You, Your Team, and Your Patients: What to Expect When Joining Apex

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” – Socrates

Choosing the right dental partner for your practice requires careful consideration and meticulous vetting. First and foremost, you want a partner who aligns with your values, patient-focused vision, and culture. Additionally, you want support from a group who understands the roles and importance of your entire team and can offer guidance and comfort during the unease of a practice transition.

At Apex, we empower our Doctors to lead their teams seamlessly through the entire transition process without disrupting quality patient care. Here’s how it works …

Preparing for an Apex Transition

To help explain what happens once you decide to join the Apex Family, we turned to our vice president of practice onboarding, Stephanie Paris. Stephanie has been with Apex since its inception in 2014, and she has been integral in developing a comprehensive approach to streamlining the transition process. She works alongside our doctors to guide them from start to finish.

“We start by scheduling an in-person meeting. We’ll take a look around the practice and deep-dive into what the transition process looks like. This gives us an opportunity to answer any questions the dentist has and build the foundation for open communication,” Stephanie explains. “The more information everyone has, the easier it is to make a smooth transition.”
When our partners join the Apex Family, they gain the advantage of offloading much of their administrative, accounting, HR, and marketing duties. To begin this process, you’ll share operation essentials such as:

• • • Current staff schedules and employee files
    • Contracts for outstanding equipment and vendors
    • Relevant information about the building you occupy
    • Login credentials for patient management software and online accounts

Passing this torch may seem overwhelming initially, but Apex makes the process seamless. You can count on regular and frequent communication with our team up front so you can experience the benefit of a partnership with Apex from day one.

Communicating a Transition With Your Team

As the leader of your practice, you set the tone regarding how your team will perceive the news of an upcoming transition. Deciding to transition your practice with Apex should be exciting, as it means you and your team will be able to provide greater service to patients and eliminate the major burdens of management. Therefore, you’ll want to be mindful about projecting an optimistic attitude about the transition to your team.

Common Team Member Concerns

It’s no industry secret that corporate partnerships can have a negative connotation. Personal horror stories from peers may cause your team to jump to conclusions about what an Apex transition means for their longevity in your practice.

Common concerns may include:

• • • Job insecurity for them and their teammates
    • Fear of pay reduction or schedule changes
    • Assumptions about worsened quality of patient care

The Benefits of a Partnership for Your Team

In reality, a partnership with Apex offers extensive benefits to the team members who have helped your practice thrive.

“We have a nearly perfect retention rate with regard to employees staying. Team members quickly warm up after working side by side with us for a couple of weeks,” Stephanie says. “Apex also has one of the most robust benefits packages. Employees get to work in a unique private practice but gain the support and benefits of a large company.”

Some of these benefits include:

• Matched pay plus comprehensive health, vision, and dental insurance plans
• PTO and paid holidays
• Investment and retirement plans with a company match

The most significant benefit of an Apex transition is the streamlined support dentists receive from industry professionals.

For example, front desk team members no longer have to perform work outside of the scope of their job description (such as marketing) and can now dedicate more time to patient care. There will no longer be a need for office managers to spend their weekends managing payroll. Instead, they can now enjoy more time to pursue hobbies and relax at home with family.

Additionally, motivated dental assistants and hygienists can take advantage of free continuing education and resources for mentorship. With the advantage of a large team by your side, Apex alleviates a number of burdens for the whole team.

Announcing the Transition

When it’s time to announce the transition to your team, Apex can offer expertise and support. From crafting your messaging to responding to common questions and concerns, we’ll offer pointers to guide you every step of the way.

“It’s very important when and how you tell the team, so we work with our doctors to develop talking points about the transition,” Stephanie explains. “The more upbeat and confident the doctor is, the more likely the team will follow their lead.”

Apex also works with doctors to optimize the timing of the announcement with the start of the transition.

“Once the doctor tells their team, we come in the next day. We feel this gives enough time for them to digest the transition, but not so much that they start worrying about what it means for them. We let the team know that we share their values of integrity and service to the community, and it helps put their worries about job security to rest,” Stephanie says.

Team members then have the opportunity to ask direct questions, as open communication is the key to a smooth transition. We offer answers that alleviate apprehension and make the team feel more comfortable about the coming changes.

Becoming an Apex Partner

With Apex’s targeted support in non-clinical areas such as technology, marketing, and operations, Apex Doctors gain the opportunity to focus primarily on patient care.

Quality Patient Care

Apex values the legacy each of our dentists has already built within the community they serve. This is why we have founded our organization around a non-branded model, meaning your patients won’t know a practice transition has taken place—except you will now have more time to focus on their individual needs.

“We feel like maintaining your own brand allows you to keep that private-practice feel patients love. That’s why patients prefer your practice in the first place—they purposely passed on other chain practices,” Stephanie says.

Our patient-centric approach to dental care means your patients will continue to receive the high level of care they expect. In addition, dentist partners maintain full clinical autonomy, so patients will continue to benefit from the expertise you have to offer day after day.

Your New Day to Day

With our comprehensive support system in place, you can look forward to a noticeably lighter workload. As a result, you’ll have more time to focus on your patients and spend less time dealing with the administrative tasks that often bog down dental practices. Apex will take over non-clinical burdens such as:

• • • Human Resources
    • IT Support and Facilities Maintenance
    • Clinical Leadership Development
    • Marketing
    • Accounting, Billing, and Accounts Payable
    • Insurance Negotiations
    • Partnering With Apex

Many of our doctors have decided to continue practicing for longer than planned thanks to the relief offered by the day-to-day support of the Apex team. With business operations and administrative duties covered, Apex doctors can enjoy a renewed work/life balance that makes the profession feel sustainable in the long term.

On the other hand, many doctors see a partnership with Apex as a solution that allows them to ease into retirement. Our doctors feel confident leaving their practice in experienced hands and can confidently enter retirement on the timeline they choose.

Apex Dental Partners is committed to helping you and your team through every step of the transition process. We’ll be by your side from start to finish, ensuring the process is as smooth as possible. If you’re ready to make the transition, contact us today and learn more about what a partnership with Apex can do for you.

are you ready to connect?