Get ready to rise! 3 hurdles overcome by successful emerging dental groups

The dental industry is witnessing a significant shift with the rise of emerging dental groups — collections of 5 to 20 dental practices, with more than 20 practices being a dental service organization (DSO).

The smaller group model has increased in popularity. According to Dental Economics:

“The dental service organization (DSO) model challenges traditional solo practices. As a response, small groups, which offer the advantages of scale necessary to compete while still retaining autonomy, warrant consideration.”

As the landscape of dentistry evolves, the challenges that arise for emerging dental groups must be conquered to ensure their profitability and success.

Knowing what to expect as an emerging dental group can help you strategize which steps to take to overcome these hurdles. Let’s cover 3 of the big ones… 

Hurdle #1: Finding and retaining the right team members amongst a staffing shortage

Managing a dental practice, and especially the revenue cycle of a dental practice, requires a certain set of skills. 

Dental insurance is niche knowledge to hone, and finding the right people to take this on at your emerging dental group proves to be a huge hurdle for leaders. But you’ll see costly errors and a slower cash flow when you don’t have dental revenue cycle management (RCM) experts handling your practices’ billing processes. 

“When you have experts solving your problems, you can efficiently improve your processes and create that scalable, profitable platform that you can “rinse and repeat” to grow.” - Patient Prism

So you need seasoned dental RCM expertise to drive the growth you want for your dental group. Seems straightforward enough, right?

Well, there is the issue that is the nationwide staffing shortage, and the dental industry has certainly been affected. Not only is it harder to find the right people to work for your emerging dental group, it’s harder to keep them. 

As your business grows, you want to keep an adept crew of employees to ensure business stability, a healthy work culture, and a positive patient experience. You want to make sure all of your dental practices benefit from the best possible care. 

Bringing on an RCM service provider surmounts the hiring hurdle. Our customers at DCS aren’t feeling the nationwide staffing shortage — read here to find out how and why.

Hurdle #2: Scaling operations efficiently and effectively

As your emerging dental group grows, you must scale up operations without sacrificing quality. With an increase in its production, the number of practices, or both, your group’s operations must be able to handle this growth with ease. 

Think of it like making dinner for a growing family. Cooking for a couple is a task, while cooking for a family of four is a project — and cooking a holiday meal for 12 is an adventure.

As your group grows, you will need more hands on deck and improved processes, and you may need to bring in external expertise.

To sustain your growth, you’ll want to lean on scalable technologies to automate and streamline your workflows. For example, our automated patient billing technology at DCS frees your team from repetitive, time-consuming tasks like calling patients to confirm their appointments or chasing them down for late payments.

Related: A digital dental practice: 3 reasons why you should embrace technology at the office

Without effective support, an increase in your practices’ patient load will overwhelm and overwork your team, which often leads to a sacrifice in service quality.

But with a combination of technology and talent on your side, one more hurdle is overcome! 

Hurdle #3: Standing out in a crowded industry and a dynamic landscape

Our last hurdle is differentiating your group in the competitive and changing dental industry. This requires asking yourselves questions about issues such as: 

• Adapting to new patient expectations. How much are patients willing to pay for patient care? How convenient do they expect their billing process to be? How fast do they expect treatment to be?
• Staying abreast of market trends. How are insurance companies changing their submission processes? What are the latest processes and tools for both administrative and clinical parts of dental practices?
• Developing effective marketing strategies. When was the last time our website and Google listing were updated? Should our dental group post on social media? Should we attend dental industry events and network with colleagues on social media?

Related: The future of the dental industry: Trusted consultants share insights

You want your brand to stand out as the best choice, especially if you’re hoping to add more dental practices to your group. You need marketing strategies to get your name out there, show why your emerging dental group is unique, and why a dentist would want their practice to be part of it. 

Take your emerging dental group to the next level with expert RCM

To recap, we’ve covered these 3 hurdles every emerging dental groups will face and need to overcome for continued success: 

Hurdle #1: Finding and retaining the right team members amongst a staffing shortage

Hurdle #2: Scaling operations efficiently and effectively

Hurdle #3: Standing out in a crowded industry and a dynamic landscape

Addressing these challenges is about more than overcoming hurdles; it's also about strategic planning and execution for the best return on the investment of your group’s resources.

The right revenue cycle management (RCM) service provider will leap over each of these hurdles with you, and sometimes for you. By focusing on key business areas -– staffing, scaling operations, and market differentiation -– while leveraging expert support like that offered by DCS, your emerging group can set themselves up for long-term success.

Let our RCM experts jump over these hurdles for you: Book a call with us today.