- This is Riz Hat with the Becker's Dental Podcast.
I'm thrilled to be joined today by Dr.
Kyle Hollis, chief Clinical Officer of SGA Dental Partners.
Dr. Hollis, thank you so much for being here today.
- Uh, thank you for inviting me. Really excited to be here.
- Great. Just to start us off, could you introduce yourself
and tell us a bit about your background?
- Absolutely. Yeah. So I'm Dr. Kyle Hollis.
I, I, like you said, I'm the Chief Clinical Officer
for SGA Dental Partners.
Um, I'm a practicing dentist in, uh, uh, Savannah, Georgia.
I actually, uh, was a, I practiced for about six years
before I got into the, um, more of the management, uh, role
and became the Chief Clinical Officer, um, for SGA back in,
uh, March of 2022.
I, uh, I went to the Dental College of Georgia for my, uh,
my dental education.
Um, and, uh, yeah, I really enjoyed, um, being a part
of the, of SGA and, um, of the group and,
and seeing where we've, we've grown.
Um, and, uh, you know, I look forward to, to
speaking, uh, on the podcast
and continue to talk through, uh, some of the issues and,
and great things that are going on in the industry.
- Great. Thanks so much for that introduction.
I'm curious what led you to switch from, um,
the more clinical side of the dentistry to management?
- Well, I, I enjoyed, uh, clinical dentistry,
uh, and I still do.
Uh, and it was, um, just one of those things
that happened organically.
Um, we began growing as a group.
Uh, we started out, um, with a, with an
as Southwestern Zone Management, um, with a group
outside of Savannah, Georgia.
Um, we had two locations at Reedsville and Coxton.
Um, and, uh, as the group continued to grow,
there became more
and more of a need, um, to, uh, uh,
to expand our, um, clinical strategy
and clinical management.
Um, and, uh, just kind of, uh, like I said,
just kind of happened organically.
I fell into the role, um, as I became more
and more involved with, uh,
just the growth of the, the group.
Um, and with our, uh,
private equity partners, the Durston group.
- Great. Thanks for sharing.
What are the biggest issues you're
following in dental today?
- One of the biggest issues that I'm following in our,
our group is, is kind of, uh, keeping, keeping track of
and is really important to us is, um, access to care.
Uh, we are a regional,
regional DSO primarily in the southeast United States.
Um, and, uh, one of the things that we see in a lot
of the states that we're in, um, are just numerous markets
with unmet demand.
So, um, we, uh, we have offices in, in tertiary
and secondary markets, um, more rural areas where, um,
we may be the only, um, dental office and the only provider,
and there are also several counties still in, in many
of the states that we're in, uh,
that don't, don't have dentists.
Um, so access to care is, is a, is a big issue
that we are actively, uh, trying to solve.
And one of our, our big, um, goals is to
bring high quality providers, um, into those, uh,
more rural markets, um, so that we can better provide access
to care for any of those that, that don't have it.
Um, and then also with that, you know, I'm, uh,
we're looking at the what's licensing, uh,
what's the licensing, um, issues with different states
and the licensing compacts that are, uh, out there.
You know, there's, there's two big
ones that are floating around.
Um, and so we're just, uh, you know,
keep staying aware of that.
And then just seeing how to did the licensing compacts, um,
you know, the ability for Dennis to have reciprocity
of licensing across, uh, state borders.
How does that affect access of care, um, uh, for patients?
Are they gonna, you know, increase that?
Are we gonna be able to, to further provide more care in
these rural areas, um, bring providers to those areas.
Um, and then I think probably also just, uh,
the insurance medical loss ratios that the dental,
dental insurance companies, um, legislation for that in,
in many states that's happening right now.
Keeping, keeping track of that.
Um, you know, what's this gonna look like, uh, for coverage
for our patients, um,
reimbursements tracking, you know, tracking that.
How's the, how reimbursements gonna track, you know, you
with the increased supply costs,
staffing costs and everything like that.
Um, you know, is this something that's going to be great
for patients and, uh, you know, good
for good for the industry?
Uh, or is it, is it one of those things where, um, you know,
we're not gonna see a whole lot
of reflection in the actual coverage for patients.
- Interesting. Thank you. I'm curious, um, does
SGA dental partners have, um, a specific strategy
or any initiatives that they're working on
regarding access to care?
- Yes. One of our, uh, the key components of the group is,
is to provide, uh, that high quality care in those, uh,
you know, I, I don't wanna say, uh, forgotten markets,
but, uh, maybe a lot of those areas where like, there is
that unmet demand, um, where there, there's, you know,
patients that are driving an hour
or more to, to see providers, you know, we have the ability
to, to be able to go in, uh, set up practices, uh,
create succession plans for, uh, older, you know,
existing doctors in, in locations where, um, you know,
they may be retiring and there's not an immediate, uh,
solution for replacement.
Um, we've, uh, been very successful in,
in going into those areas, um,
and bringing, uh, providers that maybe initially
wouldn't have considered that, um,
as a potential opportunity.
And then, uh, making that a good opportunity for them and
therefore, you know, bringing that, uh, that quality
of care, uh, to these patients.
Um, and so, uh, that's, that's something we continue
to, to invest in.
Um, and, uh, we're gonna continue to grow
and build density in, in more of these tertiary markets
and, uh, and secondary markets
as we grow in southeast United States.
- Awesome. Thank you.
So, whatcha most excited about
and what makes you nervous when it comes to dentistry?
- A good question. Uh, I think I'm probably, I,
I get really excited
and passionate, um, about, um, just the tech, you know,
the technological advances we're seeing
in dentistry right now.
I mean, 3D printing, um, AI integration, uh,
you know, I think, uh, 3D printing is, is is changing, uh,
the way that, um, we do dentistry
and it's gonna continue to develop.
I mean, I think, you know, just here recently Align came out
with, uh, 3D printed powder expanders for kids.
Um, it, it's less invasive, less painful, um, uh, a way
of doing expansion.
And then, you know, just the, the ability to, uh, you know,
as we have more and more materials that, materials
that come out that we can 3D print, um, you know, uh,
long-term fixed, uh, you know, solutions for patients
and implant solutions, um, things, things of that nature,
I think it's gonna continue to, to shorten appointments
for patients and to lessen the number of appointments, um,
the patient's gonna, uh, be in the chair.
So, really excited about that.
And then, you know, AI integration into the office,
both on the, the clinical side and the vision side.
I mean, uh, we're seeing, you know, we're able
to be more precise with our, with our decision making
and, um, you know, be able to, to more confidently diagnose
for patients, and then also gives the patients the ability
to seek care that it's, um, you know, that is better,
better data-driven, um,
and so they can, they can physically see, hey, this is
what the AI's picking up.
And then that, along with the diagnosis from the doctor, um,
it's gonna continue to build patient
confidence and what we're doing.
So, uh, that's, that's really exciting.
You know, genetic testing, you know, saliva testing,
being able to be more precise and,
and just create personalized care for patients.
Um, that's another thing that we're, we're looking at, uh,
with SGA and so excited about that.
Uh, minimally invasive dentistry.
I mean, the, the integration of lasers with and,
and periodontal treatment
and also just, uh, there's,
there's products on the market right now where we're, uh,
treating, uh, incipient caries, uh, without drilling.
Um, and IV we remineralize
and with biomimetic, uh, ways.
And, and so that's pretty exciting.
Um, as far as, uh,
and I think the rest of your question is
what potentially makes me nervous?
I don't know if there's anything that, that
necessarily makes me nervous.
Uh, you know, maybe one of the things that, that we're,
I'm cautious with, um, is, uh,
teledentistry, right?
So I think that tele dentistry definitely fits into the
continuum of care
and, uh, is is potentially another way that we're going to,
you know, better that access to care,
but just wanted to make, you know, we wanna make sure
that hey, it's implemented appropriately, we're providing it
where it's necessary, you know, that, you know, just kind
of watching what, you know, how is it gonna be regulated,
uh, you continue to be regulated.
Um, everything along those lines.
So cautiously optimistic, but, um, cautious for sure.
- Interesting. Thank you. What will the most effective
healthcare leaders need
to be successful in the next two to three years?
- Great question. Uh, is this a changing, uh,
interesting changing time that we're in?
Um, I think it just, the ability to adapt, right?
So healthcare's changing rapidly
with AI integration and into everything.
We're seeing processes and, uh, change.
Um, we're seeing new technology come out
in the market every day.
Um, and I, and a lot of it is, uh, does make, uh,
things more efficient and more effective.
Um, so I think being able to adapt not being, uh, resistant
to change is, uh, is one way to, to continue
to be effective over the next couple years.
You know, the ability to make data-driven decisions, um,
stay away from, from just emotional decisions, you know,
take, uh, the anecdotal information
that you give from your providers, uh,
and you, you know, your constituents listen
to all your constituents, um, at the ground level,
and then take that and combine it with the data
that we're able to, you know, um, we're able to build, uh,
more on the, the company side, um,
and use that to make your decisions.
And, and I think that that's, um,
how you stay effective and, and you grow.
Biggest thing really is,
is focusing on your providers and patients, right?
So providing patient-centered care, focusing on, on outcomes
of those patients, making sure that all the decisions
that you're making are, are leading to better outcomes
for your patient, and, uh, let that drive your business.
Uh, and in order to do that, uh, you really have
to also focus on the wellbeing
and just the mental health of your, of your clinicians
and, and your staff.
So I think, uh, you know, making sure, especially right now,
you, you know, and I know healthcare, you know,
the hos hospitals on the medical side are seeing it worse
than, than we are on the dentistry side with the
nor nurse shortage.
But, you know, with, with, uh, availability for a lot
of offices to, to, uh, to staff, uh, you know, in,
in places, I think it, that can add added stressors.
Uh, so we've been really fortunate.
Our retention rate, uh, of staff has really high.
But, you know, it's just one of those things that you have
to see, like, hey, if staffing, you know,
across the industry becomes more difficult, like how do we,
how do we re remove some of that strain
and stressors off of our providers, um,
and just keep 'em, uh, keep 'em happy.
So being there and making sure that we're, you know,
you're supporting your clinicians, your providers,
and the rest of your staff, um,
and, uh, you know, being able
to continuously provide the high quality, a high level
of patient care, um, I think
that's how you remain effective.
- That's great. Yeah, it sounds like that that support piece
as well as that flexibility,
that adaptability sounds really important.
Thank you so much, Dr.
Hollis, for your fascinating insights and your time today.
I look forward to connecting with you again in the future.
- Sounds great. Thank you so.