This month, dental industry leaders spoke with Becker's about staffing challenges, educational initiatives, expansion plans and profitability.
Here is what eight leaders told Becker's in August:
The Aspen Group launches TAG University: See how dental providers benefit
Chrissie Leibman. Senior Vice President of Leadership and Development at The Aspen Group (Chicago) and Dean of TAG University: It just fuels the continuous growth and development of all of our team members, really setting them up to be successful not only at work but in life. We've seen tremendous benefits in the relationship that builds. So we are blessed to have a really incredible faculty that is part of TAG U, and the support and one-to-one interaction that people have with experts is great. They also form a really amazing community of support as a peer group. As you're going through new experiences or you're growing into spaces you haven't charted into before, that peer group that's there to celebrate when things go well or rally behind you when you're nervous or stressed is just another part of how it all comes together.
How a multi-site healthcare veteran plans to lead a dental brand's growth
Troy Bage. CEO of Tend (Nashville, Tenn.): The industry has big opportunities for innovation through technology, AI and digital care. Dentistry was slow to innovate for many years and the momentum in the profession now is significant, which is especially exciting for us as a technology-enabled company well positioned to advance in these ways. This is a significant tailwind if we can help these areas work for the practices and the patients.
What dental practices need to survive a recession
Barry Lyon, DDS. Chief Dental Officer for the Division of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry at Dental Care Alliance (Sarasota, Fla.): While clearly a challenge, there are steps dental practices can take to help offset a downturn in the economy. The first thing practice owners should do is take a deep dive into their key performance indicators. Can your practice operate more efficiently? Are the operational costs higher than necessary? Is the revenue cycle being managed well? Can the practice operate with less staff? Are treatment plans presented with an emphasis on patient benefit instead of cost? The proactive practice is better prepared to ride out a faltering economy.
DSO or private practice? What 9 dentists would choose if they could go back
Charles Schlesinger, DDS. COO of Comfortable Dentistry 4U (Albuquerque, N.M.): I would want to be in private practice as a solo practitioner so I could benefit later for all the hard work I put into creating an office. Granted, in a DSO there is immediate payoff with salary and benefits, but owning your own office will pay out more in the end, and you also have the option of selling to a DSO later when you will do much better financially.
The biggest concerns for 7 dental professionals
David Ahearn, DDS. Founder and President of Design/Ergonomics: My biggest concern for dentistry as a whole is office profitability. While the practices we work with are doing incredibly well and have high demand, we are hearing about far too many offices with eroding margins and no real viable plan of attack. The challenge is fairly simple. The marketplace controls wages (by far the biggest cost) while the insurance industry, by and large, determines rates. Given that most dentists primarily focus on their personal net income, we see doctors mostly focusing on efforts at cost cutting to balance the budget. This is an extremely difficult method for closing the gap. And, if this isn't already obvious, one cannot attempt to request that staff members take a pay cut because you are making less. The solution is clear, but not obvious. Increase productivity. This is a science. Most doctors do not know how to apply productivity principles to practice. That is my biggest concern.
What made a DSO critic switch sides
Gary Kadi. Founder of NextLevel Practice: The turning point was when consolidation started ramping up about five years ago and about five of my clients asked me to represent them and investigate DSOs that they were looking to join. So I became an accidental expert in getting a behind-the-scenes look at the truths behind the evolution of DSOs. I believe change happens under four conditions. We're forced to change, there's enough hurt or pain to change, you know better to change or you raise your deserve level and you go, "Hey, I deserve better, so I want to make a change." For this, I learned what was in the way of me being able to serve my doctors, was the way. I opened my mind up and did a bunch of research and found the next evolution of DSOs. There was a competition among DSOs, the original six, and they pretty much dictated how things went. But as smaller groups started to form, everybody had to get more competitive. What I saw was that the scales leaned toward balancing out the control of power from the shareholder equity partner investor to the actual clinician. That's when I got to see that I could actually accomplish more by grouping my doctors together that are consulting clients into a DSO and then we could dictate how we're going to create the DSO of the future.
Factors that 6 dentists see keeping dental hygienists, assistants away from the field
David Keller, DDS. Owner of Granite Dental (Vancouver, Wash.): The bottom line is that dentistry is demanding and becoming more so: physically, emotionally, and intellectually. Many hygienists and dental assistants took a break during COVID and realized that they were happier and/or healthier taking a break from the profession. This isn't that unusual. The same sorts of trends occur in medicine, but generally, instead of leaving the profession as we see in dentistry, non-doctor clinical and administrative staff migrate from location to location when they get to the point they need a break. The medical employment model offers far more freedom to change jobs when stressors become overwhelming. Unfortunately, with the bulk of dental employment opportunities found in small private practices, it can be easier to walk away completely than to move from one office to another, especially in smaller population centers where supply is less than demand. Furthermore, as private practice profits decline, and insurance reimbursements continue to plummet, there is less capital available to offer benefits packages similar to other areas of medicine. These dual stressors may cause many to change careers earlier than what I believe historical data would demonstrate.
Why 1 exec emphasizes the importance of hiring dental graduates
Bryan Carey. CEO of Benevis (Atlanta): There are two areas and reasons why it's particularly important to us. One is that it's a great opportunity for a recent grad because of the strong mentorship and support that comes with joining Benevis. Second is that it's sort of an additional area of diversity, so by having a diverse group of dentists in terms of their age and experience we feel we'll be able to provide even better care and better patient experience. Our families in particular really seemed to appreciate having a diverse workforce that represents the diverse population that we serve.