The dental organizations that will dominate the next era of dentistry will be the ones that optimize their teams, technology and existing networks to fuel growth, according to several DSO leaders.
Three dental executives joined Becker’s Future of Dentistry Roundtable Sept. 14 to discuss what success will look like for dental organizations in five years.
Note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What will define a winning dental organization five years from now, and how will that differ from today?
Ashish Bagai. Co-CEO at Vitana Pediatric & Orthodontic Partners (Plantation, Fla.): I think today, and historically, we’ve looked at winning as a number of locations and the size of the EBITDA, and those are real numbers and they’re important, but they’re always historical numbers. I think if we want to predict performance going forward, two things come to mind. The first is organic growth. This is growth within your same practices that you’ve had, not just through acquisition.
I think the second one is all about retention — retention of your doctors, not just up to their contract term, but how many actually stay on beyond their contractual terms, as well as associate doctors. The last one is about patient retention. If you measure that, it will give you a good understanding of your culture, which ultimately drives everything.
Brian Groeschel. CFO at More Dental Solutions (Huntersville, N.C.): I think a lot of it comes down to making your operations as efficient as possible, and using technology as much as you can to make that happen. Our patients are getting older, a lot of our staff are getting older, so we’ve got to take this technology and make that easy for them and make that scalable within our systems.
Justin Lai, DDS. Chief Dental Director at Dent-Well (Houston): If you look five years back, I don’t think anyone thought we’d be where we are today. A lot has come from five years ago, so I think five years from now, you’re looking at organizations that have the operational flexibility to bend and mold with the changing times … it’s great to try to retain the employees as long as you can, but eventually they’re going to leave, so you’re going to need to find a way to backfill with quality candidates.
At the Becker's 5th Annual Future of Dentistry Roundtable, taking place September 14-15 in Chicago, dental leaders and executives will gain insights into emerging technologies, practice growth strategies and the evolving landscape of dental care delivery, with a focus on innovation, patient experience and operational excellence. Apply for complimentary registration now.
