Can you believe a new year is ahead of us? A new year means new beginnings, and we’re excited to see what 2018 brings! But, we’re not done with 2017 just yet. 2017 was a year of celebration for Heartland Dental, so we’re taking some time to look back on our highlights from last year.
- Patterson Dental Partnership: We selected Patterson Dental as our primary distribution partner which went into effect on January 1, 2017.
- Happy Anniversary, Pat Bauer!: In the month of April, our President and CEO, Pat Bauer celebrated his 20th anniversary with the company. We surprised him with this video at one of our meetings.
- Bubble Challenge for Oral Cancer: 208 of our supported offices helped raise awareness about oral cancer by participating in the Bubble Challenge. Together they raised nearly $13,000!
- Washington Becomes a DSO Friendly State: With the signing of Washington’s SB 5322 bill, the state showed its support of dental supports organizations (DSOs) and recognized the value DSOs provide to dentists and their patients.
- Smiling Magazine Goes Digital: This summer, a digital version of our print magazine, Smiling, went live.
- 20th Anniversary: In 2017, our biggest achievement was being able to celebrate our 20th year as Heartland Dental. Take a look at some of the milestones that have helped us get this far.
- Dr. LEADS: Each year, we host newly supported doctors at our Support Center in Effingham, IL. This year’s class was our biggest ever. One of our attendees, Dr. Monica Attia recaps her experience.
- Relay For Life Award: Our Relay for Life team received the Team Excellence Award and Sponsorship Award for their fundraising efforts. They raised more than $19,000!
- Inc. 5000 List: For the 7th time, we landed a spot on the Inc. 5000 list. Less than a tenth of Inc. 5000 honorees have achieved this milestone.
- Supporting Our Own During Harvey and Irma: Last fall, 236 supported offices were directly impacted by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, which affected countless Heartland Dental team members and supported doctors. We setup a Disaster Relief Fund to financially assist those affected, and we raised over $90,000.
- 800 Supported Offices: We continued our nationwide growth by supporting over 800 offices in 2017. Our 800th supported office was Today’s Family Dental in Waco, TX.
- 2017 Winter Conference: This was our biggest Winter Conference, yet! In addition to record-breaking attendance, we got to meet some amazing speakers like Dave Ramsey, Bonnie St. John, Patrick Lencioni and Dr. Brian Gray.
- Free Dentistry Day Total: In 2017, 248 supported offices participated in the Free Dentistry Day initiative and collectively donated nearly $3 million dollars in free dental services. This is the largest amount of money ever donated through Free Dentistry Day!
- Patient Service Representatives Answers Over 1 Million Calls: 1,687,852 inbound calls were answered last year by our Patient Service Representatives. They also scheduled 188,872 new patients through their inbound and online efforts.
As you can see, we accomplished a lot in 2017 and know many more accomplishments lie ahead of us. Want to see how big we can dream? Check out this video we showed during our Winter Conference where we share hopes for our future.