Since 1991, Dr. Anne Galbreath of Lifetime Dental of Flower Mound in Flower Mound, TX has made a name for herself in her community by providing high-quality care to her patients and expert instruction to students attending Baylor College of Dentistry as an Assistant Clinical Professor.
At the point in her career where she was considering her transition options, Dr. Galbreath had a few goals in mind: to sell her practice with the opportunity to continue practicing part-time, to add a full-time associate to take on the bulk of the clinical work and to continue to advance the practice. When she discussed her prospects with her long-time mentor, he recommended Dr. Galbreath reach out to Heartland Dental.
“I wasn’t ready to retire, but I also didn’t want to leave my retirement strategy as a big question mark on the horizon. Continuing to practice at your office after you sell isn’t a guarantee, and if I slowed down as the only dentist in my office, then my business would lose value. Why should I have to choose between continuing to practice and receiving optimal equity? Why should anyone? That was the solution I hoped to find.”
After connecting with Heartland Dental, the rest was history.
“The offer I received for my practice was very competitive. That and my opportunity to continue practicing were key in making the choice to move forward and affiliate with Heartland Dental.”
But change brings challenges, and affiliating is no different.
“When you come across any challenge in this process, my advice is to be patient and utilize your support system: your in-office practice manager, your regional operations manager, your regional operations director and other affiliated dentists. If you’re having a problem, you have to communicate it to get it fixed. Once you open communication channels, everything runs much more smoothly, and you’re asks get answered much more quickly.”
When thinking back, there are changes she’s seen in her practice and her team that she didn’t expect.
“Since affiliating with Heartland Dental, I’ve been able to be even more engaged in both the business and clinical aspects of my practice, and my team is becoming more and more engaged as they develop higher levels of proficiency in their roles. Number of new patients has increased, and we have received positive feedback from our long-term patients on the increase in staff proficiency and how they are able to be more highly engaged in their own care because my team is more effective at educating them. These were areas of opportunity that I didn’t realize we had, but I’m so glad we’re able to better accommodate them now.”
The most surprising thing about Heartland Dental is how much continuing education is offered.
“I honestly did not know the amount of continuing education that would be available to dentists and team members. I believe this exemplifies that Heartland Dental is a true service organization. Take care of your people, and they will take care of their patients.”
With the help of Heartland Dental, Dr. Galbreath was able to transition in the way that she wanted on her terms.
“I tell other dentists to be sure of their goals as to why they want to affiliate and make sure you communicate those priorities. If you want to continue practicing, even for a few years, be very honest as to your goals and plans. Heartland Dental will make it happen.”
Learn more about what you can gain from affiliating with us here!