1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,179 Hello and welcome to the Becker's Healthcare Podcast. 2 00:00:02,399 --> 00:00:04,240 My name is Chanel Bunger and I'm recording 3 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:05,620 live at the Becker's Healthcare 4 00:00:05,919 --> 00:00:08,639 Future of Dentistry Roundtable in Chicago and sitting 5 00:00:08,639 --> 00:00:11,539 down with Alexa Bracken, the VP of Communications 6 00:00:11,599 --> 00:00:14,900 and Business Development at Houston, Texas Dental Spa. 7 00:00:15,085 --> 00:00:16,364 Alexa, thank you so much for joining me 8 00:00:16,364 --> 00:00:17,964 today. Thanks for having me, Chanel. I appreciate 9 00:00:17,964 --> 00:00:19,644 it. Perfect. Well, to get us started, could 10 00:00:19,644 --> 00:00:21,085 you please introduce yourself and tell us a 11 00:00:21,085 --> 00:00:24,045 bit about your background? Yeah. So, again, I'm, 12 00:00:24,364 --> 00:00:26,304 Alexa Bracken and I'm out of Houston. 13 00:00:26,765 --> 00:00:29,490 My dad is a, general practitioner. 14 00:00:30,109 --> 00:00:31,250 We specialize in 15 00:00:31,630 --> 00:00:34,350 all facets of dentistry and we co own 16 00:00:34,350 --> 00:00:35,810 Houston Texas Dental Spa. 17 00:00:36,190 --> 00:00:36,929 We have, 18 00:00:37,310 --> 00:00:39,950 started to develop and grow that. That's why 19 00:00:39,950 --> 00:00:41,969 I'm here today is to hopefully 20 00:00:42,545 --> 00:00:45,185 have some nice expansion into the DSO space. 21 00:00:45,185 --> 00:00:47,365 We'll see. But I got started in dentistry, 22 00:00:47,984 --> 00:00:50,545 not on purpose as probably most of the 23 00:00:50,545 --> 00:00:52,545 people that I've spoken to here other than 24 00:00:52,545 --> 00:00:55,184 the docs. So about 10 years ago, we 25 00:00:55,184 --> 00:00:57,200 started working together and it's been been a 26 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:00,320 fun journey since. That's exciting. Yeah. But moving 27 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:02,979 forward, can you talk about some key experiences 28 00:01:03,039 --> 00:01:05,040 that have shaped your leadership journey in the 29 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:08,400 dental space? Yeah, sure. So we together, my 30 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:11,375 dad and I traveled for many years teaching. 31 00:01:11,754 --> 00:01:13,055 So teaching implant placement, 32 00:01:13,515 --> 00:01:15,034 on his part, of course. And then I 33 00:01:15,034 --> 00:01:17,754 would do the admin and and help docs 34 00:01:17,754 --> 00:01:19,055 that were taking his courses, 35 00:01:19,674 --> 00:01:21,355 to implement that into their practices. So it 36 00:01:21,355 --> 00:01:23,355 was it was such a great opportunity to 37 00:01:23,355 --> 00:01:23,855 see 38 00:01:25,079 --> 00:01:28,359 where practices were falling short for their patients 39 00:01:28,359 --> 00:01:31,340 and how how so many smaller private practices 40 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:31,900 operate. 41 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:34,119 Some of these were groups, but it really 42 00:01:34,119 --> 00:01:35,560 gave me the opportunity to see the need 43 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:37,500 that we have for not only 44 00:01:37,879 --> 00:01:39,579 efficiency and, you know, 45 00:01:39,954 --> 00:01:42,275 tightening up ship in in terms of clinical 46 00:01:42,275 --> 00:01:43,415 operations, but 47 00:01:43,954 --> 00:01:45,795 the need that we have for true clinical 48 00:01:45,795 --> 00:01:46,295 excellence. 49 00:01:46,834 --> 00:01:48,594 And so that's that's very important to me 50 00:01:48,594 --> 00:01:50,834 and something that I stress a lot. So 51 00:01:51,555 --> 00:01:54,069 Got it. And you guys already mentioned expansion, 52 00:01:54,069 --> 00:01:55,909 but can you maybe go into more detail 53 00:01:55,909 --> 00:01:58,009 about, what strategic initiatives 54 00:01:58,549 --> 00:02:01,509 are you prioritizing for growth and patient care? 55 00:02:01,509 --> 00:02:02,329 Yeah, absolutely. 56 00:02:03,030 --> 00:02:05,430 So again, you know, we center around clinical 57 00:02:05,430 --> 00:02:07,935 excellence and how how can we how can 58 00:02:07,935 --> 00:02:09,134 we do the best thing for the patient, 59 00:02:09,134 --> 00:02:10,574 which I I think is all of our 60 00:02:10,574 --> 00:02:14,034 goals. Right? I fully believe that as as 61 00:02:14,094 --> 00:02:16,414 dentists and dental practitioners, like, we are the 62 00:02:16,414 --> 00:02:18,435 the physicians of the head and neck. Right? 63 00:02:18,735 --> 00:02:20,414 So that's our space. And how do we 64 00:02:20,414 --> 00:02:22,594 better serve our patients? There's such an inequity 65 00:02:22,655 --> 00:02:25,469 and where healthcare ends and where dentistry begins. 66 00:02:25,849 --> 00:02:29,290 So trying to marry that and trying to, 67 00:02:30,250 --> 00:02:31,150 make our 68 00:02:31,450 --> 00:02:32,990 patient care much more comprehensive 69 00:02:33,530 --> 00:02:35,610 is so important. And and I think we're 70 00:02:35,610 --> 00:02:38,235 starting to to dip our toes into that. 71 00:02:38,375 --> 00:02:40,135 But in our in our own practices, we've 72 00:02:40,135 --> 00:02:42,875 we've really taken the initiative to expand into 73 00:02:43,495 --> 00:02:45,014 chronic pain management and, 74 00:02:45,495 --> 00:02:48,455 some of those more traditionally medical centered services 75 00:02:48,455 --> 00:02:50,294 that are well within our scope. And that 76 00:02:50,294 --> 00:02:52,395 nobody's providing to patients really, 77 00:02:52,730 --> 00:02:54,810 truly taking care of TMJ in a way 78 00:02:54,810 --> 00:02:56,969 that, that gives patients relief, you know? And, 79 00:02:56,969 --> 00:02:58,409 and of course these things work out really 80 00:02:58,409 --> 00:02:59,949 well for your business structure. Absolutely. 81 00:03:00,730 --> 00:03:01,849 Yeah. Absolutely. Well, 82 00:03:02,650 --> 00:03:04,510 can you talk about some of the challenges 83 00:03:04,569 --> 00:03:06,969 that dental and DSO leaders are facing currently? 84 00:03:06,969 --> 00:03:09,584 And how are you addressing them at Houston, 85 00:03:09,584 --> 00:03:12,544 Texas Dental Spa? Yeah. You know what? I 86 00:03:12,544 --> 00:03:15,284 think so much of it is patient education. 87 00:03:15,584 --> 00:03:16,084 Right? 88 00:03:16,625 --> 00:03:17,685 We're finding ourselves 89 00:03:18,064 --> 00:03:20,409 in this really cool moment where people of 90 00:03:20,409 --> 00:03:22,569 our generation are now the people that are 91 00:03:22,569 --> 00:03:25,129 spending money on their healthcare. Right? And we 92 00:03:25,129 --> 00:03:27,849 want knowledge. We want to research everything. We 93 00:03:27,849 --> 00:03:30,409 we don't just believe the physician when we 94 00:03:30,409 --> 00:03:31,530 go and they tell us to give us 95 00:03:31,530 --> 00:03:32,810 a tell us to take a shot, you 96 00:03:32,810 --> 00:03:35,275 know? So we as a profession, 97 00:03:35,655 --> 00:03:37,974 I think are are starting to utilize AI 98 00:03:37,974 --> 00:03:38,474 better. 99 00:03:38,854 --> 00:03:40,614 But what what I'm seeing is that we're 100 00:03:40,614 --> 00:03:42,294 leaning too much on it. So we're not 101 00:03:42,294 --> 00:03:43,894 marrying it in a way where, you know, 102 00:03:43,894 --> 00:03:46,439 we're overlapping symptoms with what we see on 103 00:03:46,439 --> 00:03:48,840 an x-ray that the AI has identified, you 104 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:50,680 know. So I think if we can better 105 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:51,819 figure out how to, 106 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:54,460 utilize that in our patient education, 107 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:56,379 more than anything, 108 00:03:56,760 --> 00:03:58,754 it'll help us to not only, you know, 109 00:03:58,754 --> 00:04:00,675 get better outcomes for the patients, but also 110 00:04:00,675 --> 00:04:02,514 follow those patients through their journey and have 111 00:04:02,514 --> 00:04:03,495 better patient retention. 112 00:04:03,875 --> 00:04:05,895 Obviously, we make more money by doing that 113 00:04:06,115 --> 00:04:08,914 and, and all of that. Absolutely. Well, Alexa, 114 00:04:08,914 --> 00:04:10,275 I wanna thank you for your time today. 115 00:04:10,275 --> 00:04:12,009 But before I let you go, can you 116 00:04:12,009 --> 00:04:14,569 talk about what essential qualities or skills should 117 00:04:14,569 --> 00:04:16,829 emerging leaders in this industry cultivate? 118 00:04:17,769 --> 00:04:19,290 You know, I mean, I I think that 119 00:04:19,290 --> 00:04:20,729 that so many of the leaders that I've 120 00:04:20,729 --> 00:04:23,370 met here today are are so sharp. Right? 121 00:04:23,370 --> 00:04:25,845 They're they're so good. And I think we 122 00:04:25,845 --> 00:04:28,165 get so wrapped up in in the business 123 00:04:28,165 --> 00:04:29,845 side of things, the finances, and that's what 124 00:04:29,845 --> 00:04:31,525 we have to do. Right? That's that's literally 125 00:04:31,525 --> 00:04:33,605 our jobs. But at the end of the 126 00:04:33,605 --> 00:04:35,705 day, I think we really have to remember 127 00:04:36,404 --> 00:04:36,904 that 128 00:04:37,285 --> 00:04:38,645 the journey of the patient is the most 129 00:04:38,645 --> 00:04:41,279 important thing. You know? Clinical excellence is the 130 00:04:41,279 --> 00:04:43,199 most important thing. And so if we can 131 00:04:43,199 --> 00:04:45,599 if we can really help to develop more 132 00:04:45,599 --> 00:04:46,419 of those fundamentals 133 00:04:46,879 --> 00:04:49,039 and not just lead that for just the 134 00:04:49,039 --> 00:04:51,300 doctors in our organizations to handle, 135 00:04:51,644 --> 00:04:54,144 it makes us better leaders and, and everything 136 00:04:54,204 --> 00:04:55,745 will fall in line from there. 137 00:04:56,125 --> 00:04:57,725 Of course. Well, Alexa, I wanna thank you 138 00:04:57,725 --> 00:04:59,084 once again for your time today and for 139 00:04:59,084 --> 00:05:01,004 joining me on the Beggar's Healthcare podcast. Thank 140 00:05:01,004 --> 00:05:01,824 you so much.