers, clinical directors and clinical support managers to offer more on-the-ground support to practices around the country.
Its practice network is now divided into seven regions, each with a clinical director and five to 10 clinical support managers. Each region now has five to sixarea managers (now called area development managers), each looking after a smaller number of practices. The moves have tripled the number of clinical support managers and more than doubled the number of area development managers in the business, strengthening the support for practices.
The changes came into effect this summer, at the same time as the head office was renamed the support centre to better reflect its purpose of supporting the group’s 600+ practices across the UK.
Jason Bedford, clinical director at IDH, says “These significant changes represent a huge investment in our business. They are about providing better support to our teams out in the field, and thereby an improved patient experience. The new shape to the business means that our teams are better supported to cope with not just day-to-day operation but also the huge changes in the dental industry that are coming in the next few years, such as contract reform. They have also improved the flow of information between our practices and the support centre.”
Annette Spindler, chief operating officer at IDH, adds “The distance between our support centre and our frontline teams was simply too far. At IDH we recognise that each cluster of practices will better understand the needs and issues in their area, and by giving them more support we believe they can focus on delivering an outstanding customer experience. We want to ensure we offer our customers choice, and spend time explaining all of the available options, whether that be NHS or private. We are fostering smaller, stronger communities of clinical practitioners and local specialists that will provide a better service to our customers.”