Expanding medical-dental integration, improving patient care and practice optimization and growth are some of the most important priorities for seven dental leaders in the second half of 2024.
The leaders featured in this article are all speaking at Becker's 2024 dental conferences. This includes our Spring Future of Dentistry Roundtable, which is set for June 19-21 at the Swissotel in Chicago, and the Fall Future of Dentistry Roundtable, which is set for Oct. 30 to Nov. 1 at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago.
If you work at a DSO or dental practice and would like to be considered as a speaker, please contact Randi Haseman at rhaseman@beckershealthcare.com.
Note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What is your top priority for the second half of 2024?
Maryam Beyramian, DDS. Co-Founder and CEO of Westwind Integrated Health (Phoenix): At Westwind, 2024 has been our year to launch our new product, One+dentalmedical. Quarters 3 and 4 will be focused on expanding the model to multiple offices and practitioners within our group, expanding training to all of our 200 team members and focused on expanding medical screenings in our Phoenix community.
Jordan Cooper, DDS. Cooper Family Dentistry (Jacksonville, Ark.): Here are my top priorities for the second half of 2024: No. 1 is practice optimization: Rather than expanding for the sake of growth, I'm concentrating on enhancing my existing practices. This involves improving operations, ensuring patient retention and expanding our service offerings. No. 2 is financial stability: Monitoring cash flow and making necessary adjustments to maintain profitability is essential. This might involve reducing expenses or discovering new revenue streams. For instance, we plan to review our coding processes this summer to ensure efficiency and accuracy. No. 3 is patient experience: Ensuring patient satisfaction is paramount. To achieve this, I’m committed to adopting new technologies, improving communication and enhancing overall comfort. Recently, we piloted an AI practice management system and plan to evaluate another this fall. My practices are part of MB2 Dental. I believe that a robust DSO backbone is immensely beneficial. With the support of our team, I can strengthen each practice, boost profitability and prepare to face whatever challenges 2024 may bring.
Sima Yakoby Epstein, DMD. Founder and CEO of OrthoNu (New York City): My top priority for the second half of 2024 is to create a valued line of innovative products to replace the current "goody bag" in the industry. It is important to start with introducing the oral relief kits as a better level of care to our patients, especially to solve their inevitable discomfort and inflammation. I feel bringing out multiple consumables for doctors to give to their patients with them supporting their mouth care is everything. I know we will change the game by incorporating products that help prevent and further create a completely different experience: a healthy mouth! We as clinicians can all be so proud to elevate the culture.
Marcie Hill. Office Manager of Dental Wellness Center of Grass Valley (Calif.): My top priority for the second half of 2024 is to make sure that the dental team I am a part of has a smooth transition into our partnership with Imagen Dental Partners while continuing to provide excellent care for our patients. It's important to me to watch the business grow, but just as important is that the employees feel confident through the growth phase. I want to help ensure that optimal growth occurs.
Ronald Perry, DDS. Associate Dentist at Dentistry by Design (Boston): Working in a DSO, my top priority for the second half of 2024 should focus on enhancing patient care while ensuring operational efficiency. Here are some key areas I will prioritize improving. No 1. is patient care and satisfaction through increasing quality of care, patient communication and patient feedback. No. 2 is operational efficiency by streamlining processes and using new technology. No. 3 is team collaboration and development through training and education as well as fostering a positive work environment. No. 4 is compliance and safety by ensuring the practice complies with all dental regulations, standards and safety protocols. No. 5 is growth and community engagement by increasing patient retention and acquisition and through our community involvement. By focusing on these areas, you can contribute significantly to the success of the DSO, ensuring high-quality patient care, operational excellence and a thriving practice.
Joseph Palko. Business Intelligence Manager of Great Lakes Dental Partners (Chicago): Our top priority for the second half of 2024 is building a more robust dictionary for our reports and internal KPIs. Additionally, roll out training programs for our users around our internal reports. The main reason for this is to continue to build more trust and confidence in the data as well as get buy-in when our users are entering data in our source systems. We are looking to build a data decision-making culture at all levels. We believe this will come from trust, understanding and visibility in the data and how it is generated.
Robert Trager, DDS. Dentist at JFK Airport (New York City): My top priorities for the next half of 2024 include three main goals. The first is increasing license portability from more states. This will allow many dentists to practice in states other than where they are licensed from and increase flexibility for dentists. This is a win-win situation for all. Another priority would be for more states to implement dental loss ratios. This should increase reimbursements to the practitioners/vendors. The only problem is these insurance companies are experts in manipulating figures and or statistics to their advantage. Another priority for the major insurance companies is to stop writing and try to sell plans with contracts that pay 50% less reimbursements for the same dental procedure codes for work done on patients that have the same insurance company. There should be some type of legal statute to prevent this under selling of contracts that fool patients who think they are getting excellent benefits when they find out they are having large, out-of-pocket expenses. We as dentists should refuse these plans even if we are an in-network dentist with the same insurance company and not be forced to accept an inferior plan. Some plans, for example, allow $250 for a denture, which is far less than the lab fees.