Several DSO executives spoke with Becker's this year to discuss their organizations' growth and challenges in the industry.
Here are six insights from this year:
PepperPointe Partnerships' core focuses to drive growth in 2023
Greg White, DMD. President and CEO of PepperPointe Partnerships (Lexington, Ky.): At PepperPointe, we'll continue to build on the high quality of care and support we provide our doctors to ensure they and their practices become the very best version of themselves. We want to attract the very best clinicians and individuals who share our core values, which begin and end with viewing every decision based on what is in the best interest of the patient. As long as we focus on these details, PepperPointe will continue to grow and thrive.
4 ways Dental365 plans to grow in 2023: COO
Terri Krauss. COO of Dental365 (New Hyde Park, N.Y.): This past year has been an incredible year of growth, both personally and professionally. I am looking forward to a fantastic year ahead! This year we selectively scaled our support services so that we are prepared for both additional affiliations and de novo expansion in new markets. While we are mindful of forecasts that predict some economic slowdown, our plans for expansion remain optimistic. I realistically expect to see our company hit over 200 supported practices by the end of 2023.
'This dynamic is completely out of balance': The challenge of DSOs working with payers
Michael Schwartz. Chair and CEO of Specialty Dental Brands (Nashville, Tenn.): One of the biggest challenges is working with insurance companies due to the rising input costs hitting dental offices such as labor shortages and wage and supply inflation. Every dental office in the U.S. has seen these expenses dramatically increase, yet the average dental insurance company provides fee increases of 3 percent if you are lucky every two to five years. This dynamic is completely out of balance. The legislation passed in Massachusetts in November is the first step in addressing this problem.
'In the end, it's all about our culture': How Heartland Dental makes staff a priority
DeAnn McClain. COO of Heartland Dental (Effingham, Ill.): We're constantly doing everything we can to make sure that our culture stands true, especially with growth. I think that's one of our biggest challenges as we grow, making sure that culture is strong. That goes into how we attract and retain doctors and team members. We just finished our engagement surveys. We're digging into the feedback from our doctors and team members. I think that definitely helps us to stay very pertinent on what they're looking for and any feedback they have for us to make our services better. Whether it's creating more robust diversity and inclusion applications or whatever [else there] might be, all of those things will come out in that survey, as well as compensation and all the things that we want to make sure stay top of mind.
Guardian Dentistry Partners on track to 140+ practices in 2022: Q&A with Dr. Hisham Barakat
Hisham Barakat, DDS. Chief Clinical Officer of Guardian Dentistry Partners (Miami): We're not into changing the way they do things. We're there to support and accomplish what they've been successful doing already. The best part about Guardian is that we basically share best practices. So if the partner has something that they've built that could benefit the other partners, we share it across and say, "Hey, our other partner in this region is doing it this way. Would you like to talk to them? Would you like to meet with them? Would you like to visit them and see how they've accomplished it?" And so on and so forth.
The biggest challenges DSOs are up against
Tom Marler. President and CEO of Sage Dental (Boca Raton, Fla.): One of the most challenging aspects of managing a successful DSO is ensuring consistency of brand and patient experience across all office locations. At Sage Dental, for example, we've worked hard to make sure that no matter which of our 82 offices a patient walks into, they will experience the same high-caliber care, cutting-edge technology, and streamlined scheduling and billing experience. This includes ensuring all our offices are outfitted with teledentistry and tele-orthodonture capabilities, online patient portals for appointment scheduling and bill pay, and other dental service innovations like intraoral scanning, digital X-rays and more. We also employ [artificial intelligence]-aided diagnostic technology from Pearl called Practice Intelligence, which helps ensure patients receive consistent diagnoses, no matter which Sage office or provider they receive care from. These offerings not only keep patients coming back, they also ensure patient trust in their provider and help our dentists and hygienists establish long-term, meaningful relationships.