Jim Gochis of Synergy Dental Partners and Richard Harrell sat down to discuss Premiere 1 Dental role in the Dental Lab market space. Jim and Richard discuss Premiere 1’s role in supporting the modern day DSO.
Episode 1 – DSOs
Jim:
Hi, I’m Jim Goche – the EVP of Procurement for Synergy Dental Partners. I’m here today with Richard Harrell from Premiere 1 Dental Labs.
A lot of folks say that the two main buckets are DSOs or GPOs, but then within the GPO comprises mostly the service and independent dentists and small DSOs that don’t have the negotiating and buying power that a large DSO does. Is that correct?
Richard:
That’s right. Having had a long history as a company, with over 40 years of servicing clinicIans and predominantly independent practitioners, we observed that the aggregation of practices under either the DSO or GPO bracket is a relatively new occurrence. And it’s a strategic occurrence – the DSO for one purpose and the GPO as a response to that for a competitive purpose.
We began to ask ourselves, how could we do things differently? What would now be more relevant, in that we serve only GPOs or DSOs. And part of that was formed by how the relationships came to be – they are quite a top down flow. And that is sometimes more effectively achieved in that environment.
Jim:
What we’ve learned at Synergy Dental Partners as a GPO, is a member usually gets involved with the GPO because they need help. They either can’t do it on their own, or they’ve been doing it on their own and see that alternatively there are solutions out there and efficiencies available to them.
That’s one of the areas that the Synergy team has gravitated to Premiere 1 Labs for. You have the understanding, you have the solution there, you’ve got the product nailed down and you’ve got the right price point. The quality is there, the service is there and the hand holding that is helpful to a dental practice from the service perspective combines to create the perfect formula for us.
Richard:
The thing that I like about Synergy in particular, almost as a modeling exercise, is they help small businesses understand what it means to be in business and support them in that regard. It’s so important because you get a dental degree and then suddenly you’re in business – and I say this from personal experience, being in business doesn’t mean you understand what it means to be in business or what it takes to be in business successfully.
I was blessed that I had some great mentors in business. So I learned a lot very early on, and though I am technical by vocation, I probably gravitate more to the business side. And I think this is the main benefit to your membership as well, you aggregate small businesses under an umbrella of support, helping them do the things that it takes to be successful. A percentage point here and there added up can equal some pretty big numbers. That can be the differentiator between whether a clinician retires at 55 or 75. Or whether they can sell a practice successfully and profitably or not.
Having partnerships with other businesses that understand the things that go into the successful operation of a business is so important. From our viewpoint this was our fundamental agreement. You will give us the opportunity to earn your members’ business.
Jim:
Well, thank you for that. We’re very proud of the relationship that we have, this service and the program that we offer to our members. We can’t do it alone. We couldn’t do it without great partners like Premiere 1 Dental Labs. So thank you very much for that.
