By Jon Harris
The podcast currently has 9 episodes available.
On today’s episode, host Jon Harris interviews Dr. Michael Jerkins and Brandon Finazzo with Panacea Financial. They engage in a lively discussion about what banking built for doctors by doctors looks like, how Dr. Michael Jerkins and Brandon Finazzo stumbled into their current career paths, and why it is extremely important that niche banking exists.
Brandon Finazzo has been in the financial services field for about 15 years. He started his career working for a small direct lender, but quickly moved on to larger banks. Brandon then solidified his career path working in healthcare finance and landed a job with Panacea Financial Bank. Brandon ultimately found his passion helping doctors, dentists and veterinarians complete their banking in a direct and efficient way.
Dr. Michael Jerkins attended medical school and completed his residency in Tennessee all while accruing a monstrous amount of debt. He observed the stark difference between how banks and loan companies treat individuals with debt versus those with plenty of funds and decided to make a change. Dr. Jerkins and four other doctors set out to create a dynamic loan process to address a small niche of loaners such as doctors, dentists and veterinarians. Now, Dr. Michael Jerkins is the CEO and co-founder of Panacea Financial helping doctors effectively bank.
Tune into this week’s episode of 21st Century Dentistry for a conversation with Dr. Michael Jerkins and Brandon Finazzo. Learn more about practicing physicians running a bank, setting the right expectations, and how Panacea Financial is run.
Quotes
• “If you're sick, you're going to the doctor, right? If you have a massive toothache, you're going to go see the dentist. I think those factors drive businesses from being a little more recession-proof than let's just say a restaurant, for example.” (13:38-13:42 | Brandon)
• “There's four thousand something banks out there. They all pretty much do roughly the same thing. They're not super innovative or dynamic. And so, it seemed like there needed to be a creative and dynamic process to really address a very small niche, but a very high-value, highly-employable, high-lifetime-value group of customers, like my community. And so, that's what we did.” (20:03-20:26 | Michael)
• “You have got to take risks to be able to reap that reward of those ideas.” (23:44–23:51 | Michael)
• “This is a way to give a lifeline to these folks who have so much demanded of them in their training and they had nowhere to turn but toxic debt, to give them that that opportunity.” (37:01-37:11 | Michael)
• “My biggest goal when I'm dealing with a client is to make sure that I set the right expectation.” (42:40-42:55 | Brandon)
• “The best kind of debt is no debt at all. But unfortunately, for our community, we can't avoid it in a lot of ways. And we just needed a fairer and healthier shot at it.” (54:27-54:37 | Michael)
Links
www.panaceafinancial.com
Connect with Jon Harris on Facebook:
https://www.fortunemgmt.com
https://www.facebook.com/jon.harris.39545
https://www.facebook.com/fortunemgmtmidsouth
https://www.facebook.com/fortunemgmtgeorgia
Follow Jon on Instagram:
@jonharris_
@21stcenturydentistry
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm
Lee Pennington is a CPA who has been providing tax and accounting services to clients for over 20 years. After the recession hit in 2007, Lee’s CPA company that focused primarily on construction saw a massive decrease in clientele. It was then that Lee decided to broaden his horizons into the physician space and then eventually the dental space as well. In this episode, host Jon Harris and colleague Lee Pennington engage in a lively discussion about the most important number in dentistry according to a Certified Public Accountant.
Lee reveals what dental practices struggle with the most: turnover. Lee explains that employees will stay if they receive clear and helpful training, fair treatment from superiors, and a positive work environment. Unfortunately, dental practices have been losing employees and Lee believes a major reason is the mindset of the owners. If an owner has a positive mindset and breeds a healthy work environment, employees are more likely to stay and be happier with their pay.
Tune into this week’s episode of 21st Century Dentistry for a conversation with Lee Pennington. Learn more about Lee’s career path that led him to the dental space, investing in your workers, and what benchmark data can tell you about your business.
Quotes
• “I have a great group of people that I work with, and we really have grown our dental practice area very significantly over the last four years.” (25:53-25:58)
• “What I enjoy doing is the interaction with people I work with. I like working with the doctors directly and I feel like that's what they are paying me for is for my advice. They don't need me sitting in the office doing crunching numbers for them.” (28:35-28:50)
• “One thing that I tell clients all the time is, it's not for me to make the decision for you, it's my job to educate you, to give you options for what you would do.” (33:12-33:21)
• “The number one issue across the board that I see with clients of all types is employee relationships.” (57:12-57:19)
• “With dentists, as they approach the end of their career, they get a little bit too comfortable and complacent with what they have. That reflects when they're ready to sell their practice as well. But if you want to have a successful practice or successful business of any type, it's about investing in people.” (58:15-58:35)
Links
https://www.cpapennington.com
Connect with Jon Harris on Facebook:
https://www.fortunemgmt.com
https://www.facebook.com/jon.harris.39545
https://www.facebook.com/fortunemgmtmidsouth
https://www.facebook.com/fortunemgmtgeorgia
Follow Jon on Instagram:
@jonharris_
@21stcenturydentistry
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm
Matt Poppert, a partner at DDS Match South, is a dentistry veteran with 15 years of diverse dental industry experience. In today’s episode, host Jon Harris and colleague Matt Poppert discuss practice valuations and effective transitions in the dental space. Jon and Matt also engage in a lively discussion about the mental health concerns in the dental industry and how we can work to improve them in the future.
Matt dives into the importance of establishing a solid connection between a buyer and a seller. With his customer service focus in the dental space, Matt is extremely knowledgeable on how successful business relationships work. If there are fundamental differences in the philosophies of the buyer and seller, neither party will be satisfied and the sale will likely fall through. Matt explains that creating and maintaining a good connection between the seller and the buyer is the first step to ensure you are making the right investment for your practice.
Tune into this week’s episode of 21st Century Dentistry for a conversation with Matt Poppert. Learn more about mental health in dental professions, how to understand the value of a practice, and why buyers see consistencies in long-term dentists overpaying their staff.
Quotes
• “It's sad because depression is common in dentistry. And I think one of the predominant reasons why it's so prevalent is: imagine spending $500,000- $600,000 on an education, but not getting the education that you need to effectively and successfully deliver the services that you learned how to deliver.” (0:23:47-0:24:21 | Jon)
• “I think if there's dynamic personality differences between a buyer and a seller, then, in my opinion, the buyer should walk away.” (0:41:29-0:41:41 | Matt)
• “What I would suggest is that as a buyer is getting ready to get into the market and start looking at these dental practices, is to build themselves a team with a good dental CPA and a good dental attorney. That will help them build a due diligence checklist that they can knock out on the front end of a deal.” (0:44:42-0:45:05 | Matt)
• “Everything that goes into the valuation is done based on the historical financials as well as the current state of the practice and how it's managed.” (1:07:00-1:07:13 | Matt)
• “Dentistry is very personal and there's no telling what's going to happen in the future.” (1:07:15-1:07:20 | Matt)
• “If you've got a long-term dentist that has long-term staff, you're always going to have overpaid staff. Because the dentist doesn't want to lose them. They become family. Again, it's not like running a factory.” (1:15:36-1:15:48 | Matt)
Links
www.ddsmatch.com
Connect with Jon Harris on Facebook:
https://www.fortunemgmt.com
https://www.facebook.com/jon.harris.39545
https://www.facebook.com/fortunemgmtmidsouth
https://www.facebook.com/fortunemgmtgeorgia
Follow Jon on Instagram:
@jonharris_
@21stcenturydentistry
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm
Hootan Shahidi is an extremely well-versed professional in the dental sphere. He is the president of Cross Over Dental Enterprises (CODE), a company that specializes in billing medical insurance claims for dental professionals relating to services not covered by dental insurance. Hootan also specializes in Dental Service Organizations (DSOs), sleep apnea, 3D dentists, Digital Technology...the list goes on and on! Join host Jon Harris in an engaging and eye-opening conversation with Hootan Shahidi about dentistry fees, insurance policies, and the important differences between startups and acquisitions.
Hootan shares a common approach in group practices or DSOs that keeps patients comfortable and committed to a specific practice: specialties. The reason specialties are important is because practices want the patients to come back to the same location for all of their dental work. If a patient has the ability to search around for specialties at various practices, they might jump ship and give their money to another practice with more services. Hootan explains that there is a profitability in everything he does, but it really boils down to the patient experience and level of convenience. Hootan prefers to give the patient the option of taking care of all their dental needs under one roof.
Tune into this week’s episode of 21st Century Dentistry for a conversation with Hootan Shahidi about managing the dental space. Listen for information on why DSOs are formed, how dentists turn against each other, and what a dental training program looks like.
Quotes
• “I started realizing kind of, while I'm fundamentally very sound in dentistry and how to do things and hang out with a good crew of people, you still don't know all the little nuances until you really sit in the practice for four to eight hours straight. And you just see all the different mechanics and parts working. And then you can really diagnose issues a lot better.” (09:21-09:44)
• “If somebody is doing something else that could benefit your practice, you might want to keep them doing it.” (25:23-25:29)
• “A huge chunk of our new patients are just literally like a neighbor, telling a neighbor, a friend telling a friend type thing.” (36:29-36:35)
• “Something that I've noticed is that some more mature dentists have trouble kind of understanding is they, for whatever reason, maybe jealousy or whatever you want to call it, they'll see your dentist and be like, ‘Oh, all that stuff he's doing or she's doing, that's all money-driven.’” (59:34-59:54)
• “Sometimes when you lose the love or the passion of what you do, it really permeates through a lot of different things, through your thoughts, through your actions, your body language, your mannerisms, and people pick up on it.” (1:24:12-1:24:25)
Links
Connect with Hootan Shahidi:
https://www.crossoverdental.com
https://3d-dentists.com
Connect with Jon Harris on Facebook:
https://www.fortunemgmt.com
https://www.facebook.com/jon.harris.39545
https://www.facebook.com/fortunemgmtmidsouth
https://www.facebook.com/fortunemgmtgeorgia
Follow Jon on Instagram:
@jonharris_
@21stcenturydentistry
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm
Dr. Rick Downs, recently retired owner of the Dental-Chiropractic Collaborative, has recreated sleep studies in the dental space. After deciding to become a dentist very early on in life, Rick went on to start his own business, combining cosmetic dentistry, dental sleep medicines, orthodontics and other fields to create a well-versed private dentistry practice. Rick's private practice is known for competing with big DOA’s like Aspen Dental, whom they took business away from because Rick’s rates and services were more attractive!
Rick educates host Jon Harris on the importance of studying the sleeping chiropractic space of dentistry. Rick explains how crucial it is for sleep tests to be readily available for patients who have signs of sleep apnea. 54 to 70 million people are walking around with sleep apnea, many of whom go untreated and untested because their doctors do not see the point in sleep tests. Rick is passionate about creating dental sleep medicine that can bring about much-needed relief and educating doctors on the importance of administering sleep tests to their patients.
Tune into this week’s episode of 21st Century Dentistry to learn more about studying the sleeping chiropractic dental space with Dr. Rick Downs. Listen for information on the science behind bad breath, what activated chlorine dioxide is, and why the FDA prohibits publishing some studies on websites.
Quotes:
• “And we had an Aspen Dental actually literally build an office right beside us, it was like it's less than 300 feet away. Best things I've ever had happen to my practice.” (12:26-12:33)
• “Just like all businesses, competition is good in a capitalistic society. There's nothing to be afraid of.” (17:45-17:53)
• “But the value of my practice never changed from the first sale and that is a problem because the value of my practice went up significantly.” (28:08-28:18)
• “54 to 70 million people are walking around with sleep apnea.” (44:44-44:52)
• “So this problem is getting worse. The American Board of Sleep Medicine is trying to restrict dentists from ordering sleep studies. I think it's utterly ridiculous. Not only are they not diagnosing it in the medical community, but they're treating all the comorbidities and people are dying.” (47:57-48:15)
• “Deep sleep is where you get your major physical restoration. And then REM sleep you need for your emotional restoration, and people often have obstructions in REM sleep. Obstructions are very common in REM sleep. If you're not getting REM sleep, then you're going to end up with depression, anxiety and panic attacks.” (57:57-58:18)
Links
www.dentalsleepbalance.com
www.dentalchirocollaborative.com
www.richarddownsdds.com
Connect with Jon Harris on Facebook:
https://www.fortunemgmt.com
https://www.facebook.com/jon.harris.39545
https://www.facebook.com/fortunemgmtmidsouth
https://www.facebook.com/fortunemgmtgeorgia
Follow Jon on Instagram:
@jonharris_
@21stcenturydentistry
How much time did you spend learning about endodontics in dental school? If the answer is not much, you’re not alone. Dr. Sonia Chopra, Endodontist and owner of E-School, explains that because the curriculum in dental school focuses heavily on a wide range of topics, endodontistry often gets overshadowed. The obvious lack of education about endodontistry in the dental space inspired Dr. Sonia Chopra to create E-School, a comprehensive program that helps dentists all over the world enhance their training and achieve positive outcomes in their practices.
Despite the fact that over 80% of dentists practice some form of endodontistry, Dr. Chopra was having to constantly refer unhappy patients to new dentists. The lack of education on this topic not only costs dentists their business, but also negatively impacts the patient’s health. After coming to terms with this unfortunate reality, Dr. Chopra made it her mission to bridge the gap between general dentistry and endodontistry. Through her program, Dr. Chopra teaches dentists how to educate their patients and properly apply endodontic methods into their practices. Whether it’s fixing your root canal technique, managing patients' pain, or even referring everything out, Dr. Chopra explains that by educating yourself on endodontistry, you are allowing yourself to always make the best decisions for your patient’s health.
Tune into this week’s episode of 21st Century Dentistry for a conversation about the importance of endodontistry with industry expert, Dr. Sonia Chopra. Learn how you can build your practice, increase revenue and achieve top-notch patient outcomes, all with endodontics!
Quotes
• “I complain about how little they teach endodontics in dental school. But they also teach zero business, zero communication. They teach nothing and that's a shame. They really need to put this stuff in the dental school curriculum because it will help so many people fast track their success.” (18:19-18:40)
• “If you want everything else to change, you gotta start with you and look within. That's where my personal development journey began, and that's when I started to see a big change in my practice not just with my team, but also from a revenue standpoint.” (20:50-21:09)
• “I thought that all my problems were going to go away by just having another doctor and that’s not how it went down. Just like any marriage, you have to work at it and you have to work at your partnership at your office too.” (28:36-28:50)
• “80% of the world's root canals are done by general dentists. We really need to fix this problem, and we need to make sure that there's more education out there.” (38:19-38:29)
• “It's really important to know how you like to work, and how you can make endo fit into your life.” (54:12-54:16)
Links
Connect with Dr. Sonia Chopra: https://soniachopradds.com
Connect with Jon Harris on Facebook:
https://www.fortunemgmt.com
https://www.facebook.com/jon.harris.39545
https://www.facebook.com/fortunemgmtmidsouth
https://www.facebook.com/fortunemgmtgeorgia
Follow Jon on Instagram:
@jonharris_
@21stcenturydentistry
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm
Todd Doobrow, financial planner, has always had a passion for wealth management. After graduating college, Todd acquired years of experience working with high profile athletes and businessmen. When his wife unexpectedly inherited her late father’s dental practice, Todd was forced to let go of his usual clients and resettle in small-town Alabama, where he assisted his wife with managing her practice. After a short time in the business, Todd quickly realized the massive growth potential in dentistry, which drove his career in a new direction. For the past decade, Todd has focused on educating dentists in over 20 states on how to accelerate cash flow to build their dream life.
Todd understands that a true fiduciary relationship is about putting the client’s needs first, understanding their goals, and working with them to create a plan that they know will work for them. In order to achieve this, Todd emphasizes the importance of education. To best serve his clients, Todd uses a simple, six-step process to help guide his clients to their goals. By first focusing on giving, protecting income and assets, establishing emergency funds, and planning for debt, Todd explains you can reach your fun financial goals with ease.
Tune into this week’s episode of 21st Century Dentistry to get all your common financial questions answered by industry expert, Todd Doobrow. Learn tips on how you can improve your operational and investment efficiencies to build the practice and life you’ve always wanted.
Quotes
• “Anything that we can do to help your dollar work harder is ultimately going to help you get to that end game sooner, regardless of what that end game looks like.” (08:22-08:30)
• “Our practice believes that you should give up front, not at the end.” (11:11-11:13)
• “We've got a documented plan that we'd like to work through with everyone. So that when we bring clients on, they know exactly where they are in the process the whole time.” (12:56-13:06)
• “Most accountants that I work with say, if you're just going to be in one practice, you're not really an independent contractor.” (01:09:08-01:09:13)
• “If you're trying to buy in to a practice, from what I've seen, it's better to be a W2 associate because when you go to the bank to get the loan to buy the the retiring doctor out, you can say, ‘part of this is me, here are my hours, here's my production, and here's everything I've done. So they will view that as you integrating into the practice better.” (01:10:28-01:10:50)
• “Everyone wins more when you can actually get a true IC in the books, which is probably why the IRS doesn't want you to do it.” (01:13:27-01:13:34)
• “If you can look at dentistry from a long term perspective, it's one of the best things you can ever do.” (01:17:00-01:01:17:05)
Links
Connect with Todd: https://rfgadvisory.com
Connect with Jon Harris on Facebook:
https://www.fortunemgmt.com
https://www.facebook.com/jon.harris.39545
https://www.facebook.com/fortunemgmtmidsouth
https://www.facebook.com/fortunemgmtgeorgia
Follow Jon on Instagram:
@jonharris_
@21stcenturydentistry
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm
Knowing that most patients dread their visits, Dr. Daniel became inspired to change the way he practiced dentistry. Three years ago Dr. Daniel Bird and his wife took a leap of faith and started up their own dental practice. With a lot of patience and hard work, the married duo successfully turned their vision into a reality. Today, the Birds have several Crosstown Dental Group locations that provide convenient and affordable dental care to patients all over Memphis.
When it comes to traditional dentistry, there were many aspects that the Birds felt needed to change but the most important issue to them was accessibility. Rather than the standard office setup, with a waiting room, and busy receptionist, Dr. Daniel and his wife have implemented a system that excludes the waiting room altogether. The Birds believe that this philosophy allows them to accomplish their main goal of providing 1-hr dentistry.
In many ways, it would have been easier to acquire an existing practice, but the Birds knew they had ideas that would revolutionize dentistry. Despite his 15 years of experience, the banks were initially denying him funding. Instead of giving up on his vision, Dr. Bird went the extra mile to get both the bank and his community on board. His relentless passion for his vision has given him the opportunity to expand his business from one practice to another. Together, the Birds plan to continue expanding deeper into Memphis.
Tune into this week's episode of 21st Century Dentistry to hear how Dr. Daniel Bird has blown the doors off of conventional dentistry. Learn more about the realities of start-ups, the differences between private and group practices, and why investing in advanced technology is worth every penny.
Quotes
• “The whole point of our practice is not making people wait, being efficient, and valuing people's time.” (07:32-07:41)
• “People want to feel like they're important, can have input, and aren't just being micromanaged all day long.” (22:52-23:00)
• “We designed and built our practice to do exactly what we wanted it to do.” (29:39-29:43)
• “We started up with no people three years ago now, we’ve got five hygienists.” (43:11-43:15)
Links:
Find Dr. Bird at https://crosstowndentist.com
Connect with Jon Harris on Facebook:
https://www.fortunemgmt.com
https://www.facebook.com/jon.harris.39545
https://www.facebook.com/fortunemgmtmidsouth
https://www.facebook.com/fortunemgmtgeorgia
Follow Jon on Instagram:
@jonharris_
@21stcenturydentistry
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm
Have you considered using a DSO (dental service organization) to reduce the burden of medical billing within your practice? When Hootan Shahidi first started in dentistry 15 years ago, he was very anti-DSO. His hesitations weren’t derived from their standard business models but from his own personal interaction. Even though Hootan takes a different approach to office management, his many years of experience have allowed him to view DSO’s in a more positive light. In the debut episode of 21st Century Dentistry, host Jon Harris sits down with guest Hootan Shahidi to discuss medical billing, the pros and cons of DSOs, and what Hootan and his colleagues at 3D Dentists are all about!
For many dental practices, it is typically more financially feasible to leave insurance verification and billing to a third-party company. The creation of DSOs has given dentists the capability to maximize their practices with supportive office management, especially during the pandemic. Similar to 3D technology, DSO’s focus is on recruitment of general dentists and dental specialists. The primary goal of the recruiting process is to provide ways that will ensure long-term retention. But according to Hootan, keeping talented professionals, in the long run, is one of the biggest challenges DSO’s face. In order to combat this persistent issue, DSOs offer competitive benefits that a typical private practice cannot. While the paHootan explains that some of these incentives may include: 401k, profit sharing, flexibility, and health insurance coverage.
Hootan and his partners at 3D Dentists are passionate about transforming methods of dentistry by educating industry professionals on how to grow their practices by meeting the standards of an ever-changing industry. Since they are dentist-owned and dentist-run, you are assured to get practical advice on how to build a business that will lead to greater longevity.
In reality, there are many ways you can expand your knowledge and business practices in dentistry so tune into this week’s episode of 21st Century Dentistry to learn more!
Quotes:
• “At 3d Dentist, we talk about general dentistry, advanced dentistry, emotional dentistry, how you manage those, how you are able to fill your day with various aspects of those three types of dentistry to keep yourself involved.” (09:52-10:05)
• “If you're a single practitioner and you're the only dentist there, you don't have a business. That's not a business, that's a job. Because when you're off the job, you don't get paid.” (12:35-12:46)
• “I have to admit 15 years ago, when I got into dentistry, I was very anti-DSO. Not because of their business model or their business acumen, having so many locations, or any of those obvious things. It was more because my direct interaction was not positive. (17:48-18:07)
• “I did an interview today and the gentleman was from a DSO and one of his major complaints of why he's leaving is because he's never had the same team at any point in three years.” (29:56-30:07)
• “In terms of 401k, profit sharing paid time off, medical, dental, & vision coverage, DSO’s are far superior because they have the buying power of 200-800 offices.” (31:53-32:06)
Links:
Connect with Hootan Shahidi:
www.crossoverdental.com
https://3d-dentists.com
Connect with Jon Harris on Facebook:
https://www.fortunemgmt.com
https://www.facebook.com/jon.harris.39545
https://www.facebook.com/fortunemgmtmidsouth
https://www.facebook.com/fortunemgmtgeorgia
Follow Jon on Instagram:
@jonharris_
@21stcenturydentistry
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm
The podcast currently has 9 episodes available.