Episode 478: Is Your Practice Staying Relevant?

Innovation is the name of the game, and CareStack’s Jim Gerson joins Kiera to talk about it. Whether you’re part of a growing, ambitious practice or one that’s aggravated by subscriptions that bog you down, 2022 is the year to think differently. Jim and Kiera discuss CareStack’s abilities to streamline the following:

• Training of new hires

• Online scheduling

• Insurance verification

Those practices that are innovating constantly are the most relevant. Are you one of them?

About CareStack:

CareStack was founded in 2015 by Dr. Mark Huzyak and Abhi Krishna. Mark has been practicing dentistry for the past three decades, and none of the systems that existed in the market could truly keep up with the needs of his growing group practice.

So in 2015, Mark reached out to a group of software experts led by Abhi to create a state-of-the-art, cloud-based all-in-one technology platform that fundamentally transforms the way dentists work and manage their practices.

Episode resources:

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Transcript:

0:00:05.7 Kiera Dent: Hey everyone, welcome to the Dental A Team podcast. I'm your host, Kiera Dent, and I had this crazy idea that maybe I could combine a doctor and a team member's perspective, because let's face it, dentistry can be a challenging profession with those two perspectives. I've been a dental assistant, treatment coordinator, scheduler, filler, office manager, regional manager, practice owner, and I have a team of traveling consultants, where we have traveled to over 165 different offices coaching teams. Yep, we don't just understand you, we are you. Our mission is to positively impact the world of dental, and I believe that this podcast is the greatest way I can help elevate teams, grow VIP experiences, reduce stress, and create A teams. Welcome to the Dental A Team podcast.

0:00:51.4 KD: Hello, Dental A Team listeners, this is Kiera, and you guys, I'm super jazzed. I love having really awesome guests on the podcast, ones that actually make your life easier and simpler. And so, I'm too excited today. Jim Gerson, he is with CareStack. And if you guys haven't heard of CareStack, it might be worth checking in. They are a up-and-coming software, so kinda like Dentrix, Eaglesoft, Open Dental... They're actually really awesome, and a lot of my startup practices, people that are going into business, they have been researching and checking in with CareStack. And so, I actually did a presentation with CareStack and their community. They're all about education. And so, today, I wanted to bring Jim on, 'cause we were actually chatting about how... Bottom line is, things are changing in dentistry. We don't have as many people that we can hire. We're having to innovate and create, and one of my favorite things is "Innovate or die." And so, I wanted to bring Jim on. I think CareStack is on the cutting edge of a lot of the things in the practice of how you guys can think differently... Solutions to that, so I'm super jazzed to bring Jim on. Jim, how are you today?

0:01:51.5 Jim Gerson: Kiera, I'm doing well. Thank you so much for the introduction. I'm really pleased and happy to be here, thank you.

0:01:55.8 KD: Absolutely! It's so fun. It's just... I'm excited to meet you in person. Dental people are getting back out; I call it the circus of the dental world. We all go meet each other at the events, and then we see each other at the next event, so, I'm super jazzed. Hopefully, this year, we'll actually get to run into each other, but... I kinda gave a little bit of a backstory on CareStack. For people who haven't heard of CareStack, or kinda like how you even got in with CareStack, if you wanna just kinda give 'em a little brief backstory on you, that'd be awesome.

0:02:23.1 JG: Yeah, thank you so much for the introduction. I think the best place to start here is just a brief background on CareStack. We're a 100% cloud-based solution for the complete management of a dental practice. And Kiera, for your listeners out there or viewers, we typically work with two types of practices. The first is having success, they're growing ambitious, they see technology is offering a competitive edge, and they're just not sure how to get there. The second type of practice, unfortunately, they're frustrated and aggravated by either managing a multitude of software subscriptions that layer on top of their legacy software for things like remote patient onboarding, electronic claims, reputation management... The list goes on and on, and they're just suffocating under all these bills that are coming in, or they're not able to give accurate estimates at the time of treatment for insurance purposes.

0:03:14.9 JG: So a lotta times, the principals in the business are having sleepless nights and aggravation related to this. And if that's the case, maybe it's worth having a conversation. So that's kinda who we are in a nutshell. I got interested in CareStack because I wanted to take a leap of faith in my life. I was in the point of my career where I worked for really large dental companies, and I thought this technology, newfangled, exciting, it had the financial support to be successful, but we didn't have the brand recognition. And so I started here close to four years ago, and it's been just an amazing wild ride; no two days are alike, for sure.

0:03:46.9 KD: Yeah. [laughter] I love it. Well, and that's like every day in dentistry, so, I think it's fun. I really... And like you said, I think one thing, a lot of offices are wanting to go more cloud-based. I mean... Let's also look at our vehicles. A lotta people are going electric vehicles. I think that there are just some shifts that are starting to happen. Cloud-based; I know I'm very pro cloud-based. The options that have been out there in the past haven't always been the... I haven't loved some of the cloud-based softwares in the past, just because they were kinda glitchy on certain things, they didn't run reports the same way, you couldn't integrate into certain things, but I also love that you guys have realized that the integration of other softwares into your software actually can create some cumbersome pieces, so I love that CareStack... That's a different way that you guys look at software, like, why can't we be a one-stop shop, have everything within, not have to have all these extra add-ons and subscriptions in different pieces, which I really love. But I did...

0:04:39.0 KD: And the reason I bring that up is because I also think... To the point of, we gotta innovate as dental practices. I really strongly believe 2022, our Dental A Team summit in April, is the year of optimization and execution. And I feel like... Guys, like we don't have as many team members out there. We don't have these awesome hire... People that have been in dentistry for so long... A lot of them left the industry. They're gone! And so, I feel like this is the year to optimize, and how can we optimize and make our practices stronger with what we already have? And I think that that's thinking differently. So Jim, I know you and I were chatting about how... There's just not as many people out there, so how can we streamline and cut down on the training time of new hires? I think that that's something people don't even think about. If they've gotta learn this software and this software and this software and this software, that's a lot to learn as a new hire, let alone even learning dentistry or being able to do it super well as well.

0:05:33.1 JG: Yeah, and well-put. We've got prospective clients tell us that when they're hiring for new employees, they're being taken to task, because they're describing the layout of their practice. "We've got four or five different subscriptions. Here are your Post-it notes with your username and login." And a lot of the people that are being drawn into dentistry, who may not have a dental background, are pushing back and saying, "Wait a second, why can't I use one tool? When I was working in corporate America, or when I was working in retail, or wherever it may be, I was using one software that would power the business or the office." And so, they're being taken to task. And the reality is, they don't need to learn five or six different softwares, or five or six different logins. Whether it's CareStack or someone else, having the ability to have one learning management system, and that's something that CareStack offers for the full onboarding, can really shorten the learning curve when you're bringing on new team members.

0:06:24.7 KD: For sure.

0:06:25.0 JG: And I would also mention... Yeah, that's a big piece of it. Also, the patients, they wanna do more too as well. They wanna have... They wanna be in charge of their own destiny a little bit more too as well. And we can talk about that later, but I just wanted to throw it out there, as a kind of a... A confluence of factors happening in the marketplace.

0:06:40.3 KD: Totally, and I think it's, again... I'm gonna go back to this of like, it's "Innovate or die." And a lot of practices are like, "Kiera, we... " I have a few practices who are still on paper charts, and I'm like, "Wow, you... " My suggestion would be that you get those paper charts out ASAP, because that's just not even the way we go. When I look at medical... My husband works at a hospital, and it's a very large hospital; it's a TraumaOne facility, and... I think it's TraumaOne... Whatever they are, TraumaFour, Trauma whatever... Like, the highest tier of Trauma. I don't even know if that should be a bragging point, but bottom line is, they have it in there, and you're right, they have to be thinking differently. So it's like, they precollect, they are having your insurance benefits already ready to go, they have a scheduling place; like, they're just thinking a lot differently, and I think sometimes, dentistry, we hang out in the past, and I really... I think this year, I'm really wanting to go on a mission of like, "Hey, dentists, don't get behind. Don't be left behind because you're not willing to change." I understand that it worked that way 20 years ago, and I understand that there are some tried and true methods that still work. However, we have a different generation out there. We have a different world out there, thank you to COVID.

0:07:52.6 KD: People want touchless options. People want to be able to check in remotely. I can't tell you how much I am so thankful for Instacart. Like, I love groceries being delivered to my doorstep. Like, I don't even have to set foot in a grocery store anymore. I don't want to go in a restaurant anymore. I literally can have it at my finger tips, and I think... I understand that dentistry is healthcare, I understand that we don't wanna become corporate, I understand that we don't want to lose that human interaction. But I do think that there are a lot of things that we can make it simpler. So Jim, from your perspective, what are some of those things that you're hearing that patients are asking for, that they're wanting, 'cause I've got my side of it, but I'd love to hear if it's what you're hearing.

0:08:25.1 JG: Sure, sure. Yeah, what our clients and patients are asking for; we hear about it in different forums, is they want that control. They want that... To control their destiny, and the pandemic has... Has really kind of... There's a silver lining; it's made people more autonomous, 'cause they might not be able to get the support or help they need. A great example is, they wanna do the onboarding forms before they come in. And when there were lockdowns, they couldn't sit in the waiting room, so that wasn't even an option. So now, they have the expectation they can do it remotely, on a tablet or on their computer. They can check in for their appointment by phone, whether in the parking lot to let the office know that they're ready, if they wanna remain in the car. Those are big things that they wanna do before coming in. The other thing that's really important, though, is that they want this to be in the hands of the practice immediately.

0:09:12.7 JG: So we've heard from practices that are frustrated, where they have legacy software, without naming names, and then they bolt on something on top of that for the remote forms. The problem is, those softwares only talk once a day. So the patient has a 2:00 PM appointment, they complete their form at 10 in the morning, but it doesn't sync until midnight. And so the patient does a lengthy medical history, Kiera, or they complete a COVID form, or a financial disclosure, and then they come in, and the practice hands them the clipboard, or they hand them a tablet, and they're saying, "Wait a second, I already did this back in my house." "Well, I'm sorry, we don't have a record of that." And that drives the patient insane, 'cause they spent the time doing it, and it also irritates the practice, 'cause now, that person's on a firing line with the patients. And so you've gotta really... When you look at your technology, Kiera, you gotta make sure that the technology is real-time and it talks, and that might be the value of something like CareStack, for example, or a cloud-based solution, in that regard, but...

0:10:07.7 KD: Sure. Totally.

0:10:09.9 JG: At the end of the day, patients want more control. They wanna be able to pay by their phone too as well. They wanna avoid the common area when they check out. They wanna do it on their terms. They don't wanna have to go and create another account. Don't you hate getting invoices in the mail where they make you go create an account and another username or password? No one wants to do that! They wanna pay with their Apple Wallet or their Android Pay. So that... Those are the things that we hear from our clients.

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0:10:34.7 KD: Have you guys heard? But like, really, have you heard? And are you the type of person that loves to take massive action? Well, if you are, I would love to invite you to Dental A Team's virtual summit, April 22nd through 23rd. And yes, right now, guys, it's early bird. That means it's $200 off the normal ticket price. You guys are going to learn how to optimize your practice this year. We know it's been a rough year. People have quit, we've had COVID, we've had changes. So we wanna teach you guys how to optimize within your practice now and execute. Friday is full team, Saturday is all things leadership. So bring your team, get some CE, take massive action, head on over to thedentalateam.com. Coupon code is summitearlybird, and it's valid until March 31st. That's summitearlybird, all one word, and it's valid until March 31st. So guys, head on over. I can't wait to have you take massive action, optimize your practice, and execute. Let's make 2022 your best year.

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0:11:32.8 KD: Well, and I love that, because it's interesting. I actually just became a new patient at this acupuncturist, I've been going to PT and PRP, and... You name it, I am in every possible thing to try and heal some pain that I've got going on that's been chronic. And I filled out my forms online. It was great, because I actually could manage my appointment online; I was able to change it. I ended up getting stuck due to weather and couldn't get over there, so I was able to change it and shift it, which was super convenient. But to your point, I showed up at the practice, I was on time, and they said, "Oh, we don't have your forms." And I'm like, "This is stupid. Why did I spend time filling this out, getting it to you, just for you... For me to redo it?" So I also think we have to think about our patient experience and what are they having.

0:12:16.2 KD: So I think, as offices, we've got two things kinda firing that I'm noticing. One is, we've gotta... Our patients need to have a great experience still. And two, we don't have as much manpower. So, I think that there are a lot of outsourcing, there's a lot of technologies, and I really do feel like we are in 2022. I think technology does solve a lot of problems for us, and it's just making sure that you're having your technology work for you, and that you're able to maximize. I have seen so many offices lose almost half of their team, but they've been able to manage even more effectively and efficiently than they were... Like, look at the restaurant industry, Jim; you and I were talking about this prerecord. The restaurant industry... We don't... We have QR codes to look at menus. We don't have to hand out all the menus all the time. I love it on my freaking phone, 'cause I think menus are disgusting. They're so gross. They're the grossest part of going out to eat.

0:13:05.4 JG: It's like the tray table in the airplane, right? It's where all the germs live.

0:13:08.0 KD: Gross, gross. I don't even wanna think about what's on those. But, like... And then there's also, like, they have ways for you to pay, and I've noticed... Like, I travel a lot, and in other countries, they don't have somebody bring you the bill. It's just right there, you can pay for it... It's very simple.

0:13:21.0 JG: They bring the terminal to you, correct.

0:13:22.0 KD: Yes! It's very, very simple. And so I think, as dental practices... Like, how can you innovate? And even if your team is fully intact, what is the future? I remember being at a business conference, and they said like, the first to market. Those who are innovating consistently; those are the ones who are going to be able to win, 'cause they're seeing the patient's need before the patient even realizes that's their need. So I really love this idea, and I want people to start thinking of how... Like, I look at Chick-fil-A, you can place your order online, it can be delivered right to your car. They have innovated to be current and relevant with where we are, and I would just ask the question of like, dental practices, where are you innovating, or where should you be innovating? So Jim, we talked about simplifying the softwares we use, so it's easier for us to hire people. Also, utilizing software for when we do lose people. What are some of the things that you've seen that work really well outsourced? Of course, I've got my own biased opinion; you see it differently. What are some of the things outsourcing or using technology that... Not to replace team members, but if we lose them, just knowing these technologies even exist?

0:14:22.5 JG: Yeah, well, two things: I wanna talk about online scheduling, 'cause I think that there's a lotta head trash in dentistry still, and we have the information on dental practices versus other healthcare verticals. Patients wanna be able to schedule their appointments. The pushback from the practice is, "I don't wanna give them free reign on my schedule," right? There's enough solutions out there that give you... That give the patient flexibility, and you can put up guardrails, right? So a patient can schedule [0:14:39.9] ____ a pro fee during an all-in-four block on your calendar, right? That's what people are afraid of. You can... The technology is there, so you can block those things out. The patients don't wanna be on hold with the office, waiting to make an appointment. And we find that 75%, 80% of patients are looking for appointments after hours, when no one's available to book them, right? And so that's... We hear that element too as well.

0:15:11.0 JG: And so, the last piece is, there's this perception out there that... Like, let's say you wanna go to a great restaurant, Kiera. You call there, there's... And you try to make a reservation, they never have 7:00 PM open. They want you to come in at 4:00 or 10:00. Because those spots are open, someone's telling them, "Get 'em in the 4-10." However, when you go to OpenTable, which is like online scheduling for restaurants, guess what? The table's available. So there's also this public perception that's growing, that the calendar is not always available to what I want when I call, but it is when I go online. And so, I really encourage practices to find a way to get going with online appointment scheduling, whether it's with CareStack or someone else.

0:15:46.4 KD: I would agree.

0:15:47.0 JG: The next piece... Yeah. The second thing I wanna talk about is the stuff that people hate to do, which is the insurance verification. And whether it's a combination of technology and human capital, like we have in CareStack, use a solution that can allow your people to get off the phone, so they're not on hold with Delta Dental for an hour and a half trying to understand what someone's limitations are, or their exclusions, or any of those things. Those can be done either through a combination of technology or be outsourced, because I don't think there's a real high demand for people who wanna do that right now, in the job market. It's not very attractive, right? People aren't searching like, "How can I find a job in insurance verification?"

0:16:29.6 KD: Totally.

0:16:29.8 JG: Offices wanna outsource that.

0:16:31.5 KD: No, I agree, and I think, to double back on that... Just thinking about... Guys, we are in a competitive market for people, for bodies, for people to want to work with us. I mean, everywhere you go, it says "Now hiring". So... Like you said, they're probably not gonna be applying for a remote dental insurance job when there are about 1000 other really fun remote jobs that they could be doing. So I think we also need to be looking in terms of like, what is out there? What is our competition, even in other industries besides dentistry, to be able to attract these team members to our practices? I really, really, really love that you brought that up, and... Bottom line is, there are ways to do it, and so it's like, if you could maximize your time... Like, just think if you could free your team up from not doing insurance verification. What could they be spending their time on instead?

0:17:15.3 JG: That's right.

0:17:16.0 KD: Granted, I know a lot of offices, Jim, and I would be curious of what your answer is; they don't wanna outsource, because they've had outsource companies do their insurance verification, insurance verification was not done correctly, they didn't put the downgrades in correctly. And so then, when they're presenting treatment plans to these patients, patients are hearing one thing, and then when we actually get paid from the insurance, it's a completely different thing. So I feel offices have been burned by outsourcing. And I'll be honest, as a treatment coordinator, my insurance verification's not correct. It's definitely... I am great, I can get past it, I'm a word ninja, but I hate having...

0:17:47.8 JG: It's aggravating, yeah.

0:17:48.8 KD: I hate that confidence blow to me of like, "What the heck?" Like, I... Then I'm like, "I'm gonna double check my insurance, 'cause I don't wanna have that happen again." So, how have you been able to mitigate, or heard of how to mitigate that concern, 'cause I know that that's a real fear. It looks like a fear of mine.

0:18:02.0 JG: Sure, sure. You gotta build trust, and you gotta perform. So, I don't wanna get too much in the weeds, in the technical element, but in CareStack, we spent a ton... Our development prior to launching was heavily invested in insurance eligibility. And to take into consideration a smart eligibility form, it looks at secondary, tertiary insurances, right? It looks at, is there a different fee schedule based on a specialist in the practice offering this treatment? Is there a different fee schedule because this is being done in a different geography, if I have a multilocation? It takes into consideration all the limitations, downgrades... Things of that nature. So, a lot of the things that I'm talking about in CareStack are done electronic... Are done with automation and not with human involvement. But you gotta build that trust, 'cause you're right. The first... If you're a new practice and you're using CareStack, it might take you four, five, 10, 15, 20 patients where you're presenting a treatment plan to be confident that you're giving them an accurate estimate before they have faith in the software. So... We get that, we understand that. And that has to be earned. So I don't think there's a shortcut there; we gotta build that trust, if that makes sense.

0:19:08.0 KD: Sure. No, it does, and I... I also think the offices be okay to try things. And I... I'm a firm believer. I am... I really love things to be perfect. I've also realized that there is no such thing as perfect. And so, if I can get at 80% accurate, and 80% of the time, my treatment plans are spot on, to me, that is definitely worth not spending hours upon hours. I can handle those 20% of patients that... Their estimate wasn't accurate? Great, fantastic. I'm going to be able to work with those 20% of the patients. I don't love that, but I also think it's important to like... Let's make sure that we're realistic in what we're doing and what we're expecting. So, I think more than anything, what I'm really hoping you listeners are going to take away from today is, how can you innovate? Where should you innovate? The online scheduling team that you talked about... I don't know, I just think about offices right now, and I'm like, dentists, think about yourselves! When are you making appointments? You are not making them during 8 to 5, 'cause you are prepping teeth. So, yes, maybe look at who your avatar patient is. Who do you want to be contacting you? For me, our team is available early in the morning and late at night. Why? That's when most dentists call us. If I was like, "Nope, guys, you gotta call me back," I would not have any clients! It just wouldn't work out.

0:20:19.2 JG: That's a great example to share, yeah. Totally.

0:20:21.1 KD: Bottom line is, you've gotta also know the type of patient that you're wanting. If you're pediatric and it's stay-at-home moms, guess what? Maybe online scheduling's not the thing for you. But also think about how many of those moms have a bunch of kids, hashtag #KieraDent'sFamily, my mom had seven kids. You better believe she did not wanna call every time one of us needed to move something and try and figure it out, juggling your schedule, her schedule, the kids' schedule, plus she's got screaming kids, like... It's so much easier just to go online, so I agree, I think... I think it's... It's one of those things like, you can either choose to jump on board, or you can be forced to be on board, and I'd much rather choose than be forced, and I think you will also find, it's a lot easier than you think it is, so I would agree. And just pick one of these things. If it's maybe outsourcing insurance verification, if it's... Maybe I'm looking for ways to simplify your onboarding process. Maybe our... Are there tools like... I know there are some of the subscriptions I've been paying for that they've updated, and I don't need to use all of the subscriptions I've been using. I could simplify it down into one, two, maybe three. Maybe that's the goal you guys have.

0:21:19.3 KD: Sometimes, it's just even researching other softwares out there, like... Technology changes by the second, and so, you can get very outdated very quickly if you don't stay up to speed on that as well. So I would just say like, look, and don't... Don't feel like you don't have time for this, 'cause this actually can save you thousands of hours of time if you'll just invest in, and looking to see where you can innovate. I mean, I think about team members. Think if you could have online scheduling that actually worked, that patients would go exactly where you want, and you don't even have to talk to these people. They literally come on at night, I'm usually making my appointments at 9, 10 o'clock at night, 'cause that's when I finally remember I needed to make this, or pay my bill. That's usually when I'm paying my bills. I'm definitely not calling you during office hours, so if you want me to...

0:21:57.1 JG: It's super rewarding for the practice to see these spots fill up too, without any human involvement, yeah.

0:22:00.6 KD: Yes! Like, you didn't have to do anything. So I think just like, look to see... If you could maybe get these things to work, how much time could you free up? How much less manpower would you be forced to have to have in your practice that's just working for you automatically? And don't be afraid, 'cause I don't think you will lose the patient experience. The patient experience, it happens when they get there. The patient experience happens when they're on the phone with you. The patient experience happens when you're doing dentistry with them. But the ease of being able to get to you is going to let more people find out about you, and the best dentists listening here? I think you need to make it easier for people to find you. That's all I got, Jim. Do you have any last wrap-up things? Like, if people are interested in CareStack...

0:22:38.1 JG: No, thank you for the... Yeah.

0:22:39.8 KD: So if people are interested in CareStack, they wanna find out more... Because it is. It's really great that it has a lot of things already built into it; it's pretty much an all-in-one. So if people are interested, they... I know you guys do some great demos. You also can talk to them about what they're already doing, see if you can be a solution. If they're interested in CareStack, how can they connect with you?

0:22:56.5 JG: Great point. So we're big believers in online scheduling for ourselves, so... The best way to go is, if you wanna learn more, go to carestack.com, you click on the Book a Demo button, and then, book a time that works for you to learn more from one of my team members. I wanna put it out there: We're not aggressive sales types. We know that we may not be a fit for every practice; that's the reality. We're replacing the central nervous system of the practice, right? We're an alternative to those companies you mentioned in the beginning. So there is change management that's involved. But if you have the pain points, like Kiera talked about, maybe we're a fit, maybe we're not. You'll learn a little bit about us, so I would just go to carestack.com and take a look there, and if you wanna book a demo, please... Please take the opportunity to do so.

0:23:38.9 KD: Totally. I would say, if nothing else, just learn. I think education is power. Knowledge is power, but execution is where it works. So make sure whatever you're going to do... I don't care what you choose this year, guys, but find a way that you're going to innovate your practice, whether it's getting online scheduling, whether it is simplifying your onboarding, so you don't have to have as much manpower, whether it's chairside treatment planning, so we don't have to have as many team members there; we can make it easier. Whether it's touchless payments or check-in... Those are all ways that you can innovate and make the patient experience and the team member experience and the dentist experience all better. So I challenge you guys to optimize, to innovate. CareStack's great. Check 'em out, guys. But at the end of the day, make your lives better. Do something that your future self and your future patients will appreciate, and that's what I'll leave you guys with. So Jim, thanks for being on the podcast with me today, super appreciate it, super appreciate your time.

0:24:25.1 JG: Thanks for having me.

0:24:25.9 KD: Of course! Alright, guys, as always, thank you for listening, and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.

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0:24:33.7 KD: And that wraps it up for another episode of the Dental A Team podcast. Thank you so much for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.