Will the COVID-19 Pandemic Be The Demise Private Equity Owned and Operated Dental Chains?
Updated: March 21. 2020
With the COVID-19 Virus hitting every industry hard, and Wall Street crumbling, what will happen to places such as Heartland Dental, Aspen Dental, Kool Smiles, and the host of other dental chains across America that are backed by Private Equity firms and various other types of investors?
Rumor has it that Immiadent, operated by Samson Dental Partners, LLC, has closed the doors to many, if not all, of their offices. As of today, their website shows only 12 offices still open, that's down from 33. However, I'm told that they closed several and were going to rebrand using the name Bright Tiger Dental until about the time the COVID-19 hit, then suddenly, they fired all employees and closed the doors to all their clinics. This has not been verified.
In 2018 Samson and Immiadent agreed to pay $5.1 million to settle claims that it improperly billed Indiana’s Medicaid program as well as breaking Indiana law that forbids nondental managers from compromising clinical judgments by
rewarding or punishing dental staff based on productivity measures. Samson Dental Partners and their Immediadent offices were located in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio.
I suspect we will be seeing more headlines as the one below in the coming months. However, during the first stage I suspect there will be more pressure on working dentists to overtreat as the chains try to stay afloat. I'll be watching.
The Signature Smiles dental office in Garden Oaks.Nothing seemed amiss on Jan. 17, when Amanda Leal took her two
daughters to the Signature Smiles dental office in Garden Oaks. The
Candlelight Estates resident said she joked with some of the employees
there after her girls had their checkups, and then Leal made
appointments for the following month.
Three days later, however, she got an email saying the office was non-operational.
“I’m just flabbergasted,” Leal said.
Several other Northwest Houston residents have had similar reactions
since the local Signature Smiles office, located at 3800 N. Shepherd
Dr., Suite 3A, abruptly closed Jan. 20. The business provided no
warning, according to multiple patients, and some said they aren’t sure
whether they can continue to receive treatment from the doctors who
worked there or recoup payments they made for services that have yet to
be provided.