Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Building Strong Dental Practices in a Changing Industry with Costas Harris

Transcript

Building Strong Dental Practices in a Changing Industry with Costas Harris · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

• 0:02
  - Every dental leader is facing the same question
• 0:04
  - right now, whether to grow, partner, sell, or
• 0:07
  - hold the line. There's no neutral move anymore.
• 0:10
  - DSOs are consolidating,
• 0:12
  - valuations are climbing,
• 0:13
  - AI and digital tools are raising the bar
• 0:15
  - on what a modern practice even looks like.
• 0:18
  - And the calls you make this year will
• 0:20
  - shape the next decade. Becker's fifth annual future
• 0:23
  - of dentistry roundtable is where you make those
• 0:25
  - calls with better information.
• 0:27
  - You'll be in the company of 250
• 0:29
  - plus executives, 90 plus speakers, and two days
• 0:32
  - of intimate discussion driven sessions with DSO and
• 0:35
  - independent practice leaders laying out what's working on
• 0:38
  - growth,
• 0:40
  - talent, and tech, and what they do differently.
• 0:42
  - So join us September fourteenth and fifteenth at
• 0:44
  - the Hilton Chicago, and come ready to decide
• 0:47
  - what's next. Register on our events page at
• 0:49
  - beckersdental.com
• 0:51
  - by clicking in the events tab in the
• 0:53
  - upper right.
• 0:54
  - Hello. This is Arianna Portallatin with the Becker's
• 0:57
  - Dental and DSO review podcast.
• 0:59
  - I'm thrilled to be joined today by doctor
• 1:00
  - Costas Harris, the owner of Harris Dental in
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  - New Jersey. Doctor Harris, thank you so much
• 1:05
  - for being here today. It's a pleasure to
• 1:06
  - have you on our podcast.
• 1:07
  - Thank you for having me, Mariana. It's a
• 1:09
  - pleasure to be here. Yes. Thank you so
• 1:11
  - much. To start us off, can you introduce
• 1:13
  - yourself for our listeners and tell us a
• 1:14
  - little bit about your background as well?
• 1:16
  - Sure.
• 1:18
  - So, I'm Costas Harris. Again, I'm, I'm happy
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  - to be here today. Thank you for having
• 1:23
  - me. And, I'm a dentist. I'm practicing in,
• 1:26
  - Northern New Jersey for the past, twenty plus
• 1:28
  - years. I own two practices here, Orange Dental
• 1:31
  - Center and Randolph Dental Center.
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  - I'm the first,
• 1:34
  - in my family to be a dentist here.
• 1:37
  - I grew up, to be honest, in the
• 1:38
  - restaurant business. We had a a few restaurants
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  - for for thirty five plus years.
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  - And,
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  - I think, growing up in the in the
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  - business in the restaurant business, it helped me
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  - a lot,
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  - in dentistry as well. You know? So,
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  - dentistry is obviously a profession that we are,
• 1:55
  - that we have to go through our education
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  - for, but,
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  - you get very little knowledge of in the
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  - business aspect of it. So I was,
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  - I was very fortunate to be brought up
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  - in a in a business family and to,
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  - be able to,
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  - have that, equate into my dental, profession as
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  - well.
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  - That's great to hear. Thank you for sharing
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  - that. First question for you here, what are
• 2:16
  - some of the biggest issues that you are
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  - following in the dental industry currently?
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  - I would say,
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  - by far the, the largest issue, right now,
• 2:25
  - and I believe since COVID, even before the
• 2:27
  - but especially after COVID,
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  - is,
• 2:30
  - is staffing. It's,
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  - extremely
• 2:32
  - difficult,
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  - to,
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  - not just,
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  - to get staffing. I mean, you can maintain
• 2:39
  - staffing when you have the right staffing, but
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  - it's very hard, the training aspect of it,
• 2:44
  - acquiring staffing.
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  - There is,
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  - you know, a lot of competition for it,
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  - out there, but there's also,
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  - there's also just a shortage of it, plain
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  - and simple. You know? So that makes it
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  - even more difficult.
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  - And so at that point, you also want
• 3:00
  - to,
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  - I mean, there's the staffing. There's the rising
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  - cost of everything that has been the last
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  - two or three years.
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  - And,
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  - and because of that, it's just that I
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  - feel like there is a lot of, burnout
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  - as well, you know, because of the staffing
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  - issues. So,
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  - it's a it's a little bit,
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  - threefold there as far as that goes, but,
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  - I believe the the overall issue,
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  - from my aspect is definitely staffing.
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  - Okay.
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  - And I'd love to dive in just a
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  - little bit deeper there. I know you have
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  - the two practices in New Jersey. Are there
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  - any specific,
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  - roles that you are having trouble recruiting for
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  - at those offices?
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  - Well, I would say definitely, as most, practitioners
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  - would probably tell you,
• 3:43
  - is, dental hygiene,
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  - hygienist there. So it is, they are very
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  - difficult. You know, we joke around sometimes, like,
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  - since after the
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  - pandemic, it's almost like they are ghosts. You
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  - know, they're very hard to find,
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  - dental hygienists. So, you know, you'll go to,
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  - to temp agencies or whatnot, whatever you have
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  - to do in order to, to, staff the
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  - office for it.
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  - You know, it was very difficult,
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  - you know, as everyone would, it would probably
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  - be for, you know, every single dentist after
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  - COVID to find then to find staff and
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  - coming back in, you know, as far as
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  - assistance and whatnot.
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  - But,
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  - we have been more, you know, lately, we
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  - have been fortunate in the sense that we
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  - have found, we do have a a a
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  - good staff right now.
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  - Acquiring that staff has taken us a long
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  - time, you know,
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  - reading out the, the right people,
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  - for the practice and training them.
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  - But,
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  - it is you I think in today's world,
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  - you have no choice but to when you
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  - get someone,
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  - a good staff member, you also have to
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  - invest a lot into the, training of it
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  - because training of that member. Because if you
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  - don't,
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  - if you're expecting just someone to come, out,
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  - off the streets to be fully trained and
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  - whatnot, it's almost impossible.
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  - You may get one or two, but when
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  - you when you have a larger practice and
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  - you're employing,
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  - eight or 10, assistants,
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  - it's it's very difficult to get,
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  - you know, the the best of the best
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  - every single time. So you have to invest
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  - in that,
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  - training, period as well for your staff.
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  - Yeah. Yeah. Definitely.
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  - And what are some of the challenges that
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  - you've seen with recruiting hygienists? I know I've
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  - seen a few different,
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  - I guess factors,
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  - fueling the shortage and fueling some of the
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  - recruitment challenges that I've seen a lot of
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  - practice owners talk about rising
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  - compensation costs that are hard to keep up
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  - with,
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  - shortage of applicants as well, or just a
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  - lack of, skilled workers.
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  - What have you seen in the in the
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  - industry so far in your experience?
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  - Well, you know, as far as the hygienists
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  - go, I think,
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  - yeah, it's just,
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  - even when you're you're putting in,
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  - on, you know, ads on Indeed or wherever
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  - you are placing them,
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  - you do not get the response that you
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  - used to pre COVID.
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  - So it's,
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  - so you're not even getting those applications.
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  - Secondly, yeah, without a doubt, there's a rising
• 5:59
  - cost because there is a there's demand for
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  - them, and there's a shortage of them. But
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  - lastly, if you go on sites like LinkedIn
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  - and whatnot,
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  - you'll notice how a lot of these,
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  - the other, members on LinkedIn were formerly dental
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  - hygienists, and they are now consultants or they
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  - are working for,
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  - larger companies, and they're nonclinical.
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  - And, I saw a lot of that. Now
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  - does that play into it? I'm assuming. You
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  - know? A lot of people,
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  - change their I feel like after COVID, a
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  - lot of people change their mentality. You know?
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  - Maybe even me. I don't I'm not even
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  - sure. Right? But,
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  - I've seen a shift in,
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  - in how, a lot of dental professionals,
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  - from every aspect, from management down to clinical
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  - to administrative,
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  - you know, your associates,
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  - have are thinking. It's it's it's not the
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  - same. It's somewhat as if people,
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  - are,
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  - overstressed. I it's it's a very, different industry
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  - than it was,
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  - four or five years ago. And,
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  - that is where, you know, a lot of
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  - the staffing issues, I think, come in. I
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  - think just the psyche has even changed in,
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  - in, in our, profession.
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  - Yeah. And I know you mentioned,
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  - using the temp,
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  - agency. Were there any specific advantages or disadvantages
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  - to use to using that?
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  - I think at this point,
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  - you know what? It's only an advantage because,
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  - you immediately have someone,
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  - you need them. Right? And the other, advantage
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  - is that,
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  - you will come across,
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  - some temps that are great, and they will,
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  - consider they, you can actually keep them. Maybe
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  - not even on a a regular basis, but
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  - when you do need them, you know,
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  - as long as,
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  - they were a great fit for your office
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  - and and you,
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  - and,
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  - they like some in here, it was it's
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  - a perfect thing. I don't see any disadvantage
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  - to that. I think it's only an advantage.
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  - Okay. And switching gears here, I'd love to
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  - know what are you most excited about when
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  - it comes to dentistry, and is there anything
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  - that's making you nervous in the industry?
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  - So I think,
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  - what I'm, you know,
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  - obviously, AI. You know, it's the the big
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  - talk of the time, right, in any industry.
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  - So it is,
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  - it's great to see that here because if
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  - you
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  - if you go back to the issue we
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  - were just discussing, staffing shortages and whatnot,
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  - AI is just, I think, gonna be, the
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  - next major,
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  - player in our, in our profession, so to
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  - speak,
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  - from the administrative and the clinical side. So
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  - when you see the,
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  - AI being a hand being able to handle,
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  - repetitive tasks,
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  - or clinically doing AI, diagnostics and treatment planning,
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  - it's a big plus. You know, and even
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  - just regardless of AI technology,
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  - coming out, you know, but doing digital impressions
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  - or laser dentistry,
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  - it's it's pretty amazing. You know? Being able
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  - to, to streamline your workflow
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  - is,
• 8:56
  - is impressive. You know? And I it's it's
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  - only gonna get, stronger, you know, throughout the
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  - the years. You know? And it's it's happening
• 9:02
  - rapidly, to be quite honest. You know?
• 9:04
  - And, maybe the one side,
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  - where I can tell you,
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  - you know, we,
• 9:09
  - we have any kind of, experience in, clinically
• 9:12
  - at the moment here in in our offices
• 9:15
  - and probably throughout dentistry, but regenerative dentistry, which
• 9:18
  - is coming up, like regenerative,
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  - endodontics and
• 9:22
  - periodontal regeneration,
• 9:24
  - and even, eventually,
• 9:26
  - future tooth growth. You know? I mean, when
• 9:28
  - you think of, something like that, that's pretty
• 9:31
  - exciting. You know? And, we'll see where it
• 9:32
  - goes and how rapidly,
• 9:34
  - it, it comes into the into our profession.
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  - Yeah. And was there anything else that makes
• 9:39
  - you nervous besides the the staffing challenges?
• 9:42
  - I think, you know, the big thing about
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  - dentistry is if I'm looking at it as
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  - a as a clinician and I or if
• 9:50
  - I'm looking at it as a patient and
• 9:52
  - this this probably goes for health care, not
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  - just dentistry. I mean, health care, like your,
• 9:57
  - medical physicians and all of that. I think
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  - the big thing is,
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  - mainly the rift that is, you know, gonna
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  - occur eventually that is happening, not not eventually
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  - gonna occur between independent practices and corporate owned.
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  - You know? I believe that,
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  - I think there will always be independent dentists,
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  - you know, to start. I mean, I know
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  - the big talk. Everyone, is saying how DSOs
• 10:20
  - are taking over dentistry and whatnot.
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  - And, of course, yes, there is a a
• 10:24
  - a very large contingent there.
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  - And
• 10:27
  - I see that a lot with the younger,
• 10:29
  - dentists, going into these, corporations.
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  - But there will always be a need, and
• 10:34
  - they will always thrive independent practices because there's
• 10:37
  - nothing like an independent dentist. It is,
• 10:40
  - you're first of all, it's your livelihood that
• 10:42
  - depends on it, but, also, it's your own
• 10:43
  - business. You're gonna you treat it differently,
• 10:46
  - and patients respond differently.
• 10:48
  - Now what I'm worried about in the future
• 10:50
  - is,
• 10:51
  - is this rip. I I'm worried about burnout
• 10:53
  - for for dentists, all dentists, whether they're corporate
• 10:56
  - or, or independent.
• 10:58
  - And I'm worried about, you know, what will
• 11:01
  - the what will dentistry look like, ten years
• 11:04
  - from now? You know? What will the level
• 11:05
  - of care be? You know, I understand that
• 11:08
  - corporate, entities have a broader,
• 11:10
  - financial responsibility
• 11:12
  - to meet and,
• 11:13
  - you know, whether they cut corners or not,
• 11:15
  - some organizations are run better than others. You
• 11:17
  - know, that's just any business. But they do
• 11:19
  - have,
• 11:20
  - investor expectations and whatnot. And what will that
• 11:23
  - translate in,
• 11:25
  - as far as, clinical care or how dentistry
• 11:27
  - will look like, to a patient? You know?
• 11:29
  - Even myself, if I'm going to a dentist,
• 11:31
  - you know, would I far would I prefer,
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  - an independent office,
• 11:36
  - you know, as opposed to a corporate? I
• 11:38
  - would. Yes.
• 11:39
  - Financially,
• 11:41
  - will those offices probably be,
• 11:44
  - more,
• 11:45
  - expensive to go to? Yes. I would assume
• 11:47
  - because it'd be more like a eventually, I
• 11:49
  - feel like it will be more of a
• 11:50
  - concierge service.
• 11:52
  - And will it be accessible,
• 11:54
  - to the public there? Maybe not. You know?
• 11:56
  - And that's what's scary. You know? Looking at
• 11:58
  - it from,
• 12:00
  - a clinician, you may say to yourself, hey.
• 12:01
  - You know what? Eventually, I'm gonna sell out
• 12:03
  - to a DSO,
• 12:04
  - and I will, maybe,
• 12:06
  - have a better financial gain. But from a
• 12:09
  - patient point of view, you're looking at it
• 12:10
  - and you're saying, you know,
• 12:12
  - what will that look like? What will that
• 12:14
  - care look like ten years from now? And
• 12:15
  - I'm not so sure.
• 12:17
  - Okay.
• 12:18
  - And last question for you here, what will
• 12:20
  - the most effective effective health care leaders need
• 12:22
  - to be successful in the next two to
• 12:24
  - three years?
• 12:26
  - I think without a doubt,
• 12:28
  - because they will have to
• 12:30
  - acknowledge,
• 12:32
  - and,
• 12:33
  - a a staffing shortage that it's here to
• 12:34
  - stay. I don't think the staffing is gonna
• 12:37
  - get much better,
• 12:38
  - or any better at all. And by by
• 12:40
  - acknowledging it, sooner and, implementing,
• 12:44
  - different strategies,
• 12:46
  - implementing AI, implementing the,
• 12:49
  - technology into your practice,
• 12:51
  - and being able to say your yourself, I'm
• 12:53
  - going to,
• 12:56
  - still give this,
• 12:57
  - level of care and,
• 13:00
  - and, be able to,
• 13:02
  - to be financially successful and whatnot at the
• 13:04
  - same time.
• 13:06
  - That is what you have to,
• 13:08
  - come to grips with. I mean, if you
• 13:10
  - are thinking that,
• 13:11
  - the industry might, come back to what it
• 13:13
  - was five years ago or with staffing or
• 13:16
  - whatnot, I I think that,
• 13:18
  - anyone will tell you that's probably not gonna
• 13:20
  - happen. And I think the the companies and
• 13:22
  - individuals that,
• 13:23
  - adopt that, way of thinking sooner rather than
• 13:26
  - later and, put some kind of different processes
• 13:29
  - into place,
• 13:30
  - to deal with that staffing shortage so that
• 13:32
  - it's a norm for them where they're not
• 13:34
  - worried about it, and they're given that same
• 13:36
  - level of care,
• 13:38
  - those will be the successful, organizations moving forward.
• 13:42
  - Okay. Well, that's all I have for you
• 13:44
  - today, doctor Harris. Thank you so much for
• 13:45
  - joining us today. It's been a real pleasure
• 13:47
  - speaking with you, having on our podcast,
• 13:49
  - listening to your insight on the industry, and
• 13:51
  - looking forward to connecting with you again in
• 13:52
  - the future.
• 13:53
  - Absolutely. Same here. Thank you for having me,
• 13:55
  - Arianna.