Heartland Dental Founder Dr. Rick Workman Points to Teledentistry as a Dental Differentiator

News provided by

Apr 26, 2019, 09:04 ET

SAN DIEGO, April 26, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Standing out in an expanding marketplace, all while streamlining care coordination, is one of the greatest challenges facing dental support organizations (DSOs) today, according to Rick Workman, DMD, Founder & Chairman of Heartland Dental, the nation's largest DSO supporting more than 1,450 dentists and more than 900 dental offices in 37 states. Dr. Workman and Brant Herman, Founder & CEO of MouthWatch, shared their perspectives as featured keynotes at the 2019 Summit of the Association of Dental Support Organizations (ADSO) recently held in San Diego, CA. Before an attentive audience of record-setting attendance, they identified teledentistry as a game changer for improving dental patients' experiences.

"DSOs face a variety of challenges. Market differentiation and efficiency in oral healthcare delivery are big ones," said Dr. Workman. "Staying on the cutting edge of technology that enhances patients' experiences gives a dentist a leg up in creating lasting patient relationships. Teledentistry is a great example of this because it simplifies and streamlines care delivery. Telemedicine is where healthcare is going in general, and that progression is driving positive changes in dentistry."

"Teledentistry will help DSOs by connecting practices to new patients, increasing case acceptance and improving treatment coordination, while improving the overall patient and care team experience," said Herman. "Making it easy for group practices to introduce telehealth's benefits to dental care is a key goal for MouthWatch. We've successfully implemented our TeleDent platform across a wide range of care delivery settings. Teledentistry works and creates innovative opportunities."

In its 2017 Outpatient Telemedicine study, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) estimated that 71 percent of healthcare providers had adopted telemedicine solutions, compared to 54 percent just a few years prior in 2014. Where dentistry is concerned, telemedicine platforms connect dentists to each other and to patients for real-time consultations, via live stream or video conferencing. These opportunities for collaboration lead to faster treatment plans and more efficient care delivery.

The annual ADSO Summit hosts dental professionals from around the country to discuss trends in advocacy, compliance, technology, and more impacting the DSO industry.

To learn more about Heartland Dental, click here.

Media Contact:
Adam Lueken, Corporate Communications
(217) 540-5664 or [email protected]

SOURCE Heartland Dental