Dr. Lawrence and Priscilla White of Comfort Dental Studio Tackle Problems with a Winning Trifecta of Resources

In early 2023, Dr. Lawrence White and his wife Priscilla were discussing why their dental business seemed to be perpetually short on cash. Given Priscilla’s expertise in finance and corporate banking, it made no sense to her that cash flow was not substantially better, considering the office was constantly busy, grew with plenty of new patients every month, and employed two Associate doctors. 

One look at the aging Accounts Receivable report and, to her, the answer was obvious: “This is a huge amount! We could buy a house with this!” At her husband’s behest, Priscilla made the family business her priority, left her new dream job, and came on board as the CFO. Fifteen months after beginning “a long long journey” to clean up the financials and implement overall better practice management, Comfort Dental Studio is in a significantly more comfortable position!

The Early Years

Dr. White grew up on the south side of Chicago, attended University of Illinois Champaign/Urbana as an undergraduate, and Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine. He worked as an Associate at a number of offices for several years, then opened his first practice in 1992, four blocks from his childhood home.

I’ve always taken great pride in doing my best work for my patients because they were my friends and neighbors. Many of my early patients knew my parents and knew me from a young age. I always take great care to set a professional example that would make my parents proud.

After about nine years Dr. White moved to California to pursue an MBA at Pepperdine University, recognizing that he needed a better understanding of business processes. While there he met Priscilla, who had earned an undergraduate degree in business and finance, as well as an MBA in her native country of India. Although she had intended to “only visit” the U.S., she and Dr. White soon married, started a family, and eventually moved back to the Chicago area in 2008. Along the way, Priscilla found her dream career in corporate banking, spending the next 20 years working at many of the largest banking institutions and building a highly successful career of her own.

Once back in Chicago, Dr. White established Comfort Dental Studio in a high-rise office suite in the upscale Hyde Park area on the south side. To accommodate growth, he eventually moved to a larger space nearby – a 4-operatory, first floor store front office in a highly social, high-traffic area which makes for a steady flow of new patients. Despite opening in 2021 – the worst year of the pandemic – Comfort Dental recorded its best year ever, and within a year of opening was averaging 80-100 new patients a month. In October 2023 they began seeing patients in a second office several miles away in an even younger, more eclectic high-traffic neighborhood. 

Today the team consists of Dr. White, two Associate doctors with two more coming on board this summer, a part-time specialist, five Assistants, and a front desk/office manager. Future plans include the possibility of a third location in the suburbs.

So… what was the problem?! With everything seeming to be going so well, the Whites needed to understand why cash flow was so significantly underperforming… and do something about it!

Gathering the Facts, Setting Priorities

Even though the dental industry, and insurance especially, was deeply unfamiliar territory for Priscilla, she brought extensive financial and business experience to the situation, and was adept at planning and executing a highly organized and systematic plan of attack, based on facts:

• Analyze A/R aging reports
• Analyze processes and identify bottlenecks
• Compartmentalize and “chunk down” complex problems into more manageable ones 
• Where necessary, find an immediate fix to an urgent problem, as well as the permanent solution to prevent recurrence
• Prioritize, prioritize, prioritize! Then tackle one at a time

Priscilla identified two immediate priorities:

1. Change to a new practice management system that could do much more in the way of reporting, analysis, and even coding help. She determined that Dentrix Ascend – a cloud-based system from Henry Schein One – was the right solution for Comfort Dental.
2. Drastically reduce Accounts Receivable, especially the huge backlog of rejected insurance claims that had never been paid. To get underneath why A/R was so high, she asked a lot of questions, such as:

• What patient balances are due? 
• Why have some gone unpaid for two years? 
• What insurance payments are due? 
• What procedures have high denial rates? 
• Why are they being denied? 
• Are there patterns we should be addressing?

I couldn’t get straight answers; no one knew why and said that’s just how it is. I thought, ‘Well, that shouldn’t be how it is; if we’re not getting paid, we shouldn’t be doing those procedures.

The Winning Trifecta of Resources

Priscilla’s research in June 2023 led her to several possible options for outsourced dental billing companies. Within a month she had decided upon eAssist, and a month later they were on board. One compelling reason especially important to Comfort Dental was that eAssist is a Henry Schein company: “We have worked with them for years and highly regard them and what they stand for; they are a go-to company for us and a resource for pretty much everything. I thought if eAssist is a Henry Schein company, they must be really good.”

Priscilla’s expectations about eAssist were exceeded from the beginning: “Response time was fantastic, and implementation was handled perfectly; the whole process was just so fast and seamless.” She went on to praise the “fantastic team of three” that handles the practice’s insurance claims and billing, working in concert with the office manager. Priscilla also appreciates the help eAssist provides on a daily basis:

If a claim hasn't been passed on to them because something seems to have fallen through the cracks at our end, eAssist lets us know. They keep a very close eye on what they do, and make sure we do, too. It has been a really really good experience.

Then:
Feb - July 2023 (the 6 months prior to Assist)

• $168,000 owed by dental insurance companies
• 88% collection ratio

… and Now:
Aug 2023 – Jan 2024 (first 6 months with eAssist)

• $30,000 owed by dental insurance companies (improvement of $138,000 / 82%)
• 97% collection ratio

The more Priscilla learned about the dental business and the practice, the more she uncovered things they needed to be doing better. For example, one of the Associates had been with Comfort Dental for a year, and yet was still not credentialed with specific insurance companies. As with insurance, Priscilla found that “the credentialing piece is a whole big nightmare! And no one had answers to my questions.” She credits eAssist for the referral, saying: “In Unitas PPO Solutions we’ve found a great credentialing partner; they work to ensure all our doctors are properly credentialed, and also negotiate the best PPO contracts for us.”

My goal was to clean up everything from the past, identify problems, put processes in place so they didn’t recur in the future, and maximize cash flow. I’ve been able to do that because of how well eAssist, Unitas and Henry Schein all work in tandem. I'm very thankful that the dental industry offers all of these services and resources for private practices; that’s what will take Comfort Dental Studio to the next level.

Differentiation

The greater Chicago area is densely populated with dental offices, including many in their neighborhoods. When asked how Comfort Dental differentiates themselves from competition, Priscilla didn’t even have to think about it:

Our philosophy is that we offer ‘Exceptional care by exceptionally caring professionals.’ That’s our operating philosophy, and anybody in the company who doesn't follow that, we part ways with.

In addition to exceeding the clinical and service expectations of their patients, the Whites set high interpersonal expectations for behaviours with coworkers and family members: “We challenge ourselves to become better people and to do more to serve others.”

As for providing exceptional care, in addition to exceptional credentials by the doctors, all the Assistants are highly trained and certified. In fact, the Whites foot the bill to take the entire team to a 3-day dental conference in Chicago every year, ensuring everyone attends various classes and seminars to remain up to date on their skills and CE credits, are exposed to many different procedures, and are aware of the latest dental technologies and industry developments.

Words of Wisdom

When asked what is the best advice you offer colleagues or new dental school graduates, Priscilla confidently spoke for Dr. White by saying:

“Find a good mentor and learn from them. You need real life experience that only comes from working alongside a mentor who’s willing to teach you.” To those who aspire to own their own practice someday, Dr. White warns: “Don't try to start your own practice right out of dental school because you won’t be prepared to run a successful business, or to manage people. Work in a private practice as an Associate for a while with someone willing to teach you about practice management. You won’t gain that knowledge working in a corporate office.”

Based on Priscilla’s own personal experience on the business side, she added this advice: “Whether you’re just starting your practice or have been in business for years and are facing some struggles, know that there is a lot of help out there. You just have to be open to the possibility, explore the resources available, and be willing to admit you need help. A lot of dentists try to do everything, but you can’t possibly do it all yourself, and trying is just going to burn you out.”

Do what you’re great at; be a highly-trained dentist, and leverage others with the expertise and tools who can get the rest done better and faster.

Priscilla concluded by sincerely offering to speak with anyone about her experiences and learnings (priscilla.white@comfortteeth.com): “Honestly, I’m willing to talk to anyone who reaches out… because when it comes to private practices, we’re all in it together.”