by Summer Reading
We are coming off a busy time for dental group practice and DSO meetings. In the month of June there were three dental group practice meetings.
Dr. Marc Cooper and company held their annual meeting simply called ‘The Summit’ in early June in Phoenix, Ariz. The middle of June saw the law firm Dykema and their ever-growing ‘Definitive Conference on Dental Service Organizations.’ Not to be outdone by the first two meetings in the month of June, Heidi Arndt and the Enhanced Hygiene team held their ‘Dental Group Evolution’ meeting, which focused on the clinical side of the dental group equation.
As we move deeper into the summer months, kids are enjoying their summer break, and many families are taking some much-needed vacation time. I find it is also a great time to catch up on education and reading. Keeping that in mind, we have some important topics in this issue of Efficiency. Compliance, infection control, Medicaid, and pain management may not make for light summer reading, but these topics are of paramount importance to dental group practices of all sizes.
Our cover story, Culture of Compliance, is a deep dive into the consistent protocols that several DSOs follow to protect their practice owners, dental teams, and their patients from the spread of disease. We review compliance protocol with Benevis, Great Expressions and Aspen Dental. A frequent contributor to Efficiency, Dr. Katherine Schrubbe and Dental Associates are featured in a piece on infection control and compliance titled Sound Practices.
Is Medicaid Dentistry Sustainable and No Pain, Big Gain are two other articles to put on your summer reading list. In the first piece, Lisa Mikkelsen, COO of Benevis, makes the case for continued Medicaid assistance for dental patients, talks about the changing reimbursement landscape and highlights how the DSO model is giving more access to these Medicaid patients. Access is not the only challenge for dental groups. Once a patient has access to care, how do you keep them calm and comfortable? We talk with several innovators in pain management to find the newest and most effective ways to “ease the pain.”
Grab your beach chair and enjoy,
Bill Neumann
