Hello. This is Ariana Portolatin with the Becker's
Dental and DSO Ruby podcast. I'm thrilled to
be joined today by Manish Nayak, president of
the dental and vision units at Cigna Healthcare.
Manish, thank you so much for being here
today. It is great to have you on
our podcast.
Thank you very much, Ariana.
Yeah. To start us off, can you introduce
yourself for our listeners and tell us a
little bit about your background?
Sure. So I'm Manish Nayak, president of Cigna
Healthcare's dental and vision business. We serve 17,000,000
customers across the country, mostly in employer sponsored
dental insurance and individual dental insurance.
I oversee everything from network and product strategy
to provider relations,
innovation, and clinical execution.
I joined Cigna in 2011
right after the passage of the Affordable Care
Act to help build and then eventually lead
our individual and family plans business, which eventually
grew to serve over half a million customers.
I then held roles in enterprise operations, including
leading major initiatives following the Cigna Express Scripts
merger and our return to office strategy post
COVID.
Before Cigna, I worked in financial services, helping
launch the home equity lending business at Capital
One and then leading mortgage operations at E*TRADE
Bank.
As far as my educational background, I studied
mechanical engineering at Cornell, and I earned my
MBA from Duke University. I live in Tysons
Corner, Virginia with my wife and two daughters.
My wife is actually a dentist, and I
helped her start her practice over twenty years
ago. So while I'm a little newer working
in this industry, I've been very close to
it for a very long time through my
wife. And what excites me about my role
is the impact that we can have on
whole person health. When we think about our
customers, we're thinking about their vitality, not just
their teeth, and I'm energized by the opportunity
to improve lives through that connection.
Great. Thank you so much for that, introduction
there. It's great to hear about your background.
First question for you here. What are some
of the biggest issues that you're following in
the dental industry right now?
Yeah. I think there's a couple.
You know, I think the first and the
biggest issue in the industry right now is
really the lack of labor.
Dentists are facing an incredible amount of shortage
with specifically hygienist post COVID.
I I see that firsthand,
with my wife's practice as well as my
friends who are dentists.
And I think that's putting a lot of
stress in the system. Dentists are not practicing
at the highest level of their license.
Patients are waiting longer to be able to
get appointments to see their dentist and can
get their cleanings, and that's ultimately leading to
delayed care.
I think second is just the cost pressure
of
employers having now to deal with increasing medical,
pharmacy, behavioral health expenses. And now that we're
seeing that in the dental industry as well
too. So this used to be a very
stable product for employer sponsored health insurance, and
it's changing. It's becoming more dynamic. There's more
pressure on employers to maintain affordability
and that's giving us an opportunity actually to
help shape plan designs and and build our
network in a way that leads to more
affordable products that more people can, leverage. And
I think the third thing, the third sort
of big thing in in dent in the
dental industry is the rise of AI
and, you know, potential
help to
ease the administrative burden that practices are facing.
There's a lot of AI start up. There's
a lot of VC money coming into the
AI space, particularly around oral care. Some of
it is in the clinical space. A lot
of it is in sort of the administrative
overhead space, things like patient eligibility verification,
looking up claims,
and making sure that dentists can actually spend
more of their time actually delivering care than
in managing their practice.
So cost is often the number one reason
patients avoid dental visits. From your experience, what
role can employers and carriers play in reshaping
affordability strategies
to improve preventative care uptake?
Yeah. You know, affordability
is certainly a major barrier to vitality, and
it's one we're working very hard to address,
because oral health isn't just about teeth and
gums. It's deeply connected to overall health,
which obviously in turn affects everything from employee
productivity to long term health care costs. So
when people skip dental care because of cost,
it can lead to more serious and much
more expensive issues down the line.
In fact, sixty percent of Americans
forego dental care due to cost. That's a
staggering number, and it's a clear call to
action.
I think employers and carriers have a real
opportunity here. First, we, Cigna, need to help
employers understand that investing in dental benefits is
an investment in whole person health.
And our role is to create innovative benefit
plan designs which are affordable and easy to
understand
so that more employees actually choose to sign
up for dental coverage.
Then it's about making it easier for employees
to actually use those benefits, whether that's lower
out of pocket costs, smarter plan design, or
incentives that encourage preventive care like regular checkups.
You know, one example
in our partnership with a company called Patient,
which gives our members a flexible way to
pay for out of pocket dental expenses over
time completely interest free. It's a simple no
cost option that helps remove the financial stress
that often keeps people from getting the care
they need.
When we combine smart benefit designed with tools
like this, we're not just improving access, we're
helping people stay healthier and avoiding more costly
interventions later on.
Great.
And how can dental organizations
such as carriers, health care providers, and industry
organizations
play a part in supporting whole person care?
Yeah. That's a great question. You know, whole
person care requires collaboration
across the entire dental ecosystem.
Carriers, providers and industry organizations all have a
role to play.
As an integrated healthcare company,
we focus on leveraging data,
dental and medical data to better understand how
oral health impacts overall well-being.
That integration allows us to use advanced analytics
to identify customers who aren't getting preventive care
and engage them through targeted outreach and marketing
campaigns.
It's not just about offering coverage, it's about
helping people use it in ways that improve
their health.
But health care providers are essential partners in
this effort as well. They're often the first
to detect signs of broader health issues and
their ability to educate patients and coordinate care
is key to driving better outcomes.
I think industry organizations also play a critical
role whether it's through advocacy,
research, education
or setting standards that actually promote integrated care
models.
And finally for employers, incentives matter.
Whether it's rewarding employees for going to preventive
visits or encouraging participation in wellness programs,
we all need to make it easier and
more motivating for people to take action on
their health. We've seen firsthand how integrated care
can drive better outcomes.
For example, our research shows that individuals with
mental health conditions like depression or anxiety
often neglect oral hygiene which leads to more
serious conditions down the line. But when dental,
medical and behavioral healthcare are coordinated,
patients are much more likely to engage in
preventive care and achieve better health outcomes.
It's a really a powerful reminder that when
we treat the whole person, not just isolated
symptoms, we can really make a difference in
their health journey.
Super interesting that, you know, to learn about
integrated care and the tools that insurers are
using to boost integrated care among the dental
community as well. Given that there are gaps
in social detriments of health that create barriers
to oral care, what strategic steps can dental
organizations take to improve access and equity, especially
in rural and underserved communities?
You know, improving access and equity in oral
care, first, I think starts with recognizing the
social determinants of health like geography, income, education,
and language
really do significantly impact whether someone gets the
care they need. Now at Cigna Dental, I
think we take a multi pronged approach to
address some of these barriers.
First,
we're focused on expanding meaningful network access and
this is hard, especially in rural and underserved
areas.
This includes exploring things
like virtual care options like teledentistry,
as well as on-site dental services that bring
care directly to communities where providers might be
scarce.
And we're also looking at benefit design and
making sure the plans reduce cost share barriers
and actively encourage preventive care. I think another
key area is just simply health literacy.
We're reviewing all of our member facing materials
to ensure they're written at a seventh grade
reading level so that they're really easy to
understand and actionable for the widest range of
individuals as possible.
And finally, as I mentioned, we're leveraging data
and analytics to identify populations who aren't engaging
in preventive care. We reach out to them
with targeted campaigns.
Now it's really about meeting people where they
are physically, financially, and educationally
that helps them take steps towards better overall
health.
Yes. Definitely. Thank you so much for sharing
a bit more about there. And I know
technology plays such a huge role in dental
care nowadays, and teledentistry and mobile dental care
have grown so rapidly over the past few
years, of course. How should dental organizations approach
innovation and technology adoption to ensure that these
tools are both effective and inclusive?
Yeah. You know,
post COVID certainly has seen a rise of
teledentistry
adoption, and we fundamentally believe
the teledentistry and mobile dental care have an
important place in the broader ecosystem of delivering
oral health. You know, these tools can be
game changers, especially for people in rural areas,
working parents who can't easily take time off,
or anyone facing logistical barriers
to care. You know, we're focused on making
these solutions both accessible and affordable.
We've had success offering virtual dental consults at
little to no cost, which can help people
avoid unnecessary
ER visits is a major cost saving measure
and a better health outcome.
We certainly recognize teledentistry
isn't ever going to replace in person care
entirely, but it can be a powerful first
line of defense. You know, as as part
of our innovation efforts,
our customers can access a tool called SmartScan
free of charge to get a quick assessment
of their oral health with just a few
pictures from their smartphone.
The intent here is to educate and reduce
the fear and anxiety that many people have
with the uncertainty of seeing a dentist for
the first time or after a long absence.
It gives them something that they can take
to the dental office so that they feel
more confident with what that experience is gonna
be like. And we're also seeing promising results
with mobile dentistry.
Like, it's certainly not a one size fits
all solution. But for the right populations, they
can be incredibly effective.
You know, ultimately, we don't think innovation in
dental care is just about technology. It's really
about meeting people where they are and then
removing barriers to better health.
Some important points that you made there. Thank
you so much for those. Well, that is
all I have for you today, Manish. Thank
you so much for joining us. It's been
a pleasure speaking with you on our podcast
today, and I'm looking forward to connecting with
you again in the future.
Thanks, Arianna. Really appreciate the opportunity to join
you, share a little bit about Cigna Dental.
I listen to this cast frequently, so it's
been fun being a guest. Thank you so
much. Thank you. Enjoy the rest of your
day.