In 2019, Group Dentistry Now featured ProHEALTH Dental in an article about the historic and long-standing chasm between the disciplines of medicine and dentistry. At that time, the emerging group had eight locations and held the philosophy that collaboration between the disciplines is essential to address overall wellness.
ProHEALTHth Dental was founded by David J. Cooper, M.D., in 2016 with the following goals:
- Break down the anachronistic barrier between medicine and dentistry
- Educate the public about the importance of oral health as a key element of overall health
- Unite the first two points for a more comprehensive approach to providing healthcare services
- Save significant healthcare expenditures
To accomplish this, ProHEALTH Dental affiliates with medical groups and other healthcare systems to become their dental arm and provide patients with coordinated medical/dental care. ProHEALTH Dental assumes full responsibility for their affiliates’ new dental service line, including capital costs, financial planning and oversight, operations, compliance, recruiting, and marketing. By coordinating care with physicians, they aim to address not just patient’s oral health, but their overall health and well-being.
They began carrying out their mission with ProHEALTH Care Associates on Long Island, which was the site of their first office. In four years, they have grown from one location in Lake Success, NY, to 13 locations throughout NY and NJ. Not backed by PE, they currently have clinical affiliations with four major medical groups in the metropolitan New York area and the surrounding area that serves 3.5M+ patients, as well as a major hospital system for their western Queens offices.
As part of their clinical integration model, they provide non-invasive health screenings to assist in the detection of potential health risks to patients annually. They coordinate any health issues with the patient’s treating physician or they can provide a referral if needed.
Non-invasive screenings include:
- Blood Pressure Readings
- Diagnostic Heart Rhythm (EKG) Monitoring
- Pulse Oximetry
- Sleep Apnea Screening
Since their founding, they have grown 20X and more importantly have broken through the historical chasm between medicine and dentistry to forge clinical affiliations with one major health system and four large medical groups that collectively serve over 3.5M patients.
A key innovative step towards their mission is their work with the Harvard School of Dental Medicine Initiative Integrating Oral Health and Medicine. Working together, they are conducting research studies on the important topic of oral health literacy.
2021 goals for ProHEALTH Dental include continued expansion throughout the New York Metro area as well as exploring expanding their Clinical Affiliation Model with large healthcare providers throughout the nation.
Attributing their success during the pandemic to their clinical affiliation model, they have fully recovered from their three-month COVID-19 closure and are currently experiencing volumes at 20% in excess of pre-COVID levels.
With support services infrastructure now fully in place, they expect to add at least one new office per month over the next five+ years pursuant to existing and new clinical affiliations. They anticipate a 50%+ growth rate/year over the next five years.
The key business challenge for ProHEALTH Dental is overcoming the decades of the illogical chasm between medicine and dentistry. However, their progress with the medical and insurance communities gives them great optimism that they will be the industry leaders in their model and mission of medical/dental integration.
Key executives in the group:
- Norton L. Travis, Chief Executive Officer
- Neil Karnofsky, Co-Chief Dental Officer
- Bruce Valauri, Co-Chief Dental Officer
- Gina Schroeter, Chief Administrative Office
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