1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,080 Hi, everyone. This is Brian Zimmerman with the 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:03,379 Becker's Healthcare podcast. 3 00:00:03,759 --> 00:00:05,540 Thank you so much for tuning in today. 4 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:08,019 I'm joined today by Chelsea Pava, 5 00:00:08,455 --> 00:00:11,894 enterprise customer success manager groups at Clear and 6 00:00:11,894 --> 00:00:14,535 MemberC for a conversation focused on dental practice 7 00:00:14,535 --> 00:00:16,774 same store growth. Chelsea, thanks so much for 8 00:00:16,774 --> 00:00:18,140 being on the podcast today. 9 00:00:18,460 --> 00:00:19,980 Of course. It's great to be here. Thanks 10 00:00:19,980 --> 00:00:20,879 for having me. 11 00:00:21,339 --> 00:00:22,699 Of course. And and and to lay the 12 00:00:22,699 --> 00:00:24,619 groundwork here for the conversation to come, can 13 00:00:24,619 --> 00:00:26,445 you just share a bit more about your 14 00:00:26,445 --> 00:00:27,745 your professional background, 15 00:00:28,445 --> 00:00:30,525 FLIR, and just, you know, give give our 16 00:00:30,525 --> 00:00:32,284 listeners some context as we move into the 17 00:00:32,284 --> 00:00:33,265 conversation here? 18 00:00:33,780 --> 00:00:35,219 Yeah. Of course. I mean, like you said, 19 00:00:35,219 --> 00:00:38,179 I'm enterprise customer success manager at Clear and 20 00:00:38,179 --> 00:00:38,679 Membersy. 21 00:00:39,299 --> 00:00:39,799 So 22 00:00:40,500 --> 00:00:42,340 we are the all in one membership plan 23 00:00:42,340 --> 00:00:42,840 solution. 24 00:00:43,454 --> 00:00:46,335 We serve over 20,000 dentists across the US, 25 00:00:46,335 --> 00:00:47,715 and I personally support 26 00:00:48,094 --> 00:00:49,475 our large groups and DSOs 27 00:00:50,015 --> 00:00:52,679 in driving same store growth through these dental 28 00:00:52,679 --> 00:00:54,620 membership plans. My main focus 29 00:00:55,159 --> 00:00:57,500 is to form beneficial partnerships, 30 00:00:58,600 --> 00:00:59,740 leverage technology, 31 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:01,340 strategic insights, 32 00:01:01,785 --> 00:01:03,885 and just improve operational efficiency, 33 00:01:04,424 --> 00:01:06,284 maximize bottom line impact. 34 00:01:07,305 --> 00:01:09,865 I work with executive teams across the board 35 00:01:09,865 --> 00:01:12,369 to make sure that the DSOs are operating 36 00:01:12,369 --> 00:01:13,829 at the highest level possible. 37 00:01:15,409 --> 00:01:18,135 Excellent. I I appreciate you laying that out. 38 00:01:18,534 --> 00:01:19,814 And I wanna start with a with a 39 00:01:19,814 --> 00:01:22,615 high level question here just to, again, sort 40 00:01:22,615 --> 00:01:24,454 of give folks some context to work with. 41 00:01:24,454 --> 00:01:26,694 How would you really describe the concept of 42 00:01:26,694 --> 00:01:27,755 same store growth, 43 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:31,000 and why is this concept particularly relevant to 44 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:32,540 dental practices right now? 45 00:01:33,159 --> 00:01:35,159 I would say for dental teams, same store 46 00:01:35,159 --> 00:01:36,140 growth is, 47 00:01:36,484 --> 00:01:38,504 you know, the primary focus on maximizing 48 00:01:38,805 --> 00:01:42,504 efficiencies and cash flow across existing practice locations 49 00:01:42,645 --> 00:01:44,504 compared to the previous year. So 50 00:01:45,010 --> 00:01:47,730 looking at today versus last year, how are 51 00:01:47,730 --> 00:01:48,390 we doing? 52 00:01:48,689 --> 00:01:52,069 Rather than working to drive growth through acquisitions. 53 00:01:53,245 --> 00:01:55,265 And there's a lot of reasons why practices 54 00:01:55,405 --> 00:01:57,344 are making same store growth a priority. 55 00:01:57,805 --> 00:02:00,784 I think that the primary driver is inflation 56 00:02:01,549 --> 00:02:02,290 these days. 57 00:02:02,829 --> 00:02:05,489 If we look within, we have large opportunity 58 00:02:06,189 --> 00:02:08,750 rather than acquiring new, so I'm excited to 59 00:02:08,750 --> 00:02:09,650 get into that. 60 00:02:11,194 --> 00:02:14,155 Absolutely. And and when you see folks sort 61 00:02:14,155 --> 00:02:17,115 of undertake some of these same store growth 62 00:02:17,115 --> 00:02:19,055 initiatives, you know, really trying to drive 63 00:02:19,379 --> 00:02:21,159 drive that revenue, drive that growth 64 00:02:21,540 --> 00:02:23,860 without an acquisition. I guess, what are some 65 00:02:23,860 --> 00:02:26,900 common pitfalls or mistakes you see dental practices 66 00:02:26,900 --> 00:02:28,360 make when they're doing that work? 67 00:02:29,034 --> 00:02:31,754 I think it's easy to first prioritize new 68 00:02:31,754 --> 00:02:32,655 patient acquisition, 69 00:02:33,594 --> 00:02:37,055 but that's allocating money and time and resources 70 00:02:37,550 --> 00:02:39,090 and looking for fast results. 71 00:02:39,629 --> 00:02:41,250 But, you know, looking into research, 72 00:02:41,710 --> 00:02:44,509 it's only 40% of new patients complete a 73 00:02:44,509 --> 00:02:45,384 second appointment. 74 00:02:46,344 --> 00:02:47,245 This is wasting 75 00:02:47,544 --> 00:02:48,685 marketing expenses. 76 00:02:49,465 --> 00:02:52,025 It's losing revenue each year. And it's not 77 00:02:52,025 --> 00:02:54,340 that you shouldn't prioritize new patients, 78 00:02:54,959 --> 00:02:57,860 but it becomes harder to forecast and and 79 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:00,659 assess the long term ROI 80 00:03:01,155 --> 00:03:04,215 if systems aren't built to improve patient loyalty 81 00:03:04,275 --> 00:03:06,294 and retention from the start. So 82 00:03:07,074 --> 00:03:07,894 looking within 83 00:03:08,275 --> 00:03:10,549 instead of looking out for new, 84 00:03:10,930 --> 00:03:12,949 again, huge opportunity there, 85 00:03:13,489 --> 00:03:14,549 across the board. 86 00:03:15,409 --> 00:03:17,090 Yeah. And that's a that's sort of easy 87 00:03:17,090 --> 00:03:19,354 to to conceptualize too. If you're getting distracted 88 00:03:19,354 --> 00:03:21,194 trying to bring in new patients, it's easy 89 00:03:21,194 --> 00:03:21,694 to 90 00:03:21,995 --> 00:03:23,995 to think that that might translate into you're 91 00:03:23,995 --> 00:03:25,834 not focusing as much on those patients that 92 00:03:25,834 --> 00:03:27,810 you do have in terms of, how you 93 00:03:27,810 --> 00:03:29,810 allocate resources. Am I am I reading that 94 00:03:29,810 --> 00:03:30,310 correctly? 95 00:03:30,849 --> 00:03:33,650 Exactly. We wanna increase loyalty. We want our 96 00:03:33,650 --> 00:03:36,284 patients to continue to come back. New is 97 00:03:36,284 --> 00:03:38,284 great, but how do we maximize the folks 98 00:03:38,284 --> 00:03:40,284 that we know? How do we build better 99 00:03:40,284 --> 00:03:40,784 relationships 100 00:03:41,324 --> 00:03:43,340 with the patients that are coming in? How 101 00:03:43,340 --> 00:03:45,020 do we get them to behave in a 102 00:03:45,020 --> 00:03:47,659 way that helps us with this same store 103 00:03:47,659 --> 00:03:48,159 growth? 104 00:03:48,939 --> 00:03:50,715 Yeah. And and digging in that into that 105 00:03:50,715 --> 00:03:53,675 how to then, Chelsea, what tools or strategies 106 00:03:53,675 --> 00:03:54,495 would you recommend 107 00:03:54,955 --> 00:03:57,514 to dental practices really striving to to to 108 00:03:57,514 --> 00:03:59,134 achieve that same store growth? 109 00:03:59,569 --> 00:04:02,209 Any specific case studies or success stories come 110 00:04:02,209 --> 00:04:03,830 to mind that really highlight this? 111 00:04:04,770 --> 00:04:07,250 Yeah. Of course. I would say a case 112 00:04:07,250 --> 00:04:09,155 study that comes to mind for me is, 113 00:04:09,474 --> 00:04:12,215 Pearl Street Dental Partners. This is a partner 114 00:04:12,275 --> 00:04:14,034 that, I've been working with for a long 115 00:04:14,034 --> 00:04:14,534 time. 116 00:04:15,555 --> 00:04:17,175 They looked inside, 117 00:04:18,060 --> 00:04:19,759 to manage patient relationships. 118 00:04:20,539 --> 00:04:22,939 Their team had set their sights on improving 119 00:04:22,939 --> 00:04:23,759 case acceptance, 120 00:04:24,379 --> 00:04:27,214 production, and retention, like we were saying, through 121 00:04:27,214 --> 00:04:28,194 membership plans. 122 00:04:28,574 --> 00:04:30,355 So by choosing Clear and MemberSeq, 123 00:04:31,375 --> 00:04:33,795 as a partner, they've generated over $2,000,000 124 00:04:34,334 --> 00:04:35,634 in subscription revenue. 125 00:04:36,014 --> 00:04:36,350 That's 126 00:04:36,990 --> 00:04:39,250 not insurance. That is not reimbursements. 127 00:04:39,629 --> 00:04:42,189 That is dollars and cents directly back to 128 00:04:42,189 --> 00:04:42,930 the practices. 129 00:04:43,904 --> 00:04:45,764 It equated to a 150% 130 00:04:46,625 --> 00:04:47,925 increase in production, 131 00:04:48,625 --> 00:04:51,204 and this was only across 18 locations. 132 00:04:52,089 --> 00:04:55,389 So the opportunity is is huge. It's vast. 133 00:04:55,850 --> 00:04:57,949 I would say even on a smaller scale, 134 00:04:58,490 --> 00:05:00,509 a smaller group has the same opportunity. 135 00:05:01,384 --> 00:05:04,845 Cataluchi Dental Group, they're based in North Carolina. 136 00:05:05,625 --> 00:05:06,925 They have about 35,000 137 00:05:07,384 --> 00:05:10,590 patients. Their goal was very similar, improve coverage 138 00:05:10,590 --> 00:05:11,250 for patients, 139 00:05:11,870 --> 00:05:14,050 reduce the high cost of dealing with insurance, 140 00:05:14,270 --> 00:05:16,165 and drive revenue into the business. 141 00:05:16,645 --> 00:05:18,645 They have about 4 locations. I wanna say 142 00:05:18,645 --> 00:05:19,705 maybe 5 now. 143 00:05:20,324 --> 00:05:20,824 $400,000 144 00:05:21,685 --> 00:05:23,705 in subscription revenue. So, 145 00:05:24,209 --> 00:05:25,990 you know, the impact is huge 146 00:05:26,610 --> 00:05:27,349 in in 147 00:05:27,649 --> 00:05:29,569 looking at same store growth, and this was 148 00:05:29,569 --> 00:05:31,569 not new patients. This was looking at their 149 00:05:31,569 --> 00:05:32,069 current 150 00:05:32,595 --> 00:05:36,055 inventory of uninsured patients and maximizing that opportunity. 151 00:05:37,794 --> 00:05:39,235 And you mentioned there are a couple of 152 00:05:39,235 --> 00:05:41,819 ways that these these practices were thinking about 153 00:05:41,819 --> 00:05:43,600 success, you know, case acceptance, 154 00:05:44,139 --> 00:05:45,199 reducing costs. 155 00:05:45,819 --> 00:05:47,420 Can you say more about sort of the 156 00:05:47,420 --> 00:05:48,800 the metrics and benchmarks 157 00:05:49,334 --> 00:05:51,495 practice leaders should really pay attention to here 158 00:05:51,495 --> 00:05:53,495 when they're trying to to tell that success 159 00:05:53,495 --> 00:05:55,194 story to to measure it? 160 00:05:55,814 --> 00:05:57,720 Of course. I think it begins in looking 161 00:05:57,800 --> 00:05:59,420 at production per visit. 162 00:06:00,279 --> 00:06:03,079 You know, it's looking at retention. A specific 163 00:06:03,079 --> 00:06:05,339 benchmark where we measure success is 164 00:06:05,644 --> 00:06:06,464 a 75% 165 00:06:07,084 --> 00:06:09,745 retention rate on these uninsured patients. 166 00:06:10,284 --> 00:06:11,344 And if you have 167 00:06:11,884 --> 00:06:13,344 incomplete treatment plans, 168 00:06:14,204 --> 00:06:16,420 you're not gonna get to that retention rate. 169 00:06:16,420 --> 00:06:18,580 I think retention is a huge factor here. 170 00:06:18,580 --> 00:06:21,560 So anywhere between 65 to 75% 171 00:06:22,180 --> 00:06:23,240 is a really good 172 00:06:24,014 --> 00:06:26,335 goal to aim for when when you're looking 173 00:06:26,335 --> 00:06:27,555 at something like this. 174 00:06:29,055 --> 00:06:31,215 I appreciate that. Let's let's zoom in now 175 00:06:31,215 --> 00:06:32,435 on sort of the role 176 00:06:32,829 --> 00:06:35,310 membership plans can play here in driving same 177 00:06:35,310 --> 00:06:37,629 store growth. Can can you share some of 178 00:06:37,629 --> 00:06:40,295 the key steps and considerations for really starting 179 00:06:40,295 --> 00:06:42,214 out or or getting a strategy like that 180 00:06:42,214 --> 00:06:44,535 off the ground? And what excites you about 181 00:06:44,535 --> 00:06:47,415 the future potential and possibilities for for this 182 00:06:47,495 --> 00:06:49,435 the membership plan strategy in particular? 183 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:53,000 Of course. Yeah. You you know, you likely 184 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:54,379 have a database of 185 00:06:54,919 --> 00:06:57,959 inactive and uninsured patients who are avoiding care 186 00:06:57,959 --> 00:07:00,694 and treatment due to lack of access to 187 00:07:00,694 --> 00:07:02,954 coverage. So the question to ask yourself is 188 00:07:03,334 --> 00:07:05,495 how you can start to maximize the value 189 00:07:05,495 --> 00:07:06,475 of these patients. 190 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:09,319 Working to bridge the coverage gap is huge 191 00:07:09,319 --> 00:07:13,079 opportunity for dental teams. It not only ensures 192 00:07:13,079 --> 00:07:15,985 patients access to care, but fosters a level 193 00:07:15,985 --> 00:07:16,564 of loyalty 194 00:07:17,185 --> 00:07:19,524 and moves patients closer to your business. 195 00:07:19,985 --> 00:07:21,365 So looking at 196 00:07:21,904 --> 00:07:23,444 those metrics internally, 197 00:07:24,339 --> 00:07:27,379 looking at your uninsured patient base, making sure 198 00:07:27,379 --> 00:07:30,120 that you're looking at unscheduled treatment, 199 00:07:30,819 --> 00:07:32,754 likely they are out there, and it's an 200 00:07:32,754 --> 00:07:36,295 opportunity to jump on by using a membership 201 00:07:36,355 --> 00:07:36,855 plan 202 00:07:37,475 --> 00:07:39,870 as the catalyst to move that forward. 203 00:07:40,329 --> 00:07:42,430 You know, what excites me about this is 204 00:07:43,370 --> 00:07:44,669 there are millions 205 00:07:45,050 --> 00:07:48,294 of people that do not have dental insurance. 206 00:07:49,074 --> 00:07:52,055 The dental membership plan is the perfect way 207 00:07:52,914 --> 00:07:55,334 to give access to care to these patients, 208 00:07:56,180 --> 00:07:59,300 get people to agree to hygiene, to make 209 00:07:59,300 --> 00:08:01,300 sure that they are healthy, that they are 210 00:08:01,300 --> 00:08:03,459 loyal to your practice, and that is a 211 00:08:03,459 --> 00:08:04,839 bonus to your community 212 00:08:05,175 --> 00:08:06,555 as a dental practice. 213 00:08:08,134 --> 00:08:10,175 Well, Chelsea, I appreciate you coming on today. 214 00:08:10,175 --> 00:08:11,735 I think you've given our listeners a lot 215 00:08:11,735 --> 00:08:12,189 of, 216 00:08:12,589 --> 00:08:15,949 truly actionable insights and and really helped unpack 217 00:08:15,949 --> 00:08:17,649 this idea of same store growth 218 00:08:17,949 --> 00:08:20,735 and where folks can be effective here. Is 219 00:08:20,735 --> 00:08:22,814 there anything we didn't cover or any final 220 00:08:22,814 --> 00:08:25,134 thoughts, anything you'd like to reemphasize with our 221 00:08:25,134 --> 00:08:26,754 listeners before I let you go? 222 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:29,879 I would say that, the only thing that 223 00:08:29,879 --> 00:08:31,160 I would close with here is, you know, 224 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:33,419 whether you are a dentist with one location, 225 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:36,759 multiple locations, or you're a DSO with many 226 00:08:36,759 --> 00:08:37,259 offices, 227 00:08:37,654 --> 00:08:39,414 now is the time to focus on the 228 00:08:39,414 --> 00:08:41,195 growth of your existing practice. 229 00:08:41,654 --> 00:08:43,355 With the help of a dental membership, 230 00:08:43,735 --> 00:08:45,975 you can easily increase your cash flow by 231 00:08:45,975 --> 00:08:46,820 focusing on 232 00:08:47,220 --> 00:08:49,720 maximizing the value of your existing patients. 233 00:08:50,179 --> 00:08:53,240 It's a solution that is cheaper, it's easier, 234 00:08:53,700 --> 00:08:56,384 and more effective than a sole focus on 235 00:08:56,384 --> 00:08:56,884 acquisition. 236 00:08:57,264 --> 00:08:57,764 So 237 00:08:59,184 --> 00:09:01,264 A strong way to end the conversation. Thank 238 00:09:01,264 --> 00:09:02,785 you so much, Chelsea. Thanks for coming on 239 00:09:02,785 --> 00:09:04,404 the podcast. Thank you. 240 00:09:05,090 --> 00:09:07,350 I'd also like to thank CLEAR Membersey 241 00:09:07,649 --> 00:09:09,970 as well for sponsoring this episode. You can 242 00:09:09,970 --> 00:09:12,610 tune to more podcasts from Becker's Healthcare by 243 00:09:12,610 --> 00:09:14,894 visiting our podcast page atbeckerspodcast.com.