One of the key values of Dental Innovations is our dentist members openly sharing knowledge and ideas to assist other dentists and to break down the isolation barriers of being in private practice. This is facilitated within our network in several ways, online via our members Chat forum as well as our exclusive Webinars. Although these avenues are important, they cannot replace the value of personal contact and the open exchange of ideas created by dentist members getting together.

Throughout May, Dental Innovations was extremely busy hosting and attending events which have engaged and connected members. Our member networking events were held in Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney which enabled our members to get together to meet fellow members and share a meal and a glass of wine. The true value of these events comes from the personal exchange of ideas and connections made by coming together and the friendships created as much as the content of the presentations.

Dr Michael Sernik was our guest speaker for our member evenings and provided a great presentation on patient communication and how his new initiative Channel: D, is a proactive video tool to engage and educate patients and importantly grow your practice. Following from our dinner’s Dr Sernik has agreed to deliver an exclusive webinar for our members to be accessible for those who could not attend our dinners. Dental Innovations will continue to expand our member events to continue to create a community for practice owners and keep members abreast of industry changes and the direction of Dental Innovations.

As part of our presentation at our member dinners we provided a quick update of the state of play of corporate dentistry. As a national network we are in a unique position to see what the corporates are doing and how they are evolving. Whilst corporate dentistry continues to grow, many of the larger groups have slowed or halted acquisition of practices as pressure on their profitability increases. However, there continues to be new emerging corporate models entering into the Australian dental market which is increasing the growth of this sector. Health funds are also continuing to evolve with vertical integration of dental services through practice ownership.

This model is be replicated by more health funds and we are also seeing the creation of new levels of preferred provider agreements along with restricted or rationalization of existing agreements. Whilst the corporate landscape continues to evolve it is important to keep in perspective the size and buying power of the Dental Innovations Network easily surpasses the largest corporate Bupa estimated to have 150 locations.

By continuing to grow our membership we can provide and maintain the economies of scale for members to compete against the corporates and help independent practice owners not only in terms of saving but also in support through being part of our group.

If you are a pro active practice owner who would value being part of our Network, contact me directly on [email protected].