Attracting and retaining staff, maintaining profitability and organic growth are three of the biggest hurdles in the way of DSOs this year.
These dental executives recently connected with Becker's to weigh in on the challenges facing the DSO industry.
Note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What are the biggest challenges facing DSOs in 2025?
Rob Gershon. CEO of Convergent Dental (Waltham, Mass.): No. 1: Driving same store sales via increased efficiencies and throughput and expansion of procedures that are otherwise referred out to specialists. No. 2: Elevating the patient experience and driving consistency throughout the DSO to attract new patients and minimize patient attrition. No. 3: Attracting and retaining staff talent by creating a culture built around innovation and patient experience.
Richard Huot, DDS. CEO of Beachside Dental Consultants (Vero Beach, Fla.): By far the most challenging decision facing DSOs will be which participating networks will their clinics participate in to ensure profitability.
There are a lot of factors in that decision including the type of services provided by their doctors, and do the networks cover those procedures, is the DSO located in several states, and does that affect the fee schedule and what is the mix of patients that belong to those particular networks.
Traditionally, most dental offices have trimmed their networks by calculating a "worst case scenario" if they drop the network that is least subscribed to, and take a chance that the patients will stick with the office. Having offices that have network and out of network providers has been increasingly a way to deal with that issue also.
Andrew Jones. COO of Imagen Dental Partners (Scottsdale, Ariz.): The biggest challenges facing DSOs in 2025 are provider retention and organic growth. Groups will have to be thoughtful about attracting and retaining hygiene and dental assistant talent given record shortages in available candidates. We are developing innovative and creative approaches to incentivizing the right candidates and keeping our team members engaged and satisfied. We are also increasing our capabilities to market to new patients and maintain engagement with our existing patients using automated technology. We use AI to ensure our patients are understanding and accepting the treatment that our providers diagnose, which also supports the above-market growth of our practices.
Andrew Mintz. CEO of The Smilist (Great Neck, N.Y.): Recruiting and retaining talent at all levels of the organization remains the biggest issue in DSOs. While the industry is seeing a reduction in turnover, it is still too high. The costs to recruit and the costs of vacancies are too high and we need to continue to study organizational culture and constantly make course corrections to ensure we have an environment in which people want to work.
Theresa Neuhauser. Vice president, payor relations and strategic initiatives of Interdent (Inglewood, Calif.): While there are numerous challenges and opportunities ahead for DSOs in 2025, the key headwind from my perspective is the dual pressure of rising operational costs such as supplies, technology investments, and labor and the stagnating reimbursement rates from payors. Patients are increasingly prioritizing health, are informed consumers, and expect options like online scheduling, telehealth, seamless payment and communication workflows, and advanced clinical technologies for diagnostic and treatment purposes. In addition, clinicians expect innovative technology and solutions to further their ability to deliver high quality care and meet or exceed patient expectations. These investments, in conjunction with the resources required to train teams on their implementation, are vast. It will require DSOs to have a thoughtful and well-executed strategy and undoubtedly, a partnership with payors to deliver less invasive, less costly care now and into the future.