Switching your dental plan to Joyful

What stays the same

• The plan. Your patients’ cover and monthly price don’t change, unless you decide to change them.
• The agreement. The plan agreement is between your practice and your patients. That stays as it is. Only the company collecting the payments changes.
• The paperwork. In most cases patients won’t need to fill in a new Direct Debit form. Their existing one is moved across to us.

Two small things do change. Patients will see Joyful’s name on their bank statement instead of your old provider’s. And their payment date may move, which we’ll agree with you up front.

How the switch works

There are five steps. You’ll have a named onboarding manager from us the whole way through.

1. Sign up and give notice (week 1). Submit your cancellation request and request for a Direct Debit Transfer to your new provider (i.e. Joyful). The plan provider will support the bulk transfer of the Direct Debits. Please include onboarding@joyful.dental on your comms.
2. We set up your plans (weeks 2-4). We build your plans in Joyful with your prices and branding. You look them over and approve them. Patients don’t hear anything yet.
3. Train your team (weeks 8-12).
   1. We run a one-day session for your reception and clinical team. It’s worth picking one person to be your go-to for plan questions.
   2. We give you a ready-made letter and email. It goes out from your practice, not from us, because patients know and trust you.
4. Move the Direct Debits (weeks 11-12). We work with your current provider to move all your patients’ Direct Debits across in one go. We time it around payment dates so nobody is charged twice or misses a month.
5. Go live (week 13). We take the first payment. Your onboarding manager stays on hand for 30 days after.

Once you’re live, we turn on the tools that help you sign up patients who aren’t on a plan yet, and you get a monthly report on how your plan is growing.

What we need from you

To get started, we’ll ask for:

• the name of your current plan provider, and a copy of your contract with them if you have it
• how many patients are on your plans, and what each plan costs and covers
• the date your patients’ payments currently come out
• whether any patients have extra insurance through your current provider (for example, Denplan Supplementary Insurance), as this needs handling separately

After that, your part is mostly signing the notice letter, approving your plans and sending the patient letter.

What your patients will see

A letter or email from your practice, sent well before Joyful takes its first payment. Direct Debit rules say patients must be told in advance, and we make sure the timing meets them. The letter tells them:

• their plan and price aren’t changing
• the date of the switch
• that the name on their bank statement will change to Joyful
• that they don’t need to do anything
• who to contact if they have questions

After that, the next thing they’ll notice is the payment going out as usual.

Common questions

What does it cost us?

Nothing. Most plan providers charge your practice a monthly fee per patient. We don’t. We’re paid from the plan itself.

Will we lose patients?

A few patients may use the change as a moment to cancel. A clear letter from you, saying nothing about their plan is changing, keeps that to a minimum.

What if a patient’s Direct Debit doesn’t move across?

With any bulk move, a handful can fail, usually because of old or closed bank details. We’ll find them straight after go-live and help those patients set up again.

What about emergency cover?

Your patients will have emergency dental cover in place before you go live. We won’t switch you over until it is.

Do we have to give our current provider notice before talking to you?

No. Talk to us first. We’ll check your contract and help you time your notice so there’s no gap.

Ready to move your plan?