by Holiday season is here.
This is always a busy time of the year. Thoughts of vacation and holiday cheer sometimes overtake dental business priorities. That’s not a bad thing. This is also a time to review the current fiscal year and what has been happening in your practice(s). What has worked and what still needs some fine tuning. Equally important is to look forward toward next year and plan wisely.
With recent trips to the ADA in New Orleans and the Greater New York meeting, there’s one thing that seems to stand out: the DSO/GPO market is continuing to grow in a flat dental economy. Whether it’s private equity money or dental entrepreneurs in growth mode, “groups” continue to be the fastest growing business model in all of dentistry. Of course, within groups, that business model varies widely. All the evidence points to the group model gaining more and more dominance in a world once dominated by sole practitioners. Whether you’re a clinician, or you are on the business side of a DSO/GPO, you can take pride in the fact that you’re a pioneer carrying the dental industry into its next phase. I truly believe, and I am not the first to point this out, that the dental industry will not look anything like it does now in 10 years time. What will it look like? There are some valid hypotheses which will be explored in this issue of the magazine, as well as upcoming issues.
Please take some of this season’s downtime to read many of the key forward-thinking stories in this issue of Efficiency in Group Practice:
- The Q&A with Dr. Edward Meckler, founder of Dental One Partners and founding member of the DGPA, gives real insight into the future of the DSO model.
- HIV, heart disease, Hep. C testing in the dental office? Dr. Barbara Greenberg makes a case for this in the chairside screening article.
- Dr. Charles Blair talks about the rise and challenge of PPOs.
- Lastly, we have yet another thought provoking and interesting Q&A. This time it’s with Dr. Albert Guay, Chief Policy Advisor for the American Dental Association.
So as we ring in the New Year, know that YOU, our valued reader, are the future of the dental industry.
Bill Neumann
