The average age might surprise you: 45 years old. That's when many dentists start seriously considering partnership opportunities, according to Matt Hendrick, co-founder of Elevate Dental Partners.
Matt Hendrick.
In a recent DrBicuspid.com Podcast installment, which you can watch below, Hendrick explained that these aren't struggling practices looking for a lifeline. They're successful multidoctor operations hitting a growth ceiling.
"They know there's a lot more growth potential, but they're only one person, and they're still chairside a lot of the time," Hendrick said. "We can really plug in and be that extension of their team to help provide support and resources to help take the practice to that next level."
Unlike traditional dental service organizations, Elevate's model emphasizes partnership over acquisition. Doctors retain significant ownership and equity while gaining access to resources that would otherwise require substantial time and capital investment.
"We're not trying to change the culture of the practices," Hendrick explained. "We're trying to foster that and provide additional support, but we're really not trying to change the culture of what made that practice great."
The transition process is carefully orchestrated. Hendrick stressed that team members must hear about the partnership from their doctor first, typically a few weeks before the official partnership date. Then Elevate's leadership team meets with staff to answer questions openly.
"I think hearing any company's name, you kind of just associate it with whatever corporate machine," Hendrick acknowledged. "But really for us, we're very intentional. We're people that are trying to show up to work every day and do the best for our partners."
Hendrick noted that retention depends on both the partner organization and the dentist. The strongest partnerships are doctors who view the arrangement as support for their team rather than an exit strategy.
"A lot of times it comes up, like I'm actually doing this for my team because I've become the bottleneck in the practice," he said.
Check out our entire conversation below.
