What Do DSOs Prefer in Dental Practices?

Cain Watters & Associates wrote an excellent article on dental service organizations' (DSO's) buying preferences. These preferences differ by dental segment. In general, DSOs evaluate dental practices based on their risk profiles. DSOs typically assess these five risk factors:

1. Geographic (urban or rural),

2. Clean financials and practice management data,

3. Payer Mix,

4. Case Mix, and

5. Staff Turnover

The article goes further and give hints on what factors are important in specific segments:

• General Dentistry - Growth potential, scalability, geography, size, and payer mix.

• Oral Surgery - Complexity of work and referral patterns

• Pediatric Dentistry - Lifetime value of a patient, influence on referral choices by patients

• Orthodontics - Economic sensitivity, patient mix, strength of established referral channels.

You can read the full report here.