Reducing Front Office Burnout in DSO Practices

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As the DSO landscape evolves, one topic continues to rise to the top for clinical and non-clinical leaders alike: sustainable change management. Technology, culture, patient engagement, front office burnout, and workforce churn all compete for attention. The challenge is knowing where to start and how to create meaningful progress in an environment filled with rapid transformation.

On a recent episode of The Group Dentistry Now Show, Daniel Barsotti, Director of Special Markets at MaxAssist (formerly RecallMax) shared his thoughts on the topic.

Daniel brings a unique multigenerational view of dentistry combined with outside industry experience in orthopedics and cleantech. His return to dental was fueled by the launch of the new Max AI powered platform and a renewed focus on solving long-standing workflow problems. It is the only AI-powered onscreen assistant for your entire dental practice.

Below are the key insights from the conversation, with an emphasis on sustainable change and the critical role of strategy, culture, and smart technology adoption.

The Evolution from RecallMax to MaxAssist

MaxAssist began more than a decade ago as a consulting-driven recall solution. Over time it evolved into a practice optimization platform backed by a team that brings nearly 400 collective years of dental industry experience. That legacy matters, because as Daniel explains, the team never strayed from dentistry into unrelated verticals. Their product development has always been driven by real workflow frustrations in dental practices and DSO environments.

“Dentistry pulls you back in. It is quicksand. With Max AI, I couldn’t resist returning to help practices solve real problems.” – Daniel Barsotti

The newest chapter includes Max AI and a flexible toolbar system designed to address front office bottlenecks, increase capacity, and feed usable analytics back to leadership. The objective is not to replace people. It is to support them through better tools, better visibility, and fewer operational dead ends.

Cutting Through Technology Overload

DSO leaders know the feeling: new AI solutions, new dashboards, new workflow tools, and an endless stream of innovation can create more confusion than clarity.

Daniel offered a practical approach:

• Assign someone in the organization who is fully responsible for technology evaluation.
• Get disciplined about identifying the real workflow bottlenecks before looking for tools.
• Avoid chasing shiny objects that do not solve a problem your team actually has.
• Prioritize technology that enhances existing strengths rather than displacing them.

If you already have outstanding front office staff who excel at patient communication, do not introduce tools that steal their superpower. Instead, look for solutions that amplify it.

Workforce Fatigue and the Front Office Crisis

There are two persistent themes that have not changed in more than a decade. First, front office exhaustion remains a major issue. Second, clinical teams continue to report isolation, overwhelm, and lack of support.

“If you don’t have the right tools for your teams, you are setting them up for failure.” – Daniel Barsotti

The data reinforces this. Some front office roles are described in industry publications as positions that “chew through” staff. That alone signals a need for new thinking.

MaxAssist’s philosophy is simple. Give teams a complete toolbox. Remove the friction points that cause stress. Create conditions that allow employees to reconnect with their purpose and with patients.

Understanding the Real Patient Engagement Gap

With more than 90 million digital touchpoints each year, MaxAssist has a data vantage point shared by few others in dentistry. Daniel shared one of the most surprising findings.

Only 5 to 10 percent of patients respond to generic automated messages. With personalization, responses rise to 20 to 25 percent. Yet even with improvement, that still leaves 75 to 90 percent of the patient base unengaged through automation alone.

“The real value lies in the unseen mass of patients who are silent but loyal. They just need the right outreach strategy to return.” – Daniel Barsotti

MaxAssist focuses on what Daniel calls the “iceberg effect.” Everyone sees the visible five to ten percent. The real value lies in the unseen patients who simply need the right outreach strategy to return.

Culture as a Competitive Advantage or a Liability

Culture begins to fail when practices adopt the mindset of “that is just the way things are.” Complacency is the first warning sign.

Healthy culture requires constant evolution and permission for team members to challenge outdated systems. Teams want autonomy, relevance, and the ability to impact patient care. When a culture is rigid, disconnected, or indifferent, the workforce will seek out environments that allow greater influence and support.

DSOs that maintain strong cultures tend to be the ones that embrace change, encourage experimentation, and maintain full transparency about goals and deliverables on both the clinical and business sides.

The Real ROI: Financial and Functional

MaxAssist produces strong financial ROI, but financial metrics alone cannot capture the full impact of a successful implementation. Return on investment also includes:

• Reduced burnout
• Lower turnover
• Recovered time for patient care
• More consistency in scheduling
• Greater alignment across locations
• A healthier front office pipeline
• More reliable data for decision making

“ROI is not just about dollars. It is also about time, culture, and alignment across your team and DSO.” – Daniel Barsotti

In other words, strategic ROI comes from solving the root workflow problems that influence every operational and clinical outcome.

The Path Forward for DSOs

As dentistry continues to accelerate its adoption of AI, digital communication, and automation, DSOs have a critical responsibility to ensure that technology serves people, not the other way around.

Start with the workflow. Solve real problems. Choose tools that fit the culture of the organization. Build a toolbox that empowers teams. Create space for patient connection and clinical excellence. The result is sustainable change that elevates both the practice and the patient experience.

“MaxAssist is about supercharging the toolbox, so teams can focus on patients, problem-solving, and being present in the moment.” – Daniel Barsotti

For DSOs searching for a scalable, data-driven operations platform that prioritizes the human experience, MaxAssist is positioning itself as a foundational partner for growth.