- Hello everyone, and thank you for tuning in
to the Becker's Healthcare podcast.
My name is Mariah Mohamed,
and I'm absolutely thrilled to be joined today by Dr.
Seth gri, senior Director of AI
and Innovation at Heartland Dental.
Doctor, thank you so much for joining us today.
It's always a pleasure to speak
with the Heartland Dental Team.
Let's jump right into today's conversation.
So as a senior director of AI
and Innovation at Heartland Dental, what are some
of your priorities and key focus areas right now?
- Well, first I wanna say thanks for having me, Mariah.
I appreciate Becker's
and everything you do to help the industry.
And so, um, just wanted to start off with
that from the, from the jump.
To answer your question, I would think one
of the main things that I do is really just try
to stay on top of innovation that's out there, um,
and look at kind of
what products are coming down the down the line and,
and how we can influence things for the better
for the clinician and for the patients.
'cause ultimately, as a clinician, my job is to figure out
how to, um, help support doctors
and their teams as they deliver, uh, the experience
to the communities that they serve.
And so they're the ones
that are in the chair with the patients.
They're the ones that are chairside.
And so just continue to look at solutions for them on, on
how they can best, um, best support their patients.
- Yeah, yeah, definitely staying on top
of innovation definitely seems essential for your role
and for the organization.
Surely. What has Harlan Dental's journey
with AI looked like?
I know many companies recently just started
maybe a year or two ago.
Um, how long has the company been
looking into this technology?
- So, I've been involved in AI within dentistry
for the last six plus years,
so I've been working on it for a while.
So it's, it's one of those things that,
like you plant a garden and you have to have patience
and it takes time and you have to water
and you have to, to provide nutrients for the garden.
And, and sometimes that takes seasons for it
to mature and for it to grow.
And, and so over the last six years, been involved
with numerous companies, basically everyone in this space
that you could, you could name or imagine
or think of to have conversations on, you know, how can
products be created
that really help drive patient care to a higher level?
I mean, ultimately for me, that's what it's about.
It's, yes, it's about creating efficiencies,
but it's really about
how do we help patients get a higher level of care
and consistency day in and day out.
And so the journey's been a long one,
and it's been really exciting to see,
and especially the last year
or so, I mean, uh, just over a year ago chat, GPT came out.
So everybody's learning about AI or,
or they're involved in ai
and really, whether you call it ai,
whether you call it machine learning, whether you call it
computer programming, really it's how do you take data
and processes and,
and automate those to a degree
that it creates efficiencies within the
system, if that makes sense.
- Yeah, definitely. I think
with technology can definitely be exciting to immediately,
uh, join into, but to ensure, you know, where to put in how
to work, it can be costly and a bit frustrating.
So it's nice that you have that experience.
What factors influence Heartland Dental's decision
to partner with, uh, Vidia Health
as the company's dental, uh, AI partner?
- I mean, I think a number of things
always go into decision making.
I mean, you should, you should consider multiple variables
as you're looking at, whether it's products you're gonna
implement or even CE courses you're gonna go take,
like what's the outcome gonna be
or what's the perceived outcome?
And then second to that is
how do you manage the change of implementation?
I mean, those are huge things.
And so when we look at partners in this space,
whether it's video health
or whether it's other companies, um,
that are in the technology side of things,
or it's Henry Schein or Henry Schein one,
or Allian Technologies and so on and so on
and so on, I could go down the list.
It's important to find partners that are willing to listen,
that are willing to collaborate,
and that really understand the ecosystem with what we work
and how, I mean, we support almost 3000 doctors
and there's a lot of variety among those doctors.
And you have to be cognizant of what change means to them
and how, um, different skill sets, uh,
need different solutions and
how those solutions can be implemented.
So a big part of our, our partnership with Vidia Health and,
and, um, their partnership with Henry Schein, one is
that it just, it just really went back
to working on solutions together, our partnership
and then really strategic
implementation of that change management.
So how can it help workflows?
How can it help tasks, um, to be more efficient
and effective for the team?
'cause ultimately we're in a relationship business.
It's my belief that we really, as clinicians, it's hard
because there are the tasks side of
what we do day in and day out.
And I think it's important to remember we are ultimately in
the relationship business
and kind of always said, if it's breathing, it's a priority.
Meaning if the patient's there, um,
that should be your focus.
And, and so if we can create solutions that,
that help them help a clinician support, help one
of the clinicians or one of the doctors
or a hygienist spend more time interacting with the patient,
understanding what their needs are, what their wants are,
you know, how this care is gonna affect their life.
They can, they can re really create more
customized healthcare for them.
And then on the, on the next side of the technology,
then you can say, okay, how can we utilize technology
to catch disease sooner?
So if we can stop the disease process
before it becomes more advanced,
then it becomes more costly, it becomes more invasive.
And so if we can catch it earlier in that life cycle,
then that's better for the patient.
And that's ultimately better for, for, in my, in my mind,
the, the clinician because it leads to more predictability
and care, if that makes sense.
- Yeah, yeah. Definitely makes sense.
Uh, and thank you so much for giving us that insight.
How does AI enhance the overall patient experience
and support the patient-centric approach?
Taking a Harland Dental supported offices, as I imagine
that's a big reason why AI is being implemented.
- It it does. I mean, I think, I mean, you can go back,
I don't, I don't know how old you are,
but I'm old enough to remember the Reader's Digest studies
where they go to different dentists
and they give you different opinions.
And, and as a practicing clinician, like I understood that
you go to 10 different dentists,
you're probably gonna get 20 different opinions.
And so I think with AI,
it does enhance the patient experience.
'cause it's almost like a built-in independent third
party perspective.
And so it's like you have this built-in second opinion.
Also, one of the things that I think it does is it,
it allows you to almost be fresh.
It's like a fresh set of eyes.
Like if we're talking about radiographic AI to
where it's looking at findings
and it's looking for whether it's, uh, caries on an x-ray
or if it's bone loss related to periodontal disease
or calculus, the AI never gets tired.
And so it enhances the patient experience by,
by having a level of consistency that us as clinicians, just
the AI is not perfect.
And so I think it's important
to remember it's a combination of those two.
So it's not the AI versus the clinician, it's really, um,
the AI plus the clinician
or the clinician plus the AI findings
with the, with the clinician.
This is something that I've positioned for the last
six plus years and, and is, is a very big component of
who we are at Heartland, is that we're doctor led,
we're doctor created, we're a doctor driven company.
And as a, as a doctor led company,
it's important that these are findings.
The doctor always maintains clinical autonomy.
So they're taking in that information
to help the patient experience
to be better, to be more consistent.
And so I think the feedback from patients has been great
because they understand it's just really another set of eyes
to make sure somebody's not missing something.
The other thing that we've really found is that
AI helps from a patient communication standpoint.
I mean, for years and years and years, I would draw on, um,
piece of paper for the patient, um, on the tray cover,
or I would try to explain to them, you know, you see this,
um, darker area on your X-rays on a black and white x-ray.
And they would, they would say they would see it,
but I really understood that
unless it was huge, they, they wouldn't see it.
And so it's this kind of communication difficulty between,
uh, patient and clinician.
'cause sometimes we go to dental, so to speak,
and rather than speaking patient.
And I think what we found is that AI really helps, um,
the patient experience by helping in communication
with the patient so they understand what their needs are,
they understand kind of what's going on
with their condition, and then whether it's catching
something earlier and using, uh, preventive therapies
to help take care of things
or talking to them about, um, their home care
or it's, it's helping them understand why they need
to either have a filling or crown or root canal
or whatever the stages of their dental needs are.
We found those things to be communicated better.
So that also helps enhance the patient experience.
I think from a business team standpoint
and from an intake of a patient, there's a number
of AI tools and innovations out there to make
that experience smoother so that they're not going back time
and again, and having to repeat themselves multiple times
as a patient or, or streamlining the process of, um,
insurance claims or payments or scheduling appointments.
So there's so many efficiencies within the system
that can be automated.
And whether you call that innovation, you use software for
that or you call it AI machine learning.
Um, there's a number of factors that come into play.
I think the other thing too is it enhances the patient
experience by ultimately being able to understand the data
that we have in regards to patient care.
So you've got somebody that's 35 years old
that's on these specific medicines that has this level
of attrition, then you can have a predictive level of care.
So you kind of have an understanding of, okay,
what somebody in that situation needs, um,
and how to have something that lasts as long as possible.
'cause ultimately that's
what you want is you want a predictive level
of care that lasts a long time.
And so how can you understand somebody's risk factors?
Well, now you have an ability with software, ai,
machine learning to be able to analyze
that data across a wide spectrum of patients
and then be able to really streamline care
to a more efficient process.
I mean, from heartland supported network of doctors,
we had over 10 million patient visits last year.
And so that's a lot of data
and a lot of stuff that you can correlate into, um,
understanding a, a patient's needs at a more granular level.
- Wonderful. Yeah, thank you so much for giving us
that information on how the patient experience is affected.
If we can go in a different direction, how is the adoption
of AI expected to enhance productivity
and streamline workflows in the offices
supported by Heartland Dental?
- When I look at AI
and I look at innovation in general,
I'm not really looking at it as a production number
because I really think if we kinda put money aside
for a second and we say, okay, what are we gonna do
that's in the best interest of the patient,
the productivity comes.
So the patients understand
that what's the saying is nobody cares how much you know,
till they know how much you care.
And if it truly goes back to the relationship business
and the people business, which is what we're in,
that's a huge part of it.
And so AI providing solutions that allow you
to be more personal, to understand more about your patient,
to care from an interpersonal standpoint at a higher level
ultimately creates streamlines that will lead
to more productive environments.
But I think the biggest thing that we've seen is that those
that have adopted it at a higher level,
their patients are saying yes at a higher level.
So the care that they're already diagnosing.
And so if a doctor believes you need this as a patient,
then they're diagnosing it.
And so say the patient is accepting 50% of
what you're diagnosing
and moving forward with that, well if now they're saying,
okay, let, let's, let's do 60% of what you're saying
'cause they understand it at a higher level.
So that's where I think the, the patient communication
and the case acceptance is, is kind
of a really big barometer for me.
So not necessarily like are they, are they diagnosing more
or are, is somebody doing something different in regards to
a numbers game, so to speak?
It, it's really more about how do you create a,
a consistent level of care for your patients
and how do you get them to understand what their needs are.
Then I think on the flip side of that, you're also able
to take care of stuff earlier.
And so if you can, there's some newer technologies out
with innovation of restorative materials or,
or regenerative materials that, that really work to kind
of remineralize surfaces
that at a higher level than something like MI pace
or calcium hydroxide or fluoride did in the past.
But even the technology's just gonna continue
to get better and better and better.
- Yeah, absolutely.
Very quickly, can you share an example of
where AI has been leveraged to elevate the quality of care
and increased case acceptance among patients?
- Got lots of examples. I mean, I just think
really patients being able to see it, so being able
to understand, say incipient lesions
or they've got the cavities that, I mean,
and I've always told 'em, patients' teeth are like m
and ms, they've got a heart outer
shell and a softer inner cell.
So if you have a cavity that's in
that heart out outer shell, we have a chance through
oral hygiene instructions
or remineralization products that we can,
we can help those things at least slow the process.
And, and now with solutions like radon
and other biomimetic regenerative materials,
we've got the ability to, to really heal some
of those cavities when they're in that harder outer shell.
And so I think just stopping that disease process,
then you stop the, so like, I think that's a huge win
because then you're, you're, you're stopping the process
of restorative needs.
So like if you can get to something
before it even becomes something that needs a filling,
'cause once you drill on a tooth that's,
that's non reversible, you're never gonna go back to what,
um, God gave you and what you started with.
So, uh, I think those are, that's a lot
of huge wins on the, on the front end.
And then, and then on the, on the flip side of that,
if you can get somebody, say they've got a large cavity
and they've got a broken down tooth
and you can keep 'em out of root canal, um,
because you are able to communicate to them in a,
in a manner which they understood what their needs were,
that they were willing to say yes,
and now you're taking care of it six months, a year
or at some timeframe
before it becomes an emergency situation.
So you're able to, they're able to fit the, the care
that they need in their life in a more strategic manner
versus it being an emergency situation.
Um, 'cause I know my wife would, it would,
it would ruin her day to have to deal with a toothache
and have, uh, something unexpected come up.
And I think most of our patients are the same way, is
that they, um, I'm sure you don't, I'm sure Mariah,
you don't wanna have a have an
emergency thrown in the middle of your day.
We've all got enough problems to solve every day.
So if we can figure out ways to predictive
schedule things out, to plan things out,
to anticipate needs, then um,
those are all huge wins in my, in my mind.
- Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
I completely agree with you
and I think from the patient perspective, AI is more
of a positive, uh, for them than a negative Definitely.
What has the feedback been from the supported doctors
hygiene providers and team members on ai?
- Honestly, a ton of excitement.
Um, because they see how it can help them.
They see how it can make their morning
huddle more predictable.
They see how it can help their patients
understand kind of what they need.
They see how it can make their day more efficient.
And so really from a doctor standpoint, uh,
from a hygiene standpoint,
from a dental assistant standpoint,
from a business assistant standpoint, it's kind
of like every, every position within the office,
there's something in it for them in, in rega in regards
to AI or in regards to innovation.
And so as we look at solutions, I think one
of the great things that, that we've been fortunate
to help on in regards to these solutions
that are offered in the, in the dental world
or in the landscape is our, is our influence
as a world-class company.
And part of that is to be in the room
and to have a hygienist in the room to offer opinions
and their perspective on, on
how to make the solution better.
And so I think that that's also part
of our decision making when it goes to picking partners, is
how can they be strategic partners?
And it really is a partnership.
So how can we collaborate on building solutions
that really help everyone in the office to be able
to focus on their patients at a higher level?
- Yeah, that completely makes sense.
On that same note, do you believe that access
to this technology provides a competitive edge
for supported doctors compared to their peers?
- I would, I would just say yes,
because any tool that you're using that are gonna
help patients understand their needs at a higher level
or create efficiencies when the office are,
that they create competitive advantages.
But I think we look internally a lot.
So we look at, okay, where a network
of 1700 plus supporter offices
and every office is based on the community and the doctor
and the leadership of the team that's there.
And so everyone's unique.
And so I think that's part of a little bit
of a competitive advantage in the communities they serve.
'cause it's a differentiator. But I think also
them having the ability to customize solutions
to some degree kind of ties into that clinical autonomy or,
or how the doctors consistently
would diagnose for their patients.
And so there is, there is that customization component of it
that, um, that also helps.
So yeah, I, I think it does create a competitive advantage,
but I, I also foresee a future state where it kind
of becomes like digital x-rays
and it becomes pretty standard across most offices.
I mean, I can remember when I, um, started in dentistry,
there were no digital x-rays.
We , we had film rooms and, and dipped x-rays.
And, and as technology changed
and things continue to enhance those things will too.
So I I, I do see a day
where it becomes even built into imaging platforms or,
or practice management softwares
and it becomes more standard across the,
across the industry.
I think right now it's still early stages.
And so, um, I think adoption is just gonna continue to grow.
- Yeah, absolutely.
I wanna thank you so much, doctor, for sharing your time
and insights with us today, as well as Heartland Dental
for sponsoring today's content.
To our listeners, thank you so much for joining us
and please be sure to check out other,
other Becker's podcast.
Have a wonderful rest of your day. .