Do You Know Who Owns Your Dental Office?

Do You Know Who Owns Your Dental Office?

Before we get too far into this discussion, it needs to be VERY CLEAR, Med City Dental is 100% owned and operated by Scott A. Funke, DDS, FAGD. Dr. Funke resides, patrons local businesses, volunteers locally, and is an active member of our Rochester, MN community. Med City Dental does not have any third party or outside investors influencing the decisions and operations of our practice!

With that being said, there has been a greater and greater trend in the dental world in regard to practice ownership. According the American Dental Association, approximately 16% of all United States Dentists are affiliated with a practice owned by an outside third party organization. There are fewer and fewer dentists, especially young dentists, that are choosing to own and operate their own practices. It has been predicted that in the next decade that the majority of dental practices will not be owned by the dentist practicing in that location – soon becoming the status quo. Often times you as the patient may not even know your dentist isn’t the owner of the practice! So if your dentist doesn’t own the practice, then who does?

Wait a minute, I thought only dentists can own a dental practice?!

 Each state is different as to the laws that determine who can and cannot own a dental practice. Some states like Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois require the owner of a dental practice to be a dentist. These laws do not require the dentist to be practicing or to be located at the practice location or even same state. The dentist does not even have to be practicing clinical dentistry, only hold a valid state license.

There are also other states that do not require the owner to hold a dental license. For instance, the state of Wisconsin has no requirements for a dental practice to be owned by a licensed dentist – anyone with the capital to do so has the legal right. In the state of Wisconsin there are now a number of offices that are owned by one of the most well-known dental insurance providers. As a hint, it starts with the same first letter as “Dentist”. Yes, that insurance company owns the very offices it is sending patients and approving or denying treatment coverage! Do you think there might be a conflict of interest?

Dental Service Organizations

Dental service organizations (DSO) are outside companies that purchase a dental practice for the sole purpose of making money in the business of dentistry. Often times these organizations are run by outside leadership that do not work in the individual office or may not even practice clinical dentistry!

You have likely heard of one of the more famous DSO companies know by a common deciduous tree that will not explicitly be named here. You will see them all over the state as well as the country. This is very similar to how you may see the beloved American Burger establishment known for the golden arches and well known clown mascot…. You typically know what you are going to get regardless of what location you patron – it is predictable.

But what about the DSO owned offices that don’t go by a common name similar to a deciduous tree, geographic area of the country, or recreational area? What if they don’t make it commonly known that they are corporately owned?

A larger number of DSOs are now owning and operating dental practices under the original dentist owner’s name or local name – making it harder to know that they have outside ownership. You would be surprised to know the number of Rochester dental offices that are owned by a DSO.

Shouldn’t we be asking ourselves – WHY WOULD DSOs DO THAT??

I have my own thoughts and think the answer is very clear…..

Why should you care if your dental office is owned by a DSO?

Dental Service Organizations have obligations to DSO owners to pay out profits and dividends. One can imagine how easy it can be for the patient and patient relationship to be lost. DSOs establish production numbers that are placed on the dental offices and dentists. Higher pressure is placed on doing more and more dentistry. Many DSOs will also create incentives for the dentists to complete as much dental work as possible. These quotas and incentives can potentially cloud the clinical judgement of the dentist. Thus leading to unnecessary operative treatment rather than a focus on preventive means. The drive to do more dentistry also creates for tighter clinic schedules and less provider time with the patients.

Standardization of procedures also can lead to standardization of patients. Some patients report feeling like a “number” in DSO offices rather than like an individual.

Do you want to see the same dentist every time?

Some people don’t mind a revolving door of dentists, while other may wish to see the same provider as long as possible. There often times is a higher dentist turnover in DSO companies that can be attributed to pressure on the dentist by the DSO to produce as much dentistry as possible as well as misaligned values and culture. It could be viewed that dental service organizations reduce dentist autonomy and decision making ability establishing standard operating procedures, standard dental materials, marketing, and human resources management. These standardization processes are set and enforced across all offices regardless of local differences.

Dentists working for DSOs also have no ownership or company stake anchoring them to the practice and patients. In the corporate world, if you as the dentist is not meeting production expectations, then they will find someone that will. Dentist become a money making machine that can be replaced.

Why choose a non-DSO owned office like Med City Dental?

At Med City Dental, we are locally owned and operated. We do not have an outside third party making decisions and taking money out of our community. Scott A. Funke, DDS, FAGD is the sole owner and operator of the dental practice. He is a member of the community and plans to be for the rest of his career. He cares about the community and patients that he serves and does so with integrity.

As a member of the community, Dr. Funke cares about the relationships that are established and long term health. This allows for more time with him as a provider and closer relationship. He also cares about what is best for you in your current situation and allows you the autonomy to make the right decision for yourself. He creates time for education and patient. He does not believe in stacking the schedule for the sole purpose of producing as much dentistry as possible. He and his team take the time to do the right thing, allow our patients to be taken care of, and thus be taken care of by our patients.

You are a unique individual and should be seen as such. Every patient in our practice is unique. We realize that even one’s personal situation may change week to week, month to month, and year to year. We treat our individual patients as whole – not just another number.

Our mission is not driven by numbers, quotas, or monetary incentives.

Our mission is to challenge the status quo and foster relationships in a safe and caring space with integrity where all feel welcome, accepted, and valued. All seeking to achieve optimum oral health are able to through education, prevention, high quality dental care, and protection of patient autonomy.

If you wish to challenge the status quo, then consider asking who owns the dental practice and chose a locally owned and operated dental office like Med City Dental.