1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:02,399 Hi, everyone. This is Brian Zimmerman with Becker's 2 00:00:02,399 --> 00:00:04,559 Healthcare. Thank you so much for tuning into 3 00:00:04,559 --> 00:00:05,940 the Becker's Healthcare podcast. 4 00:00:06,799 --> 00:00:08,639 Today, we're going to talk about what growth 5 00:00:08,639 --> 00:00:11,859 minded DSOs are getting right in 2025. 6 00:00:12,105 --> 00:00:14,764 Joining me for this discussion is Theresa Williams, 7 00:00:14,904 --> 00:00:18,265 chief operations officer at Dental Express, and Alan 8 00:00:18,265 --> 00:00:21,404 Rencher, chief technology officer at Henry Schein one. 9 00:00:21,544 --> 00:00:23,464 Alan and Theresa, thank you both so much 10 00:00:23,464 --> 00:00:24,524 for being here today. 11 00:00:24,859 --> 00:00:26,320 Thanks for having us, Brian. 12 00:00:26,699 --> 00:00:28,460 Alright. Let let's get into it. Let's let's 13 00:00:28,460 --> 00:00:29,740 meet you both. To kick us off, I'm 14 00:00:29,740 --> 00:00:31,579 gonna tap on each of you to share 15 00:00:31,579 --> 00:00:33,979 a few details about you about yourselves, your 16 00:00:33,979 --> 00:00:34,880 your your work, 17 00:00:35,420 --> 00:00:37,600 whatever you think is pertinent for the conversation 18 00:00:37,659 --> 00:00:39,600 today. Theresa, why don't you begin? 19 00:00:40,484 --> 00:00:42,965 Great. So I'm Theresa Williams, and I'm chief 20 00:00:42,965 --> 00:00:45,945 operations officer for a DSO in Southern California 21 00:00:46,004 --> 00:00:47,064 called Dental Express. 22 00:00:47,684 --> 00:00:50,024 I have, been working in the multisite 23 00:00:50,405 --> 00:00:53,765 and DSO space for, almost thirty years and 24 00:00:53,765 --> 00:00:55,239 have gone through several, 25 00:00:55,719 --> 00:00:58,920 technology transitions as the industry has moved each 26 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:01,079 decade. And so I'm excited to be here 27 00:01:01,079 --> 00:01:02,920 with my good friend, Alan, to, you know, 28 00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:05,259 talk about what's what's new, with 29 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:07,799 Henry Schein One and what how we can 30 00:01:07,799 --> 00:01:09,239 best meet the changing, 31 00:01:09,844 --> 00:01:11,465 changing climate this next decade. 32 00:01:12,245 --> 00:01:14,644 Excellent. Great to have you here, Theresa. Alan, 33 00:01:14,644 --> 00:01:17,045 go ahead. Yeah. Great to be with you 34 00:01:17,045 --> 00:01:20,165 here today, Brian. Alan Rencher, chief technology officer 35 00:01:20,165 --> 00:01:21,625 from Henry Schein ONE. 36 00:01:21,924 --> 00:01:24,859 Been in the tech industry for almost thirty 37 00:01:24,859 --> 00:01:25,359 years. 38 00:01:25,899 --> 00:01:29,500 I've been working specifically in health care and 39 00:01:29,500 --> 00:01:31,840 dental for a little over five, 40 00:01:32,619 --> 00:01:34,859 have a lot of experience building software at 41 00:01:34,859 --> 00:01:37,280 scale. I've worked for some very large companies 42 00:01:37,340 --> 00:01:39,365 that that have done that, and it's it's 43 00:01:39,365 --> 00:01:40,185 really exciting 44 00:01:40,645 --> 00:01:42,645 to be making a difference in dental. The 45 00:01:42,645 --> 00:01:45,365 the work we do directly impacts the wellness 46 00:01:45,365 --> 00:01:48,005 and the well-being of millions of people, and 47 00:01:48,005 --> 00:01:50,645 it's it's really exciting and fun to add 48 00:01:50,645 --> 00:01:52,265 value and and help accelerate 49 00:01:52,700 --> 00:01:55,520 tech and well-being in that area. Wonderful. 50 00:01:55,980 --> 00:01:57,900 Excited to hear more about that work, Alan. 51 00:01:57,900 --> 00:02:00,140 And let let's dive in. But the question 52 00:02:00,140 --> 00:02:01,740 I'll ask here, we'll begin with a big 53 00:02:01,740 --> 00:02:04,140 one, is, you know, this year, 2025, has 54 00:02:04,140 --> 00:02:06,380 really brought about several shifts in the industry 55 00:02:06,380 --> 00:02:09,275 in terms of how patients approach dental care. 56 00:02:09,275 --> 00:02:11,594 There's been shifts in labor dynamics and and 57 00:02:11,594 --> 00:02:14,074 certainly as, Alan, as you alluded to there 58 00:02:14,074 --> 00:02:16,155 in terms of your focus on tech, the 59 00:02:16,155 --> 00:02:18,634 pace of tech adoption has has accelerated as 60 00:02:18,634 --> 00:02:20,634 well. From where you sit, I'll tap on 61 00:02:20,634 --> 00:02:22,395 both of you. But, Alan, we could begin 62 00:02:22,395 --> 00:02:25,860 with you. What operational challenges are most disruptive 63 00:02:25,919 --> 00:02:27,840 to sustainable growth right now, and how are 64 00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:28,340 DSOs 65 00:02:28,879 --> 00:02:32,000 really working to overcome them considering all the 66 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:33,759 the changes in in in the market right 67 00:02:33,759 --> 00:02:36,215 now? Alan, go ahead. Yeah. That is a 68 00:02:36,215 --> 00:02:38,775 fantastic question, Brian. I'll say that, you know, 69 00:02:38,775 --> 00:02:40,074 I speak to the 70 00:02:40,455 --> 00:02:43,735 executives at several very large DSOs, usually several 71 00:02:43,735 --> 00:02:46,615 times a week. And so my perspective comes 72 00:02:46,615 --> 00:02:49,510 from primarily the DSO perspective. While we do 73 00:02:49,510 --> 00:02:51,370 have lots of private practice customers, 74 00:02:52,069 --> 00:02:53,990 today we're talking DSOs. And, you know, it 75 00:02:53,990 --> 00:02:57,129 could be anything from staffing shortages to the 76 00:02:57,189 --> 00:02:57,689 inflation 77 00:02:57,990 --> 00:02:59,990 to kind of the shift in in what 78 00:02:59,990 --> 00:03:00,969 patients expect. 79 00:03:02,155 --> 00:03:02,814 The largest, 80 00:03:03,355 --> 00:03:06,074 force multiplier that we're seeing for DSOs to 81 00:03:06,074 --> 00:03:08,655 help with operations is access to data. 82 00:03:09,194 --> 00:03:11,615 Data is, in fact, the new oil. 83 00:03:11,995 --> 00:03:15,099 And the more data practices have and the 84 00:03:15,099 --> 00:03:15,919 more data 85 00:03:16,219 --> 00:03:19,740 that the operations teams from DSOs have, the 86 00:03:19,740 --> 00:03:20,240 better. 87 00:03:20,540 --> 00:03:22,800 And that data is so important, 88 00:03:23,099 --> 00:03:24,719 not just in terms of, 89 00:03:25,180 --> 00:03:27,525 you know, simple things you would think about. 90 00:03:27,525 --> 00:03:30,165 What's how's our our our treatment acceptance rate? 91 00:03:30,165 --> 00:03:31,064 What are we doing, 92 00:03:31,685 --> 00:03:34,405 to make our RCM operations more efficient? And 93 00:03:34,405 --> 00:03:36,485 what are we doing to improve our our 94 00:03:36,485 --> 00:03:39,909 claims acceptance? What are what what treatments are 95 00:03:40,210 --> 00:03:42,050 are are really making moving the needle from 96 00:03:42,050 --> 00:03:44,770 an AR perspective? I mean, there's many, many, 97 00:03:44,770 --> 00:03:46,530 many aspects of that, but let's just stick 98 00:03:46,530 --> 00:03:49,349 to the fundamentals, getting access to that data. 99 00:03:49,650 --> 00:03:51,889 And it's something that we're deeply passionate about 100 00:03:51,889 --> 00:03:53,745 and something that we've spent a lot of 101 00:03:53,745 --> 00:03:55,844 time here at Henry Schein one thinking about. 102 00:03:56,224 --> 00:03:58,805 Our products, I'm really excited to say, 103 00:03:59,185 --> 00:04:01,344 really provide access to that data in an 104 00:04:01,344 --> 00:04:03,344 unfettered way, in a in a way that 105 00:04:03,344 --> 00:04:06,324 really augments the ability of of DSOs to 106 00:04:07,180 --> 00:04:09,520 make decisions for their practices. The first 107 00:04:09,900 --> 00:04:12,139 kind of way we do that, specifically with 108 00:04:12,139 --> 00:04:13,520 our Ascend web PMS, 109 00:04:14,060 --> 00:04:15,439 is we allow practices 110 00:04:15,900 --> 00:04:18,480 to get a copy of their entire dataset 111 00:04:18,860 --> 00:04:19,600 every night. 112 00:04:20,225 --> 00:04:21,045 We also, 113 00:04:21,504 --> 00:04:24,725 have over 700 API endpoints, 700 114 00:04:24,785 --> 00:04:25,285 endpoints. 115 00:04:25,585 --> 00:04:26,085 So 116 00:04:26,464 --> 00:04:29,504 a DSO can, in real time, get over 117 00:04:29,504 --> 00:04:32,305 700 different data elements out of their platform 118 00:04:32,305 --> 00:04:34,979 in real time. Our next closest competitor has 119 00:04:34,979 --> 00:04:35,720 24, 120 00:04:36,259 --> 00:04:38,500 and we really feel like that investment in 121 00:04:38,500 --> 00:04:41,240 data accessibility is super important to the marketplace. 122 00:04:41,860 --> 00:04:44,099 Kind of the second area where we really 123 00:04:44,099 --> 00:04:46,659 have focused from data access is one of 124 00:04:46,659 --> 00:04:48,675 our analytics tools, Jarvis. It's 125 00:04:48,995 --> 00:04:50,534 obviously practice management, 126 00:04:51,235 --> 00:04:53,974 agnostic. So it works with our products, obviously, 127 00:04:54,194 --> 00:04:56,694 and several other competing products, and it shows 128 00:04:56,995 --> 00:04:59,014 a single pane of glass for 129 00:04:59,474 --> 00:05:03,180 that data across multiple PMSs. And it's, we 130 00:05:03,180 --> 00:05:06,000 believe, a a really strong competitive differentiator. 131 00:05:06,620 --> 00:05:09,100 Now as an operator, if you're the operator 132 00:05:09,100 --> 00:05:11,180 of a DSO, that that can take on 133 00:05:11,180 --> 00:05:14,060 many forms and fashions. But having that single 134 00:05:14,060 --> 00:05:17,439 point pane of glass view is super important. 135 00:05:18,044 --> 00:05:19,884 And this is something that I get asked 136 00:05:19,884 --> 00:05:22,604 about almost every day by somebody at a 137 00:05:22,604 --> 00:05:24,365 DSO. It could be the CIO. It could 138 00:05:24,365 --> 00:05:24,865 be 139 00:05:25,324 --> 00:05:27,425 the head of marketing. It could be, 140 00:05:28,285 --> 00:05:30,810 the chief executive who's interested in something they're 141 00:05:30,810 --> 00:05:32,329 trying to do with data. And we're really 142 00:05:32,329 --> 00:05:33,930 excited about what we bring to the table 143 00:05:33,930 --> 00:05:36,589 there. And I would say, in 2025, 144 00:05:36,889 --> 00:05:39,149 access to that data is super important 145 00:05:39,689 --> 00:05:42,269 with the innovation we're seeing with artificial intelligence 146 00:05:42,490 --> 00:05:44,029 and data science and 147 00:05:45,564 --> 00:05:47,884 predicting events before they happen. I mean, you 148 00:05:47,884 --> 00:05:49,404 can go down the list of things to 149 00:05:49,404 --> 00:05:51,404 talk about in that area. So to respond 150 00:05:51,404 --> 00:05:53,245 to your question, Brian, I think it's access 151 00:05:53,245 --> 00:05:55,165 to data. That's how what I think. And 152 00:05:55,165 --> 00:05:57,449 there's that takes on many forms, but 153 00:05:57,850 --> 00:05:59,230 that's what I believe, 154 00:06:00,410 --> 00:06:02,189 the most important and most relevant 155 00:06:02,810 --> 00:06:05,069 answer would be to those listening. 156 00:06:06,009 --> 00:06:07,470 A lot on data there. 157 00:06:07,770 --> 00:06:09,449 But, you know, data is the new oil, 158 00:06:09,449 --> 00:06:11,464 as you pointed out. And those those API 159 00:06:11,464 --> 00:06:14,444 components also sound incredibly important. And so, 160 00:06:14,824 --> 00:06:16,425 Alan, you gave us a lot of sort 161 00:06:16,425 --> 00:06:18,264 of foundation there and shared a lot about 162 00:06:18,264 --> 00:06:20,584 the work Henry Schein One is doing. Theresa, 163 00:06:20,584 --> 00:06:22,264 turning to you now. How would you approach 164 00:06:22,264 --> 00:06:22,925 this question? 165 00:06:23,610 --> 00:06:26,189 So, obviously, from an operator's perspective, 166 00:06:26,970 --> 00:06:29,370 you know, you have your operation of your 167 00:06:29,370 --> 00:06:31,290 DSO, and then you you look at the 168 00:06:31,290 --> 00:06:33,689 the micro operation of the operation of what 169 00:06:33,689 --> 00:06:36,430 the dental practice is that the DSO services. 170 00:06:37,185 --> 00:06:38,865 And, you know, not a lot has changed 171 00:06:38,865 --> 00:06:41,024 about how we care for patients. We're providing 172 00:06:41,024 --> 00:06:42,305 a lot of you know, we've we've got 173 00:06:42,305 --> 00:06:44,705 some new technologies and imaging, but a lot 174 00:06:44,705 --> 00:06:46,625 of the same procedures are still your bread 175 00:06:46,625 --> 00:06:48,064 and butter dentistry. We're doing a lot of 176 00:06:48,064 --> 00:06:49,800 root canals, taking a lot of teeth out. 177 00:06:50,279 --> 00:06:52,039 The human body is still working the same 178 00:06:52,039 --> 00:06:54,759 way as it works thirty years ago. What 179 00:06:54,759 --> 00:06:56,779 I'm finding to be different and more challenging 180 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:00,199 is the patient behavior or the employee behavior. 181 00:07:00,199 --> 00:07:02,199 And then as as we have the shifting 182 00:07:02,199 --> 00:07:03,579 behavior of the consumer 183 00:07:03,995 --> 00:07:05,595 and your customer and we have the shifting 184 00:07:05,595 --> 00:07:07,134 behavior of your of your employer, 185 00:07:07,595 --> 00:07:09,435 it's how are we meeting those. And I 186 00:07:09,435 --> 00:07:10,875 I you kinda set me up in a 187 00:07:10,875 --> 00:07:13,194 really great way, Alan. It's you know, is 188 00:07:13,194 --> 00:07:14,175 is the data 189 00:07:14,634 --> 00:07:15,774 driving your decisions? 190 00:07:16,279 --> 00:07:18,680 You know, if my patient scheduling behavior is 191 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:21,240 different, if they are not booking out as 192 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:23,000 far as they as they once did and 193 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:24,699 or keeping their appointments even, 194 00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:27,480 is the data helping me be able to 195 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:29,334 bridge those gaps? So where, you know, where 196 00:07:29,334 --> 00:07:31,175 we don't have a no show epidemic or 197 00:07:31,175 --> 00:07:31,834 a cancellation 198 00:07:32,134 --> 00:07:34,055 issue in a practice, are we able to 199 00:07:34,055 --> 00:07:35,355 stay out and ahead of it? 200 00:07:35,975 --> 00:07:37,975 Are Saturdays really a great time to be 201 00:07:37,975 --> 00:07:39,735 open, or is the data telling us something 202 00:07:39,735 --> 00:07:41,899 different? You know, when are our most productive 203 00:07:41,899 --> 00:07:44,459 times with our providers? And we, you know, 204 00:07:44,459 --> 00:07:46,060 we we talk about the the Jarvis tool. 205 00:07:46,060 --> 00:07:47,759 We've used that a lot in our practices. 206 00:07:48,699 --> 00:07:50,779 You know, we we dive into what are 207 00:07:50,779 --> 00:07:52,939 our most productive hours of the day. Should 208 00:07:52,939 --> 00:07:54,699 our lunch period be at noon, or should 209 00:07:54,699 --> 00:07:56,324 it be a one in a practice? And 210 00:07:56,404 --> 00:07:58,965 having access to that data is crucial to 211 00:07:58,965 --> 00:08:00,025 driving those decisions 212 00:08:00,404 --> 00:08:03,045 because it doesn't become qualitative anymore. It's not 213 00:08:03,045 --> 00:08:04,884 fear based that a patient was upset one 214 00:08:04,884 --> 00:08:06,965 time about this one thing. The data is 215 00:08:06,965 --> 00:08:08,884 telling us ninety five percent of our patients 216 00:08:08,884 --> 00:08:09,944 want something different. 217 00:08:10,699 --> 00:08:12,959 And so I would say the operational challenges 218 00:08:13,180 --> 00:08:15,259 for me are just the behavior of patients 219 00:08:15,259 --> 00:08:17,899 and the behavior of our team members, and 220 00:08:17,899 --> 00:08:21,100 is our technology supporting us to go along 221 00:08:21,100 --> 00:08:23,020 with them on the journey as the paradigm 222 00:08:23,020 --> 00:08:23,839 shift happens, 223 00:08:24,300 --> 00:08:25,199 with those people. 224 00:08:25,975 --> 00:08:28,055 Yeah. And and to your point, anecdotal sort 225 00:08:28,055 --> 00:08:30,714 of evidence or experiential stuff can be, 226 00:08:31,254 --> 00:08:33,654 useful as sort sort of color commentary, so 227 00:08:33,654 --> 00:08:35,095 to speak, but it can also be a 228 00:08:35,095 --> 00:08:36,154 very big distraction. 229 00:08:36,534 --> 00:08:37,014 Mhmm. 230 00:08:37,575 --> 00:08:39,495 If you so you have that data, you 231 00:08:39,495 --> 00:08:40,960 actually know we are headed in the right 232 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:43,200 direction in a meaningful way. I I I 233 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:45,299 wanna dig a little bit deeper here, Theresa, 234 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:48,259 and and talk about this conversation in terms 235 00:08:48,399 --> 00:08:50,320 of the phrase we hear often, which is 236 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:51,460 simplifying operations. 237 00:08:52,205 --> 00:08:53,965 I I think a part of that is 238 00:08:53,965 --> 00:08:54,945 sort of illustrated 239 00:08:55,485 --> 00:08:57,644 in your response thinking about how to you 240 00:08:57,644 --> 00:08:59,565 know, what hours of the day are most 241 00:08:59,565 --> 00:09:01,985 productive. That's one way to to simplify it. 242 00:09:02,125 --> 00:09:03,884 But can you give us some more, I 243 00:09:03,884 --> 00:09:04,705 guess, parameters, 244 00:09:05,485 --> 00:09:05,985 precise, 245 00:09:06,799 --> 00:09:10,080 sort of definitions around what simplifying operations actually 246 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:11,220 looks like in practice? 247 00:09:11,519 --> 00:09:12,899 Can you can you share that? 248 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:15,220 So I think I think if you simplify 249 00:09:15,279 --> 00:09:17,279 even you know, I'll pick on the schedule. 250 00:09:17,279 --> 00:09:20,080 Like, is your template overly complicated for someone 251 00:09:20,080 --> 00:09:20,820 to understand? 252 00:09:21,225 --> 00:09:23,245 When you create things, they're overly complicated. 253 00:09:24,024 --> 00:09:26,345 Not only does your front office team unable 254 00:09:26,345 --> 00:09:28,985 to understand it, you're cutting yourself off from 255 00:09:28,985 --> 00:09:31,544 effective online booking. You know? And so when 256 00:09:31,544 --> 00:09:33,625 when we simplify, you know, what we allow 257 00:09:33,625 --> 00:09:34,445 to be possible 258 00:09:34,790 --> 00:09:37,190 in the practice on the schedule, we're opening 259 00:09:37,190 --> 00:09:40,149 up opportunities for, for these tech for this 260 00:09:40,149 --> 00:09:42,309 technology to work for us. That was a 261 00:09:42,309 --> 00:09:44,250 big thing we did, when we went, 262 00:09:44,710 --> 00:09:46,309 over five years ago and we joined the 263 00:09:46,309 --> 00:09:48,745 Dentrix system platform is we we took a 264 00:09:48,745 --> 00:09:50,825 hard look at our template and and what 265 00:09:50,825 --> 00:09:52,745 could we, what could we live with at 266 00:09:52,745 --> 00:09:54,184 the end of the day? Did it have 267 00:09:54,184 --> 00:09:55,784 to be a perfect day schedule, or did 268 00:09:55,784 --> 00:09:58,024 we wanna be responsive to the patients so 269 00:09:58,024 --> 00:09:59,625 that they were able to place themselves right 270 00:09:59,625 --> 00:10:00,524 onto the schedule? 271 00:10:00,904 --> 00:10:03,709 And, and sometimes it's just changing what what 272 00:10:03,709 --> 00:10:06,110 you thought was right and abandoning your your 273 00:10:06,110 --> 00:10:08,129 own, like, strongly held beliefs there. 274 00:10:08,909 --> 00:10:09,409 Excellent. 275 00:10:09,789 --> 00:10:12,269 Alan, follow-up for you. I I guess, how 276 00:10:12,269 --> 00:10:14,269 how how do you think about simplifying operations 277 00:10:14,269 --> 00:10:16,485 in terms of delivering partners, the tech, 278 00:10:16,964 --> 00:10:18,245 they need to do that? So you've talked 279 00:10:18,245 --> 00:10:20,084 about Jarvis. You've talked about sort of your 280 00:10:20,084 --> 00:10:20,904 API endpoints. 281 00:10:21,365 --> 00:10:23,284 What else would you expand upon in order 282 00:10:23,284 --> 00:10:24,504 to to help support, 283 00:10:25,044 --> 00:10:27,225 organizations like Teresa's do that work? 284 00:10:28,004 --> 00:10:30,084 I think there's lots of directions we could 285 00:10:30,084 --> 00:10:32,460 go. One that that comes to mind, Brian, 286 00:10:32,519 --> 00:10:33,019 is 287 00:10:33,480 --> 00:10:34,299 thinking about, 288 00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:38,279 some of our DSO customers and what they 289 00:10:38,279 --> 00:10:39,820 go through from a tech perspective. 290 00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:42,200 You know, whether it's the server in the 291 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:44,299 closet that may or may not have, 292 00:10:45,084 --> 00:10:46,464 you know, good antivirus 293 00:10:47,485 --> 00:10:49,725 and EDR software running on it to to 294 00:10:49,725 --> 00:10:51,884 protect it or making sure that there's a 295 00:10:51,884 --> 00:10:53,884 backup of it. I would say this might 296 00:10:53,884 --> 00:10:56,125 be not the most exciting answer, but moving 297 00:10:56,125 --> 00:10:57,884 to the cloud kinda matters. If you're a 298 00:10:57,884 --> 00:11:00,169 dentist, you don't wanna think about that. You 299 00:11:00,169 --> 00:11:00,669 shouldn't 300 00:11:01,049 --> 00:11:02,350 be wondering if your, 301 00:11:02,730 --> 00:11:04,889 client server application is gonna run or not. 302 00:11:04,889 --> 00:11:06,649 While we we still sell those products and 303 00:11:06,649 --> 00:11:08,350 we have great confidence in them, 304 00:11:08,730 --> 00:11:11,769 it it it's it's putting an onus on 305 00:11:11,769 --> 00:11:12,404 the dentist 306 00:11:12,805 --> 00:11:15,125 to focus on something that he or she 307 00:11:15,125 --> 00:11:18,245 isn't, you know, their primary job responsibility. And 308 00:11:18,245 --> 00:11:20,805 it it also creates a risk. And it's 309 00:11:20,805 --> 00:11:24,325 also much cheaper to have somebody hosted in 310 00:11:24,325 --> 00:11:26,644 a super secure SOC two, type two environment 311 00:11:26,644 --> 00:11:27,465 in the cloud. 312 00:11:27,850 --> 00:11:29,149 And so I would say 313 00:11:29,769 --> 00:11:30,830 I talk to DSOs 314 00:11:31,289 --> 00:11:33,610 all the time who aren't just centered on 315 00:11:33,610 --> 00:11:35,769 one practice management software. They use a whole 316 00:11:35,769 --> 00:11:36,269 bunch. 317 00:11:36,649 --> 00:11:37,149 And 318 00:11:37,690 --> 00:11:39,210 one of the things I hear over and 319 00:11:39,210 --> 00:11:40,649 over and over is how do we get 320 00:11:40,649 --> 00:11:42,190 out of the data center business? 321 00:11:42,545 --> 00:11:45,184 How do we not have to think about 322 00:11:45,184 --> 00:11:47,745 data running in people's closets in some office 323 00:11:47,745 --> 00:11:49,425 that may or may not have a good 324 00:11:49,425 --> 00:11:52,725 Internet connection? And that's something that that that 325 00:11:52,785 --> 00:11:54,565 we we hear. It's pretty consistent. 326 00:11:55,529 --> 00:11:58,110 It's, also something that's a pretty significant 327 00:11:58,809 --> 00:11:59,949 operational improvement, 328 00:12:00,250 --> 00:12:02,169 where you just don't have to think about 329 00:12:02,329 --> 00:12:04,409 you don't have to worry about the data 330 00:12:04,409 --> 00:12:05,389 backups, the, 331 00:12:06,089 --> 00:12:08,970 patching the software, patching the operating system, making 332 00:12:08,970 --> 00:12:09,709 sure that, 333 00:12:10,355 --> 00:12:13,315 any backup appliance in the closet with the 334 00:12:13,315 --> 00:12:16,454 server is running correctly, and you have 335 00:12:16,834 --> 00:12:17,735 a whole another 336 00:12:18,274 --> 00:12:20,674 work stream with an IT service provider somewhere 337 00:12:20,674 --> 00:12:22,995 that you have to pay, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. 338 00:12:22,995 --> 00:12:24,710 So that's another thing I I hear a 339 00:12:24,710 --> 00:12:26,629 lot about. I hear about it pretty frequently. 340 00:12:26,629 --> 00:12:28,070 In fact, just this morning, I heard about 341 00:12:28,070 --> 00:12:28,570 it. 342 00:12:29,190 --> 00:12:31,589 Yeah. Yeah. It and it's easy to imagine 343 00:12:31,589 --> 00:12:33,289 how frustrating that work can be, 344 00:12:34,149 --> 00:12:36,075 especially if you're a dentist. It takes your 345 00:12:36,154 --> 00:12:38,315 your mind away from the patients. Right, Alan? 346 00:12:38,315 --> 00:12:40,075 That's it gotta be a point of frustration. 347 00:12:40,075 --> 00:12:40,575 Correct? 348 00:12:41,115 --> 00:12:43,035 Yeah. In fact, the comment this morning was, 349 00:12:43,035 --> 00:12:44,634 I've gotta have my hands in my patient's 350 00:12:44,634 --> 00:12:45,995 mouth. I can't have my hands on a 351 00:12:45,995 --> 00:12:47,754 server in the closet. That's a that's a 352 00:12:47,754 --> 00:12:50,110 drag quote from this morning. Well, that pretty 353 00:12:50,110 --> 00:12:52,429 well sums it up. So, thank you for 354 00:12:52,429 --> 00:12:55,389 sharing that, Alan. Let's I I wanna ask, 355 00:12:55,629 --> 00:12:57,309 each of you another question here, which is 356 00:12:57,309 --> 00:12:58,769 about scale and size. 357 00:12:59,070 --> 00:13:01,490 So as DSOs continue to grow, 358 00:13:01,949 --> 00:13:02,850 growth sometimes 359 00:13:03,534 --> 00:13:04,355 getting larger, 360 00:13:04,975 --> 00:13:07,134 it gets, I I I guess, more difficult 361 00:13:07,134 --> 00:13:10,495 to be nimble. And being agile, being nimble 362 00:13:10,495 --> 00:13:11,715 in such a dynamic, 363 00:13:12,174 --> 00:13:14,815 fast moving, changing landscape, I mean, the future 364 00:13:14,815 --> 00:13:15,794 is coming fast. 365 00:13:16,370 --> 00:13:17,730 How do you do that? How do you 366 00:13:17,730 --> 00:13:20,450 scale and stay nimble? Alan, let's hear from 367 00:13:20,450 --> 00:13:22,049 you on this one first, and then, Teresa, 368 00:13:22,049 --> 00:13:23,110 we'll hear from you. 369 00:13:23,730 --> 00:13:25,350 Oh, fantastic question. 370 00:13:25,889 --> 00:13:27,970 One of the things that we believe here 371 00:13:27,970 --> 00:13:30,825 at Henry Schein one that provides the ability 372 00:13:30,825 --> 00:13:33,144 for an organization to have that agility and 373 00:13:33,144 --> 00:13:33,644 flexibility 374 00:13:34,264 --> 00:13:36,745 is the ability to adapt your workflow within 375 00:13:36,745 --> 00:13:38,285 your practice management software. 376 00:13:39,304 --> 00:13:41,705 Some different regions have may have different workflows 377 00:13:41,705 --> 00:13:43,804 because they have different regulatory rules, 378 00:13:44,419 --> 00:13:44,919 Different, 379 00:13:45,940 --> 00:13:48,200 focuses and specialties within a DSO 380 00:13:48,659 --> 00:13:50,919 may want to approach and and handle customers 381 00:13:50,980 --> 00:13:53,379 slightly differently for a variety of different reasons. 382 00:13:53,379 --> 00:13:55,379 So I would say the ability to configure 383 00:13:55,379 --> 00:13:57,159 the workflow depending on 384 00:13:57,565 --> 00:13:59,884 what that practice is focused on and many 385 00:13:59,884 --> 00:14:03,084 other factors is is really, really important. A 386 00:14:03,084 --> 00:14:05,565 a one size fits all cookie cutter, you 387 00:14:05,565 --> 00:14:07,884 will do it this way, in some cases, 388 00:14:07,884 --> 00:14:08,544 is appropriated 389 00:14:09,084 --> 00:14:11,084 at a DSO if if that's their model 390 00:14:11,084 --> 00:14:12,740 and what works for them. But having the 391 00:14:12,740 --> 00:14:14,980 ability in the the software to have that 392 00:14:14,980 --> 00:14:16,980 flexibility to configure the workflow based on the 393 00:14:16,980 --> 00:14:17,480 needs 394 00:14:17,860 --> 00:14:20,419 in that office for their patients is is 395 00:14:20,419 --> 00:14:24,914 also extremely important, and that provides scale. That 396 00:14:24,914 --> 00:14:28,115 allows the flexibility that DSOs need and and 397 00:14:28,115 --> 00:14:30,914 must have. And I that's how I would 398 00:14:30,914 --> 00:14:31,654 answer that. 399 00:14:32,115 --> 00:14:34,375 Thank you, Alan. Teresa, what do you have? 400 00:14:34,835 --> 00:14:36,434 Well and and, Alan, I I think that's 401 00:14:36,434 --> 00:14:38,309 awesome that you're thinking about, like, the practices 402 00:14:38,389 --> 00:14:40,230 that have a lot of differences within their 403 00:14:40,230 --> 00:14:42,070 DSO. And then if you look at those 404 00:14:42,070 --> 00:14:44,710 branded DSOs that are doing things consistently in 405 00:14:44,710 --> 00:14:45,529 the same way, 406 00:14:45,830 --> 00:14:47,990 the the cloud based software that you work 407 00:14:47,990 --> 00:14:50,629 with allows rapid deployment when you wanna be 408 00:14:50,629 --> 00:14:52,044 nimble. You You know, if you wanna change 409 00:14:52,044 --> 00:14:54,304 a fee schedule in a server based environment, 410 00:14:55,004 --> 00:14:56,384 that that's a lot of work. 411 00:14:56,764 --> 00:14:58,445 That's a lot of work. Everything's gotta be 412 00:14:58,445 --> 00:15:00,284 shut down. There's it's a big issue. If 413 00:15:00,284 --> 00:15:02,204 I wanna change a whole fee schedule within 414 00:15:02,204 --> 00:15:05,490 this environment, our RCM department's getting deployed very 415 00:15:05,490 --> 00:15:05,990 quickly 416 00:15:06,370 --> 00:15:09,029 across hundreds of practices. They're able to get, 417 00:15:09,490 --> 00:15:11,090 they're able to get at that data. If 418 00:15:11,090 --> 00:15:13,090 we wanna change a template, if you wanna 419 00:15:13,170 --> 00:15:15,009 there the change is so rapid in how 420 00:15:15,009 --> 00:15:17,034 we can deploy it across many, many practices. 421 00:15:17,034 --> 00:15:19,995 And so no longer are these rollouts of, 422 00:15:20,394 --> 00:15:21,455 operational initiatives 423 00:15:21,835 --> 00:15:23,754 taking weeks and months, we're able to to 424 00:15:23,754 --> 00:15:24,575 do it minutes. 425 00:15:25,034 --> 00:15:25,274 And, 426 00:15:25,995 --> 00:15:27,914 that opens up so much more time in 427 00:15:27,914 --> 00:15:29,595 our day and so much more time for 428 00:15:29,595 --> 00:15:31,289 us to be creative with things. You know? 429 00:15:31,289 --> 00:15:33,450 We're not avoiding it because of how long 430 00:15:33,450 --> 00:15:35,070 it's gonna take to roll things out. 431 00:15:35,690 --> 00:15:38,570 That's it's fantastic to to to hear, and 432 00:15:38,570 --> 00:15:40,570 I appreciate you both coming on the podcast 433 00:15:40,570 --> 00:15:43,209 and sharing your perspective and and and the 434 00:15:43,209 --> 00:15:45,695 word about the work you're doing today. We'll 435 00:15:45,695 --> 00:15:48,254 close with this. Any any final thoughts? Anything 436 00:15:48,254 --> 00:15:49,615 we didn't get to cover you wanted to 437 00:15:49,615 --> 00:15:51,235 mention or anything you wanna reemphasize? 438 00:15:51,615 --> 00:15:52,815 I'll leave it to you how to sort 439 00:15:52,815 --> 00:15:53,215 of, 440 00:15:53,774 --> 00:15:55,855 take this question in terms of closing thoughts 441 00:15:55,855 --> 00:15:58,434 to leave our listeners with. Theresa, go ahead. 442 00:15:59,090 --> 00:16:01,330 So there's been some real lessons that we've 443 00:16:01,330 --> 00:16:04,950 learned through software transitions, like technologies to transitions. 444 00:16:05,570 --> 00:16:07,649 And I would just encourage you, as you're 445 00:16:07,649 --> 00:16:10,710 going through this, involve involve all affected stakeholders 446 00:16:10,769 --> 00:16:12,690 in the transition. They're all gonna have a 447 00:16:12,690 --> 00:16:15,264 different why. And make sure that the why 448 00:16:15,264 --> 00:16:17,904 resonates with them. For example, your patients are 449 00:16:17,904 --> 00:16:19,745 a stakeholder. They could care less about the 450 00:16:19,745 --> 00:16:21,504 dashboards and the data, but they may love 451 00:16:21,504 --> 00:16:22,324 online booking. 452 00:16:22,625 --> 00:16:24,544 Your doctors, you know, for example, that don't 453 00:16:24,544 --> 00:16:26,129 wanna turn the server on and off, they're 454 00:16:26,129 --> 00:16:28,129 excited they can access their schedule from the 455 00:16:28,129 --> 00:16:29,590 golf course if need be. 456 00:16:30,049 --> 00:16:32,210 So looking at the why with the different 457 00:16:32,210 --> 00:16:34,610 stakeholders as you're moving through a transition, it's 458 00:16:34,610 --> 00:16:36,370 gonna give you a lot more success through 459 00:16:36,370 --> 00:16:37,429 a project like this. 460 00:16:38,049 --> 00:16:40,210 Excellent. Teresa, thanks again for coming on the 461 00:16:40,210 --> 00:16:41,830 podcast. Alan, go ahead. 462 00:16:42,584 --> 00:16:44,664 Yeah. Thanks, Ryan. Thanks for having us. In 463 00:16:44,664 --> 00:16:47,164 closing, I would say it's it's really important 464 00:16:47,225 --> 00:16:50,684 that your practice management software works for you 465 00:16:50,745 --> 00:16:51,964 and has the flexibility 466 00:16:52,345 --> 00:16:54,684 that you need and that your patients need. 467 00:16:55,129 --> 00:16:57,450 When you think about that, don't just think 468 00:16:57,450 --> 00:16:59,769 about, you know, the what the things we've 469 00:16:59,769 --> 00:17:01,529 talked about. I think, you know, we've covered 470 00:17:01,529 --> 00:17:03,690 the workflow. We we've covered the flexibility. We've 471 00:17:03,690 --> 00:17:04,670 covered the data. 472 00:17:05,289 --> 00:17:07,690 As you work with third party partners, make 473 00:17:07,690 --> 00:17:10,269 sure that the practice management software you're using 474 00:17:11,025 --> 00:17:13,585 has approved partners. I know Henry Schein One 475 00:17:13,585 --> 00:17:15,184 and I know some of our competitors do 476 00:17:15,184 --> 00:17:17,664 this too. We have a robust API program. 477 00:17:17,664 --> 00:17:19,345 We have over 140 478 00:17:19,345 --> 00:17:21,904 partners. If somebody shows up to sell you 479 00:17:21,904 --> 00:17:24,305 something, some new dental tech widget, some new 480 00:17:24,305 --> 00:17:27,000 dental tech tool, some new AI tool, make 481 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:29,000 sure they're an approved partner. Make sure they're 482 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:30,220 a vetted approved partner, 483 00:17:30,679 --> 00:17:34,039 and everyone's data is secure. Everyone's data is 484 00:17:34,039 --> 00:17:34,539 safe. 485 00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:37,179 And those HIPAA and PII, 486 00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:40,335 concerns just go right away. That's what I 487 00:17:40,335 --> 00:17:42,095 would close with, Brian. Thank you for having 488 00:17:42,095 --> 00:17:44,095 us. Yeah. Thank you thank you, Alan. And 489 00:17:44,095 --> 00:17:45,694 I imagine that, what you just said there 490 00:17:45,694 --> 00:17:48,355 that the HIPAA, the the those those requirements 491 00:17:48,494 --> 00:17:50,815 going right away, not becoming, taking up any 492 00:17:50,815 --> 00:17:52,575 headspace was music to to some of our 493 00:17:52,575 --> 00:17:55,679 listeners' ears. So, I appreciate you coming on, 494 00:17:56,299 --> 00:17:58,140 Alan and Theresa. It was a pleasure having 495 00:17:58,140 --> 00:18:00,559 this conversation with you. Thank you so much. 496 00:18:01,099 --> 00:18:02,880 Thank you, Theresa. Thank you, Brian. 497 00:18:03,339 --> 00:18:06,059 I also wanna thank our podcast sponsor, Henry 498 00:18:06,059 --> 00:18:08,300 Schein one. You can tune to more podcasts 499 00:18:08,300 --> 00:18:11,040 from Becker's Healthcare by visiting our podcast page 500 00:18:11,100 --> 00:18:13,440 at beckerspodcasts.com.