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- This is Gracelyn Keller
with the Becker's Healthcare Podcast,
and we are live from the business
and operations of a SC in the Future
of Dentistry Roundtable.
I'm joined right now by Abe Jara, who is the founder
and owner of the Dental Care Team Group.
So Abe, thanks so much for joining me today.
- Thank you. Appreciate - It.
Yeah, and I would love to start off
by just having you introduce yourself a little bit further
and tell us more about your background.
- Sure. So, as you said, my name is Abe Jara. I'm a dentist.
Uh, I've been in practice for, uh, 36 years or so.
Uh, I founded, uh, dental Care Team group, um,
about 35, 34 years ago.
Um, we are in Genessee County, which is about in Michigan,
which is about 45 miles north of Detroit.
Um, I also have a degree in biomaterials from my University
of Michigan, uh, dental school.
So I've been doing this for a while.
- Wonderful. Well, thank you for taking the time to join me.
Um, and my first question for you today is,
what are the biggest issues
that you're currently following in the dental space?
- You know, what, uh, the biggest issue is, uh, making sure
that, uh, basic stuff, basic really business, uh,
principles are being followed.
Uh, we've had so many years of growth and acquiring
and expanding the organization
and so on, to a point where I feel that, uh,
profitability, uh, really suffered
and, uh, it's just, uh, it's not as solid, uh,
of a base anymore as it used to be or as it should be.
So it's solidifying the base
and making sure that basic principles are being followed
so that, uh, when, when it's time for the next
growth spurt, uh,
it's being done on a very solid foundation.
- Absolutely. And my next question
for you is kind of twofold.
So first, what are you most excited
about in dental right now?
And then second, what makes you the most nervous?
- Uh, what makes me the I, I'll go with the second one.
What makes me the most nervous is the economy
is like, what's gonna happen?
How many people are gonna lose their jobs?
How, uh, you know, how is it gonna affect the field?
The amount of quote unquote quality
employees, I hate, I hate to use that term,
but really, you know, finding people that are, that want
to be employed by us as opposed to just have to be employed.
Uh, finding people with, uh, good backgrounds for,
for the different positions that we have.
All of that worries me quite a bit, uh, in terms of, uh,
excited, um, as usual, it's such, um, uh,
uh, it's such a lucrative field.
It's very, um, open to expansion
and growth again, as I mentioned
before, based on it being on a solid foundation as opposed
to just hollow growth, that can fall apart really easy.
Uh, so, uh, the, the possibility of expansion
and growth in the field always gets
me very excited about it.
- Absolutely. And final question here for you,
what do you think the most effective healthcare leaders are
gonna need in the next two to three years to be successful?
- Um, successful in what ways?
Successful in business or successful clinically
and in patient care?
- I think that's up for interpretation
for whatever you think successful is.
- Sure. So I, I would say successful is all of the above.
Uh, so, uh, you know, for, for you
to be successful in patient care and lose your business
because of, you know, bankruptcy
and being really dramatic here is no good
and being a fantastic business person who, uh, has a lot
of profitability, but at the same time, um, the, um,
you know, the patients are really not being taken care of.
They're not successful either.
So really both of 'em have to be, have to be there.
So for you to be successful, uh, as a healthcare provider,
one is your clinical skills have
to be at a very, very high level.
Uh, you really have to make sure that you are on the, uh,
cutting edge of, uh, of treatment.
Uh, you're providing everything
that is available at a high level of, uh, service.
And, and when I say service, I mean clinical skills as well
as, you know, treating people.
And, uh, in terms of, uh, the business part, I go back to
what I said before, make sure
that you really know the basics
and you're following the very basic old, uh, time tested
business principles, making sure
that you keep your eye on the expenses
and not, um, you know, be borrowing more than you should.
And so on putting yourself in possible financial jeopardy.
You know, I like this, uh, this statement, which is kind
of like tongue in cheek kind of a statement.
Uh, you know, God gave us two eyes, one,
to keep on the customer and the other to keep on expenses.
And I truly believe that you really have to make sure
that you're, that both are covered for you
to be successful going forward.
- A hundred percent. Well, Abe, thanks so much
for joining me today on the Becker's Healthcare Podcast.
Again, we're live at the business
and operations of a SC in the future
of Dentistry Roundtable. Thank you.
- Thank you. Appreciate it.
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