Dental workforce shortages, economic pressures and stagnant insurance reimbursement rates are just a few of the challenges that DSOs and dental practices are currently up against.
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 our Fall Future of Dentistry Roundtable, which is set for Oct. 30-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, contact Randi Haseman at rhaseman@beckershealthcare.com.
As part of an ongoing series, Becker's is talking to healthcare leaders who will speak at our roundtables. The following are answers from our speakers at the events.
Note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What is the biggest challenge dentists, DSOs and/or dental practices are facing today?
Mark Doherty, DMD. CEO and Owner of D4 Practice Solutions and Partner of Southcoast Endodontics (New Bedford, Mass.): Dentists, DSOs and dental practices still grapple with common challenges like workforce shortages, rising expenses due to inflation and low reimbursement rates. In addition, we are still seeing some patient last-minute cancellations and no shows, which wreak havoc on the dental schedule.
Heather Foster. CEO of Heritage Dental Group (Dallas): Some of the biggest challenges faced today include controlling operations cost while maintaining high-quality patient care; recruitment and retention, as finding and retaining skilled dental professionals, including dentists, hygienists and support staff, is crucial for the success of DSOs but can be competitive in the current market; technology integrations and keeping up with advancements in dental technology and effectively integrating them into the practice workflows is essential for providing top-notch patient care.
Alan Law, DDS, PhD. President of the Dental Specialists (Woodbury, Minn.): The biggest challenges facing dental practice are increasing dental student debt, the shortage of dental assistants and dental hygienists and no increase, or more significantly a decrease, in insurance reimbursement.
Yahya Mansour, DDS. Co-founder and Chief Dental Officer of Rodeo Dental and Orthodontics (Fort Worth, Texas): Workforce challenges, inflation and downward pressure from third party payers are three big challenges.
David Ortiz. Director of Operations of Secure Dental (East Peoria, Ill.): In my opinion, two of the most significant challenges facing dentists and DSOs today are staffing shortages and financial pressures. The shortage of skilled staff can hinder patient care and impact practice efficiency. Additionally, economic factors like insurance reimbursement rates and overhead costs continue to create financial strain for many dental practices. These two together can create a difficult balancing act, requiring careful management of resources to ensure long-term sustainability.
Daniel Romary. Chief Information and Analytics Officer of North American Dental Group (Pittsburgh): There are a few big challenges. First is business performance and economic challenges, as we have seen in recent years financial challenges for DSOs caused several driving forces. Another is labor shortages, recruiting and retaining talent due to rising wages, increased competition for talent, challenges in recruitment and expansion in practices. Cybersecurity risks are also a challenge. Similar to healthcare companies in general, DSOs face a similar risk by being targeted by cybercriminals who are interested in stealing patient data, including personal information, medical records and financial data. Finally is patient acquisition, retention and appointment completion. Based on increased costs, changing patient behavior and competition, patient acquisition and retention are increasingly challenging for all DSOs.
Fred Ward. CEO of Marquee Dental Partners (Brentwood, Tenn.): The biggest challenges facing dentists and dental practices today is finding quality and dependable staff members. The biggest challenge, as I see it, facing DSOs who are focused on growth through mergers and acquisitions is integration.