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BECKER'S DENTAL + DSO REVIEW - VOL. 2021 NO. 1
EXECUTIVE BRIEFING
needs, I believe Heartland Dental will be able to better
help our supported doctors in navigating the changing
insurance landscape."
Heartland Dental continues to grow because its mission
resonates with so many dentists
In 2020, Heartland Dental added 130 supported offices,
consisting of about 50 brand new practices and about 80
affiliations, including the recent acquisition of Tru Family
Dental, the Southfield, Michigan-based regional dental
support organization which included 23 offices across
Illinois and Michigan.
In 2021, the company expects to expand its support to
another 150 to 200 offices. This continuing growth is a
reflection, said Mr. Bauer, that "more and more dentists are
realizing the benefits of support that Heartland Dental can
provide them."
In Mr. Bauer's experience, "Most dentists just want to be a
dentist. They want to take care of their patients and have
a good life while making a good living." But many dentists
don't enjoy everything that comes along with owning a
dental practice, which includes office operations, HR,
marketing, IT, maintenance, and legal and financial matters.
As Mr. Bauer conveyed, based on his 30+ years of experience
working with dentists, "Most of them don't want to be an HR
guru or a maintenance guru or a marketing guru. They just
want to be a dentist."
That's why Heartland Dental's mission has such appeal: to
support dentists and their teams as they deliver the highest-
quality dental care and experiences to the communities
they serve while providing exceptional careers and creating
value for our stakeholders.
Heartland Dental supports dentists by providing
nonclinical administrative services including support
with marketing, payroll, information technology, human
resources, accounting, credentialing and more. Dentists
who are supported by Heartland Dental view it as a positive
experience and are able to enjoy relief from administrative
non-clinical work, enhanced work/life balance,
opportunities for growth, and access to a community of
like-minded professionals.
Heartland Dental differentiates itself through its unique
philosophy, tools and education opportunities
Heartland has a doctor-led philosophy model, and it has
worked extremely well for Heartland Dental. "We affiliate
with the top 10 percent of solo practices," said Mr. Bauer.
"We don't do fixer uppers." Heartland Dental also doesn't
tell its supported offices how to deliver good patient
experiences — because they already know that.
What Heartland Dental does do is use Press Ganey to
measure patient satisfaction in each supported practice
and provides access to the tools and training to help
supported doctors offer the best patient experiences. Mr.
Bauer summarized Heartland Dental's approach by stating,
"We don't tell [each practice] what to do. We give them
the tools and the data for them to consider as they lead
their practice."
Among the tools that Hear tland Dental provides its
suppor ted practices are world-class training and education
programs. This includes, for example, an entire training
program on the best ways to communicate with patients.
The purpose of the company's education programs that
is available to suppor ted doctors is result-producing
actions and helping dentists achieve their personal and
professional goals.
The company is also known for its leadership development.
Mr. Bauer stressed that when practices affiliate with
Heartland Dental, the DSO provides support, but "[Doctors]
are still leading their practice. That leadership is something
we never replace. So, what Heartland Dental does is teach
people to be the best leader they can be, because the
best leaders have the best practices." Heartland Dental
makes significant investments in training and leadership
development, bringing in leading instructors through its
partnership with The Bell Leadership Institute in Chapel
Hill, N.C.
It is this unique philosophy and the way that Heartland
Dental implements it that separates the company from
other DSOs.
Conclusion
Some dental practices have struggled during the COVID-19
pandemic and are uncertain about the future. But not the
practices supported by Heartland Dental. Mr. Bauer said,
"It's just a great time to be in dentistry. We think there's so
much upside for every dentist." This upside comes from
the potential for a steady flow of patient traffic and from
promising trends such as teledentistry and orthodontics.
Beyond these trends, which also include new product and
service offerings, Heartland Dental's success ultimately
comes from its philosophy and culture. This philosophy is
about enabling dentists to focus on what they love to do
— which is practice dentistry — while providing them with
support services, tools and training to have a successful
business and a happy, balanced life. n
Heartland Dental is the nation's largest dental support organization providing non-clinical, administrative
support services. What started from the entrepreneurial spirit of Rick Workman, DMD, with his single dental
practice, has evolved into supporting over 1,700 dentists in over 1,100 dental offices across 38 states. The
company is majority owned by KKR, a leading global investment firm. For additional information, please visit the
company online at heartland.com. Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
