Post-meeting recap
This article was originally written right before the Thanksgiving holiday and before the Greater NY meeting. Previously, I voiced my concerns about no real DSO specific content at the meeting. After spending December 1st – December 4th in Manhattan, I wanted to share a brief recap of the meeting. While there was literally nothing from a continuing education standpoint that focused on DSOs, scaling your practices or multi-site management, I was able to spend time with some DSO and dental group leaders networking and discussing the future of group dentistry.
Gary Pickard, who is the Senior Director of Government & Industry Affairs for Pacific Dental Services, was in town to meet with people and attend the three hour panel discussion entitled, A Pathway to Health Equity Globally, where Founder and CEO of Pacific Dental Services, Stephen Thorne, spoke with other panelists. Gary and I were able to spend some time together on Sunday, December 1st enjoying the Crosstex and Hu-Friedy post-show event at the Press Room.
Monday, December 2nd found me running in and out of various meetings on the show floor. I had the opportunity to meet with the COO of a new nine practice DSO in NJ (more to come on this group in a forthcoming article), ran into Vance Taylor of Henry Schein One at his booth, and finished the night at the 2nd annual Teledentistry awards, where one of the recipients was Dr. Paul Labbe who runs a four location pediatric group, Planet Dental in Laredo, TX.
On Tuesday, December 3rd, again I had a flurry of meetings with industry partners, and interestingly enough, my last meeting of the day was with a soon-to-be-launched multi-national DSO that is sure to disrupt the status quo when it comes to pricing, patient marketing and delivery of care.
On Wednesday, the final day of the Greater New York Meeting, I was able to stop by and visit with one of our DSO customers, North American Dental Group. Carrie Williams and Sue Egan-Wood from their Human Resources team were representing. Just before I caught the bus back to Philadelphia, I was able to meet with arguably the most popular person in dentistry right now, Dr. Roshan Parikh, Head of Dentistry for Walmart Health.
Even though the Greater New York Meeting did not have much to offer emerging dental groups and DSOs from an educational standpoint, there were still plenty of DSO industry people at the show.
Pre-meeting at the Greater New York Show – What to Expect (originally published on Group Dentistry Now on November 26, 2019)
One of the final dental meetings of the year, and also one of the largest in the country, is the Greater NY Dental Meeting (GNYDM). This is the 95th year for this meeting. One of the longer meetings, GNYDM runs from Friday, November 29th to Wednesday, December 4th. Education sessions start on November 29th while the exhibition’s opening is on Sunday, December 1st.
The meeting draws clinicians from all over the globe as well as dentists from the United States. However, the timing of the meeting is not ideal as it Thanksgiving weekend, unless of course you want to spend your holiday in New York City. The meeting’s end also coincides with the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Rockefeller Center which starts at 7pm.
If you are in the DSO or group practice space, don’t expect much relative content for your organizations. Despite the lack of DSO opportunities, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Stephen E. Thorne IV, Founder and CEO of Pacific Dental Services will speak on a panel at this year’s meeting. The three hour panel discussion entitled, A Pathway to Health Equity Globally, will address the growing need for oral healthcare for the millions of adults and children around the world who live without it. The panel discussion, which takes place on Tuesday, December 3rd from 2 to 5 pm, will discuss how to meet the growing oral health needs of the millions of adult and children refugees including those subjected to harming rituals globally and those living in extreme poverty and/or homelessness. A pathway to health equity globally is also discussed in this unique program. Other panelists include, Dr. Jack Dillenberg, Othman Shiby, and Kris Volcheck.
“I’m thrilled to have Pacific Dental Services’ Founder Stephen Thorne join our second public health symposium at the GNYDM. One of our programs, ‘A Pathway to Health Equity Globally,’ will provide valuable insight about the importance of health equity. For years, Mr. Thorne and the Pacific Dental Foundation have dedicated their time and resources to help people in Guatemala, Fiji and Ethiopia receive the dentistry they desperately need.” – Dr. Jack Dillenberg Greater NY Dental Meeting Public Health Symposium Chairman
In addition to discussing the importance of access to care, the panel will also address how not-for-profit groups and health providers can positively impact the overall health of at-risk people globally, as well as the value of participation in humanitarian efforts to improve the health of those unable to access health care services.
Beyond Stephen Thorne’s panel appearance, there is still a noticeable absence of anything DSO and emerging dental group focused.
Here are the DSOs and dental groups that will be exhibiting at the show:
- Allied Dental Booth 1025
- Aspen Dental Booth 4037
- Dental Care Alliance Booth 5416
- Great Expressions Dental Centers Booth 3537
- Heartland Dental Booth 2209
- Midwest Dental Booth 4217
- North American Dental Group Booth 812
- ProHealth DENTAL Booth 4831
The following is the breakdown of GNYDM’s attendance in 2018:
Dentists Dental Hygienists Dental Assistants Dental Technicians International Attendees Total Registration Total Countries |
20,187 3,949 5,206 569 10,661 52,320 146 |
This will be my 17th year attending the Greater NY Dental Meeting. I use the event as a great opportunity to network with emerging dental groups, DSO leaders and industry partners. I look forward to seeing some of you there.
Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season,
Email: william.neumann@groupdentistrynow.com
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