2nd Place Winner! Improving Access to Oral Healthcare
Example: Walk us through a specific example(s) of how this solution makes a difference; include its primary activities.
Impact: What is the impact of the work to date? Also describe the projected future impact for the coming years.
Financial Sustainability Plan: What is this solution’s plan to ensure financial sustainability?
Marketplace: Who else is addressing the problem outlined here? How does the proposed project differ from these approaches?
Founding Story
Sarrell Dental & Eye Centers
Joshua
Jones
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We are a federally qualified 501(c)3 non-profit, however, we do not rely on cash donations or grants to operate. We have opened 14 state-of-the-art offices and a mobile dentist bus with cash from operations. We carry a $2M line of credit with no balance. We employ 56 licensed Alabama dentists and 44 hygienists. We are the high paying dental employer in our state. We are operate like a hospital, with a CEO for the business side and a Chief Dental Officer on the clinical side. Nearly 70% of our 225 person staff (no volunteers) have a bachelor's degree. About 30% have an advanced degree.
Most important, we are eliminating cavities in the poorest counties, in one of the poorest states in the US. In 2005, our reimbursement per patient visit was $328. In 2012, our reimbursement per patient was an industry low $125 per patient visit. In 2012 only, we saw over 130,000 patient visits. This includes general dentistry, pediatric dentistry and using oral surgeons all who are paid excellent salaries.
We received national recognition and praise by PBS Frontline and The Center for Public Integrity in their June 26, 2012 one hour documentary, "Dollars for Dentists." This documentary can be found on the PBS Frontline website or at www.sarrelldental.org. Our segment begins at 26 minutes.
We have experienced over 400,000 patient visits without a single patient complaint to the Alabama Board of Dental Examiners.
We are a national model, not only for our good works, but because we have done so without incurring long term debt or using cash donations or grants.
We have been told by many, from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to The Pew Center for the States to various USA dental school faculty, that we are the first in the USA to successfully execute a highly successful, growing, sophisticated, self sustaining non-profit dental practice in the USA. This is a model that is new to dentistry that has empirical data to support its amazing patient outcomes.
Our clinical data speaks for itself. Under the leadership of Mr. Parker, we have been able to recruit top, young, business talent to our organization. We compete successfully for the brightest young talent out of undergraduate, MBA andJD programs. The average age of our managers is 26, and the best want to compete with the best. While there are many charitable opportunities available, Sarrell's high paying, career-building positions offer a unique career opportunity. At Sarrell young, talented leaders are promoted based on ability. They work with us because they can make a good living and help the many, underserved American children, who lack access to dental care. It is a rewarding experience to grow a non-profit, make a meaningful contribution, and serve less fortunate children.
We invest in our patients, our people and our infrastructure. We have a Community Outreach person in every area we have an office. We have a Hispanic outreach team specifically targeted to that segment. They screen children for dental issues in schools, day cares, Head Start programs and at community health fairs, free of charge. We also provide dental education at the aforementioned events.
We pay industry high wages for our state. This allows to attract the best in class of clinical and business personnel. We receive about 20 unsolicited resumes a day and are now able to reject 2-3 dentists a month, who apply with us. We have a waiting list of oral surgeons wanting to work part-time with us.
Last in IT, we have purchased a state of the art, VDI system from Cisco and Citrix.
, AL, Anniston, Calhoun County
Bring accessible healthcare to communities in emerging markets
Other specialty care
Prevention, Detection, Intervention, Follow-up, Long-term care.
Scaling (growing impact on a regional or global scale)
Approaches to behavioral change at the individual level, Patient-centered design, Redesign of the public healthcare system for more efficiency (in terms of processes, structure etc.), New/redefined roles for healthcare service provision, New approaches to distribution of health products and services, New financing strategies for health.
Technology, New skills, Education/training.
Traditional non-profits often fail to achieve their objectives because they rely on donations and volunteer efforts. While these may contribute to the overall good in some scenarios, we believe a complete business model that focuses on organizational efficiency, accountability, and hard work will be more effective in creating a long-term, sustainable solution. By combining a talented workforce, proven business principles, and clinically-focused dentists, we can achieve what other non-profits and governmental entities have not.
Sarrell treats the dental and optical needs of lower income children in underserved communities that might otherwise not have access to dental care. Generally, these are Medicaid and SCHIP eligible patients ages 1-20.
Sarrell operates 14 clinics in underserved communities as well as a state-of-the-art mobile dental bus that travels to areas where dental care is not otherwise available. This dental bus has two fully-functional operatories and digital radiograph equipment linked to electronic health records.
Our Community Outreach personnel provided dental education and screened over 50,000 Alabama children in 2012.
We provide dental education, screenings and comprehensive dental work (everything but orthodontics) to under served Alabama children between ages 1-20. We do so without the need for cash donations or grants. We grow organically using best demonstrated business practices and have created a new, effective and proven dental model. The first self sufficient, not for profit, dental model of this kind in the USA.
The single biggest hinderrance to our growth out of Alabama is individual states' Dental Practice Acts (DPA). Most do not allow non-profit organizations to operate, even though we use only fully licensed dentists. In fact, We had to change, via Sarrell Dental legislation, the law in Alabama in 2011. Even though most dentists in Alabama do not see Medicaid patients on a regular basis. This was a battle covered numerous times by prestigious journals such as The Non Profit Quarterly (type Sarrell Dental in the search box on their website), PBS Frontline (see PBS Frontline website) and many other publications (search Sarrell Dental).
Dentistry is about 20 years behind the medical field, as far as consolidation and the use of alternative providers (i.e. nurse practioners). DPA's must change.
We are currently poised internally to expand our model to other states. At this point we are seeking partners to help us accelerate our growth and optimize community impact before we open our next office.
New regions(s).
We have developed our infrastructure, particularly in IT and management know-how, to be scaleable. We currently have no long-term debt and have a large, sustainable, growing record of growth.
To expand our services outside of Alabama. Particularly into nearby states where we can manage our culture, business and clinical practices to ensure continued our proven track record in serving children who need our care the most.
, AL, Anniston, Calhoun County
We look at the number of patients treated, cost efficiency of dental care, patient satisfaction, community feedback and awards, and we use advanced data analytics to track more complex operational measures.
Our solution is readily expandable to almost any other state in the union. The infrastructure upgrades we have made to allow video conferencing, remote digital imaging, and EHR (to name a few) have placed us in a optimal position to expand. The states most favorable to our expansion are those with the greatest need for Medicaid dental care and with community health providers open to partnership and collaboration.
If we expand out of Alabama, we can conservatively impact over 100,000 patient visits over the next 3 years.
Sarrell operates primarily on Medicaid/SCHIP reimbursements and does not solicit cash donations or grants.
99.9%
99.9%
0%
99.9%
Regional government, National government.
We survive primarly on Medicaid and SCHIP reimbursements for the dental work we perform. We do not rely on cash donations or grants for our operations.
0.1%
Single strategy.
If someone asks to donate cash, we generally accept it. In the past, we have accepted used equipment but as we have grown, we have found it generally not to be the quality we use. What we accept is generally used only short term or for spare parts.
We will continue to utilize our self-sufficient non-profit model. To expand, we would consider accepting cash or grants from acceptable donors.
Operating for more than 5 years
Sarrell Dental has received numerous honors and awards, including Alabama Head Start's Corporation of the Year in 2010 and 2012, National Children's Oral Health Foundation Affiliate of the Year in 2010, Outstanding Website Award by the Web Marketing Association in 2011, and Outstanding Organization by the NFL Alumni Atlanta Chapter every year from 2006 through 2012.