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This is S hat with the Becker's Dentalia. So podcast,
I'm thrilled today to be joined by Dr. Jason Aach,
founder of Riverside Oral Surgery. Dr. Aach,
thank you so much for being here today.
Thank you so much for having me.
Could you start off by telling us a bit about your background?
Sure. So just to kind of reiterate, my name is Jason Auerback.
I started Riverside Oral Surgery after finishing a
full scope oral maxillofacial surgery residency program at SUNY Downstate
Medical Center, uh, Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn.
In 2007, Riverside Oral Surgery came to be,
and we grew from one location and four
team members to currently 10 locations and well over
100 team members. Uh, in the last year or so,
we brought on outside investment and founded an oral surgery
only, um,
management organization called Max Surgical Specialty Management,
of which I am founder, president and chief clinical officer.
Our goal is to build the preeminent oral maxillofacial surgery
surgeon led platform in the country.
We partnered in January with a wonderful practice in central
New Jersey called Oral Surgery Group, and uh,
we now have 13 locations and are growing, uh, really, really quickly,
but looking really only to grow with the best and the most
accomplished surgeons in the country starting in the Northeast.
I also have a, uh, Instagram presence, uh,
social media presence. I'm known, uh, far and wide as bloody tooth guy.
It's basically a continuing education platform online through social media,
uh, and, uh, it's a, it's a really great creative outlet for me as well.
Fantastic, thank you. My first question for you is,
what are the biggest issues you're following in dental today?
I think the biggest issues that I'm looking at in dental today have a lot to do
with, uh, scaling the patient experience. For me. As I said,
I'm very involved in growing my practice footprint and the platform
footprint. In the last few years,
there's been a ton of consolidation and interest from outside investors
in oral surgery. Obviously, oral max facial surgery is my focus,
and after being approached by so many different potential opportunities,
it became apparent to me that the one thing that was missing was the
patient experience focused surgeon led
platform. And that's what I'm trying to form right now. So that's,
that's basically where my focus is.
Thank you. So when you think about the future of dentistry,
what are you most excited about and what makes you nervous?
I think what makes me nervous is, um, you know,
the shifting demographics, uh, in, in certain locations.
I practice in the northeast,
I practice in northern New Jersey with offices throughout New Jersey,
and there's been a significant shift in demographics, um,
in our area with a lot of people moving out of the state and a lot of
surgeons kind of aging out. So it's,
it's a changing environment. There's also,
I think kind of specific to dentistry, maybe not specific to dentistry,
but certainly apparent to dentistry,
this negative association with, uh, corporate dentistry, which is growing.
And I think by and large,
a lot of the negative association with corporate dentistry is justified as
outside investors don't truly understand the,
the inner workings of the dental practices, the way that, uh,
surgeon or dental owned practices, uh,
have currently or have been for a long time.
And so there has to be really kind of a taking back of,
of, uh, of the way that the care is delivered. And so for me,
a a major concern and a major focus is trying to build something
that is scalable,
but that doesn't diminish the patient experience and doesn't change the, the,
the ability to, to deliver care, uh,
from in the doctor's hands to in the investor's hands. That,
that for me is a major, major thought process.
Interesting. And sort of, you talked about, you know,
this sort of negative attitude towards corporate dentistry at the moment.
Do you see that attitude shifting in the next two to three years?
I think so long as the people that are,
that are building the platforms are focused on the right things,
which like I said, is delivery of great patient care,
a wonderful patient experience autonomy for surgeons or, or dentists,
um, I think that that can change. I do think that when I came out,
I finished training in 2003, I finished dental school in 1999. Uh,
there was very little in the way of corporate dentistry. Uh, and now it's,
it's dominant in, in many places in the country,
certainly less so in the Northeast, um, as, uh,
there are certain protections for, for the state boards,
the dentistry in these states up here, which is good by and large.
But I think that it's important for younger dentists and,
and really dentists considering partnering with platforms and,
and existing platforms to understand that just like anything in this world,
there are, there are good players and there are bad players. And you know,
a lot of people look at the word or the acronym d s o as being a negative thing.
And in some cases it is when you're joining a DSO that's focused only on,
uh, controlling and, and,
and bringing EBITDA together so that they can sell at a later time,
you have a very,
very different mindset than finding the proper financial partners that
understand that, you know,
surgeons and dentists have something more to bring rather than just producing
dentistry. And so, you know, I I,
I hope and I believe, uh,
optimistically that if the right people get into the game
and join the right organizations and those organizations flourish,
that we can change the paradigm of, of,
of the corporate dental world, and we can really bring, uh,
a different mindset to, to what that offers for,
for older surgeons and younger surgeons alike.
Thank you.
So what will the most effective healthcare leaders need to be successful in the
next two to three years?
They don't, they're gonna need to be the most suc,
the most effective healthcare leaders need in any, in any, uh, business.
I think just need to be excellent communicators,
be able to have a vision that differentiates them to be able to
articulate that vision within the organization that they're building,
and to be able to promote that vision to those who they're looking to either
bring into the organization or who they're looking to serve. Uh,
referring doctors, patients, the communities at large, and of course,
the practices that are considering, uh, partnering with them. So I think,
I think like anything, being honest and being open, being transparent,
being authentic in the communication is, is everything.
And then of course, being able to provide, uh,
differentiated and superior patient experience. Um, you know,
when I started my practice back in 2007, healthcare was, was,
uh, delivered in a very specific, traditional way. So much has changed.
Patients are, are much more educated, they're much more sophisticated, uh,
they're much more knowledgeable,
they're much more in control of their own health, health-based decisions and,
and respecting and understanding that and,
and giving the patients what they want, uh,
using your expertise is, is paramount to, I think,
success going forward in the healthcare business.
Well, Dr. Aach,
thank you so much for connecting with me today and for your fascinating
insights. I look forward to speaking with you again in the future.
It's, it's my pleasure, really. Thank you so much for the opportunity.
I really enjoyed it. I hope it's helpful for the listeners and, uh,
look forward to speaking to you again soon.