Dentists are increasingly becoming more interested in DSOs that are led by dentists and that will support clinical autonomy, according to one exec.
Mark Censoprano and Jason Auerbach, DDS, co-CEOs of Max Surgical Specialty Management, recently spoke with Becker's about the trends they are seeing in oral surgery and the DSO space.
Editor's note: These responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: Are there any industry trends you both are following at the moment?
Mark Censoprano: On the business side of things, I think you see a continued shift toward doctor-led organizations, if you look at recent successes out there. The former model maybe was more of an ownership model. The model you're seeing emerge and really be most successful is a partnership. There's another one, which is almost like a dramatic rebound toward expressed clinical autonomy and not just lip service. Some folks got a little tripped up over that in the past and that's a trend you're going to continue to see in the future because I think it just is best for everyone, leads to the best outcomes, leads to the best quality of experience for both the patients and the providers, and also for the organization as a whole.
Q: Why do you think practice owners prefer doctor-led organizations?
MC: I have probably met and had the pleasure of working with hundreds if not thousands of doctor owners. The docs have built their practices over 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, and really care so much about their patients. They care so much about their team members that when they're looking for a partner, I think they're looking for one that can really understand the shoes they've walked in and that really has their best interest at heart. I can't pretend to understand the oral surgeons as well as Dr. Auerbach ever will. I'm very blessed and grateful to be a partner with Dr. Auerbach to try to put our skill sets together to do what's right by the docs. I think that's probably the reason why, it's because they understand their best interest is going to be at heart at all times, and the right decisions are going to be made for them.
Dr. Jason Auerbach: When we set out to do this, a big differentiator for us in terms of who we partnered with from the financial perspective was that we were able to build into the charter of the organization the existence of a clinical advisory board. That clinical advisory board deals with all things related to clinical delivery of care. What we were able to do by putting that into the documentation of this organization was really solidify going forward that the doctors will have a tremendously strong voice in what goes on in terms of patient care, which is always something clinicians are hesitant about when they think about corporate dentistry or DSOs or anything like that. It's very important for us as an organization to not only allow for it, but to support and foster this concept of doctors really participating on all levels within the organization. It's important for doctors to be doctors. It's important for doctors to trust the process and trust that they're going to be heard and that their care [is] always determined by doctors, and that the clinical autonomy should never be questioned and will never waver, certainly within Max.