DEO's Growth Secrets for Dental Organizations

In this episode, Ken Kaufman hosts Nick Korhonen, CFO of Corus Orthodontists. They discuss the history of Corus, a unique growing orthodontic partnership network that provides support and autonomy for orthodontic specialists. Nick shares the details of Corus's growth trajectory to 40 practices, 50 doctors, and over 700 team members. Highlighting the Corus model's financial structure, Ken and Nick...

In this episode, Emmet Scott hosts Dr. Tarek Aly and Dr. Dustin Roden-Johnson Co-Founders of OrthoDent Management LLC & Modern Smiles. They discuss the integration of specialties into dental organizations: the pros and cons, what to consider, and more. Dr. Aly and Dr. Roden-Johnson share the challenges, mistakes, and successes OrthoDent faced when integrating specialties. Emmet and Drs.' Aly and R...

In this episode, Emmet welcomes Sarah Sharfstein, Vice President, Category Development & Strategy at Aspen Dental. They discuss how to scale in multiple areas simultaneously — what's needed to support both clinicians and at the practice level to be successful. Sarah gives an inside view into the strategies Aspen is using to scale. She and Emmet dig deep into the challenges, potential solutions, an...

In this episode host Ken Kaufman, CFO of Community Dental Partners is joined by dental fraud experts from Prospiderent, the world's oldest and largest dental embezzlement investigation firm. He speaks with Prospiderent's Founder and CEO David Harris; Supervising Fraud Examiner for the Orthodontic Industry Wendy Askins, BS, MBA, CFE; and Senior Fraud Examiner Amber Weber. They discuss the unique an...

In this episode, Ken Kaufman hosts Hollie Williams, CFO, Rodeo Dental and Orthodontics. Previously Hollie was CFO of Choice Cancer Care for over 10 years and held several CFO roles prior to that. She has been a CPA since 1994 and was an Audit Professional at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, LLC for 6 years. Ken and Hollie discuss "all things" DSO audits including what to expect when being audited, how to...

Emmet hosts Danielle McKinley, Director of Partner Relations, PCIHIPPA, a leader and compliance and patient data protection with a focus on preventing catastrophic losses caused by regulatory non-compliance, data breaches, and human error. Emmet and Danielle discuss the dangers and contingencies around planning for ransomware, data breaches, preparing for compliance and more. Danielle shares her e...

In this episode, Ken Kaufman hosts Ben Hernandez, Founding Partner at Skytale Group, which specializes in high-level financial management and M&A Consulting, primarily in the dental and med spa spaces. They discuss "all things" PPP loans: Round 1 forgiveness; Round 2 funds utilization and forgiveness; and how unforgiven PPP loans can complicate your M&A strategies. Ben emphasizes that the forgiven...

Ken Kaufman hosts Justin Miller, VP of Employee Benefits, USCI Insurance Services, to discuss the key issues and items DSO leaders should consider when setting up their employee benefit plans. They touch on strategies for making benefit plans competitive in the employee marketplace. Justin shares what benefits offer the biggest ROI for employee recruitment and retention. Together they address the...

In this episode, Emmet hosts Tarek Aly, COO, CFO, and Co-Owner, OrthoDent Management LLC; and Co-Owner, Modern Smiles LLC. They assess the pros and cons for a smaller/ emerging dental group to partner with a larger dental group to scale. Tarek discusses what to evaluate when approaching this decision, breaking the process down into 4 parts: 1. strategic aspect to assess alignment; 2. the resulting...

In this episode, Ken Kaufman hosts Mike Montgomery, VP of Healthcare Middle Market Lending and Sponsor Finance, Live Oak Bank. They discuss raising debt financing including the dichotomy between debt and equity: when you're financing growth with debt, it means you get to keep your equity. Ken and Mike deliberate the limitations and restrictions of debt and when it's time for private equity. They d...

In this episode, Ken hosts Mike Yates, CFO, Spring Dental. With his strong financial, operational, and technological background, Mike has an advanced and comprehensive understanding of the financial and operational aspects of group dentistry. Ken taps his knowledge about how to make the best use of available financial resources. They also discuss the lessons DSOs can learn from other areas of the...

Kevin Kaufman hosts Mike White, Healthcare Principal with CliftonLarsonAllen to discuss DSO financial/accounting trends, advice for emerging groups, and how much your dental organization should be paying for accounting. Plus they go deep into numbers and financials including how to optimize costs, P&Ls, budgeting, forecasting, the CFO role, and more. Take a listen for accounting and financial advi...

In this episode, Emmet hosts John Sheldon, CMO, Smile Direct Club. Together, they consider the possibilities and power of marketing in the DSO industry, discussing best practices and innovative strategies in both the group dentistry industry and beyond. John also highlights Smile Direct Club's marketing strategy. Plus John and Emmet discuss the importance of creating "irrational brand love" and a...

In this episode host Ken Kaufman, CFO of Community Dental Partners is joined by dental fraud expert David Harris, to discuss fraud vulnerabilities within the DSO industry. They dive into why DSOs have unique and different fraud vulnerabilities. David Harris is the author of "Dental Embezzlement Expert" and founder and CEO of the world's oldest and largest dental embezzlement investigation firm, Pr...

In this episode, Ken Kaufman, CFO of Community Dental Partners guest hosts and welcomes Nathan Chitty, CFO and Director of Business Development at Operation in Dental HQ in Orlando, FL. Ken and Nathan discuss all things unique about finance in dental organizations. Ken taps Nathan's expertise with raising debt and equity and they discuss the pros and cons of expanding with deNovos vs acquisitions;...

In this podcast, Emmet discusses the 4 location growth categories of DSOs that he's seeing in the group dentistry marketplace: #1 Innovators, #2 Consolidators, #3 Turnaround Masters, #4 Franchisers. He discusses the differences in their paths for location growth, solicits comments, and asks for listeners to chime on the DSO Secrets Facebook page: Which category do you fall into? And is there anoth...

In this episode, Emmet hosts Sabina Hitchen, PR Strategist, Founder of Press for Success; and Jessica Abo, Media Trainer, and Journalist; to discuss the need for marketing expertise in dentistry. They discuss how competition for patients isn't just from other dental practices but from anything else that is grabbing patients' mind space — multiple products and services. Marketers from all industrie...

In this episode, Emmet hosts Steve Bilt, CEO of Smile Brands Inc. They discuss the leadership journey. Using different metaphors, Steve and Emmet discuss the self-awareness and humility needed for leadership. A "lightning bolt" is one metaphor Steve uses to describe the roller coaster of leading a large DSO: giving the example of COVID, he notes how it was up, down, up, down — from feeling abject...

In this episode, Emmet hosts Alamin Uddin, CEO & Founder of NexHealth to discuss the sometimes elusive "patient experience". They discuss companies like Amazon and Uber, how they have made the consumer experience frictionless and easy, and how health care must head that direction. They remind listeners that keeping technology, convenience, and ease of access top of mind is key for acquiring and re...

In this episode, Emmet hosts Dr. Riddhi Gangolli, Senior Director of Professional Education/ Marketing and Chris Thompson, VP of Sales, both from Smile Direct Club (SDC). Emmet doesn't hold back when asking tough and complex questions — both negative and positive. They discuss the extent of doctor involvement with SDC treatment; how they vet cases; which cases they don't accept; how SDC aligners a...

In this episode Emmet defines and breaks down what a DSO (Dental Support Organization) really is. He muses on its different components in an aim to dispute the negative connotations the term DSO has for some in the dental industry. The key word Emmet focuses on is "support" — the concept that clinicians should be supported so they have more autonomy to focus on clinical care. He discusses the comp...

In this episode Emmet muses on developing and scaling the clinical leadership of DSO organizations, a topic he's been pondering for years. In light of the maturing DSO industry, it's a perfect time to reflect on this topic. Emmet notes that putting together the words "Clinical Scaling Leadership" sounds odd but it makes for a perfect opportunity to reflect on the clarity of your DSO's vision. Emme...

Join Emmet for this episode discussing the difference between a "To Do" List and a "To No" List. Learn the benefits and challenges of "To Do" lists, including how to avoid making a "To Wish" List. Have you heard of a "To No" List? It might not be what you think — it's not the opposite of a "To Do" list. Emmet explains how to use the disciplined approach of a "To No" List to get to the next goal fo...