DDS Overhead Management – The Buying Group for MGE Clients
Massive discounts. Top quality vendors, Name brand products.
For the past year, we’ve had an important project in the works. Specifically, we were working to put together a special buying group only for the MGE client base.
And as you might expect, we weren’t looking to put together a mediocre product that maybe saved you 10% here or there. We wanted something that provided MONSTER discounts to our client base on things like dental supplies, labs, implants, etc.
In a nutshell, we were looking to create a group that gave MGE clients access to discounts similar to those of DSOs/Corporate Dentistry.
And…this buying group is now here!
It’s called DDS Overhead Management, and it’s only open to MGE clients.
For that matter, I’ve opened it initially to just the MGE Power Client base to ensure you have “first dibs” on taking advantage of the benefits!
Leveling the Playing Field with Corporate Dentistry
The big problem private practitioners have when competing with corporate dentistry is that corporate dentistry works on an economy of scale. They’re buying for 200, 300 or more offices, whereas the private practice is buying for one, maybe two or three. When you can commit that much in resources, you’re going to get some serious financial breaks.
So, when we put this together, the purpose wasn’t “Okay let’s help our clients save a few dollars…” It was “How do we level the playing field? How do we give our client base access to the type of pricing structures that corporate offices have?”
Obviously, to have that type of negotiating power, you have to be a big group. Well, get this: in 2016 we took a look at how productive our active Power Client base was – meaning clients that are actively on the Power Program, not past clients and so on. Mind you this was 2016 and we’ve grown since. Back then, the active Power Client base was collecting $880 million dollars a year. And this number didn’t include ABC clients or past Power Program graduates. So, in a nutshell, as a group, our active Power Client base in 2016 (and it’s bigger now) is more productive than the majority of dental chains in the US. Fast-forward to now, add past graduates and clients on the ABCs and so, and we have a group that far out-produces the largest DSO in the United States.
If we package the entire MGE client base as one group, you’ve effectively become the largest negotiating block in the dental industry.
We’re not a DSO, but as a group, we are a massive force to contend with and command a ton of economic power!
And it was from this position that we negotiated the deals offered as a part of DDS Overhead Management! We went all in to truly level the playing field in terms of reducing expenses, increasing profitability and creating greater expansion potential.
In the end our long-term purpose is to get the average MGE client saving 15% on their total monthly overhead.
Initially, we wanted to start out with the “big three,” namely supplies, labs and implants.
Participating Vendors
- DENTAL SUPPLIES:The dental supplier we’re working with is called DC Dental. DC Dental is located in Baltimore, MD and carries all the majors brands (Dentsply Sirona, 3M, Kavo Kerr, Midwest, etc.). They’re big.And while you can order online from a special DDS Overhead Portal on their site, you’ll still have the personal attention of a supply rep. The rep you’d be working with Eli Stuart is extremely attentive and provides excellent customer service. And the discounts they offer to our members are incredible. For specific pricing, I would suggest contacting them directly because they carry over 33,000 items and it’s too much to include here. But I can tell you the prices are unbelievable, and they are for name brands, not grey market materials.
- IMPLANTS: The implant company we’re working with is MIS Implants, a Dentsply Sirona company and their pricing structure for members is incredible. Some examples:
- M4 Implant – $90 (40% discount)
- With healing cap and impression coping – $123
- SEVEN Implant – $102 (44% discount)
- With healing cap and impression coping – $133
- V3 Implant – $118 (56% discount)
- With healing cap and impression coping – $149
- Regenerative Materials discounted anywhere from 12-27%
- LABS: We currently have a contract with three labs (Streamline Dental Lab, 4G Dental Lab and Fidelity Dental Lab) and we are in negotiations with several more.Our intention is have four or five labs in the program located throughout the US.
Streamline is a full-service lab with 20 technicians and a staff of 30. They’re located in New York, but they work with offices nationwide. They also have a proprietary system where you can track your cases in real time, see photos of the case, get email alerts, etc, and they accept digital files for any system.
Streamline’s pricing structure for members is excellent. A few examples:
- Full-Strength Zirconia CAD/CAM Crown – $59
- Porcelain to Zirconia Crown – $89
- Porcelain to Zirconia Screw Retained – $230
4G Dental Lab is also a full-service lab located in Texas. We’ve gotten excellent feedback from our clients that use them, for both quality of work and service. 4G’s pricing for members is also incredible. A few examples:
- Full/Solid Zirconia Crown – $53
- PFM Semi-Precious Crown – $79
And as we add the next few labs we’ll of course share the info with all members.
Fidelity Dental Lab is also a full-service lab located in Southern California. We’ve gotten great feedback from our clients that use them. Some examples of their pricing for members:
- Porcelain Fused to Metal, Non-Precious (nickel-free) – $50
- Full-metal White High Noble – $99
And as we add the next few labs we’ll of course share the info with all members.
The other members of the buying group as of this writing include:
- ADP Payroll, HR & Tax Services. ADP is one of the largest payroll services providers in the world, with a fantastic high-tech product. They are offering members a 25% discount on payroll services.
- Weave. Patient communication technology, including phone systems, call tracking, automated appointment reminders, online reviews, and more. Discount of $120 off the monthly fee.
- Viva Concepts. Internal marketing company. Discounts on internal marketing materials.
- Walser Wealth Management. Tax, investment and estate planning, as well as insurances. One client I know of not only saved $1000/year on their disability insurance with Walser Wealth but also got a policy where the premium stayed about the same for the years to come (i.e. it didn’t graduate from $3000 to $6000 as they continued in practice). It stayed at $3000/year for the rest of their career.
- PostcardMania. Provides post card marketing, direct mail and online marketing. Offers discounts on their services to members.
- Xpress Promotions. Mailing and websites services. Offers discounts to members on website design.
What’s Coming?
Obviously, we’re not just staying static with just these vendors. We’re literally going through every line item of a dental overhead and negotiating discounted rates for our members! In fact, we’re in negotiation with a number of them right now.
Currently we’re mid negotiations with:
- A payroll service company to get our members a 20% discount on payroll services. This deal should be done in the next two weeks. For the average dentist this is a $60-100 savings per month – $720-$1,200 a year!
- A patient reminder service (i.e. text and email reminders and so on).
- A patient financing company. Specifically, we’re working on a deal to lower the percentage a member loses when they finance a patient for treatment.
- An advanced clinical CE company – we’re working on tuition discounts for members.
- And as I mentioned above, we’re working on negotiations with several labs
Once we’ve solidified these deals, we’re moving on to working deals for discounts on equipment, lease negotiation, merchant services, office finance and funding, accounting services, and insurance fee negotiation – and more!
Our Vision
If as a group, we were to approach an insurance company – i.e. the entire MGE client base – thousands of doctors generating billions of dollars in revenue – we would carry a lot of weight!
And while we’re adding insurance negotiation as a service for members, this would not compare to what we could accomplish as a massive negotiating block. As this group grows, our vision is to go direct to the big insurance companies and get better fees for the entire membership base.
So that’s where we’re going in the future. You’ll be hearing more about the deals that are being negotiated in the future, especially as a member.
Joining DDS Overhead Management
So, what is the cost to become a member of DDS Overhead Management? We have to charge something as this is actually a separate company. It only serves the MGE client base, but is classified as a “Group Purchasing Organization,” that has certain reporting requirements, costs and administration involved.
The membership fee will be $249/month and potentially rising over time as we add more vendors and potential savings.
But we’re doing something special for the first 300 members to join the group. The special price for the first 300 members is just $139/month.
Full price: $249/month
Special price for the first 300 Power Clients to sign up: $139/month
This raises the question: if we sign up now for $139 per month, will that fee go up later? Not really. It may go up incrementally due to inflation, like Netflix or any subscription service. It may go up to $145 or $150, but ultimately you will be locked into that fee structure for a long time. Even as the group gets bigger and we add vendors, that will be your fee structure – which is why I’m only showing this to Power Clients first. I wanted to give our Power Client base the opportunity to take advantage of this offer before we actually marketed it to the entire MGE client base.
And from a value perspective, since we just launched, we don’t have a ton of metrics yet, but I can give you a little bit of anecdotal evidence. One particular member has four offices, one of which is HUGE – does $6 Million a year. Having such a large volume, they were already getting great deals from all the big suppliers and labs. They saved $5000 on their first two dental supply orders!
Another client with a supply spend of about $2200 a month just told me he saved $500 this month after becoming a member of the group!
So, you can see we’re talking about BIG savings!
So, there you have it.
How do you join? Two ways:
Or you can call us at (800) 640-1140 and ask for Amy Menkhaus or Adam Fuegel. You can also email them at AmyM@mgeonline.com or AdamF@mgeonline.com. They’ll get you signed up.
I hope you take advantage of this “First 300 Discount.” We did a soft launch at the Owner’s Conference last month, so some of those spots are already taken and the rest will go quick. So definitely contact Amy Menkhaus or Adam Fuegel today to sign up.
We spent a lot of time putting this together and we’re confident you’ll love the product. Our intention is to truly to save you a ton of money and level the playing field between you and corporate. We hope you enjoy it.