Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the
Semi-Day Dental Podcast.
We're here to provide youexpert insights on how dentistry
can improve your quality oflife and extend your health span
.
I'm Alex Semi-Day and I'm apracticing dentist, and I'll be
your host, along with JeremyWolf.
Enjoy the show, Welcome.
Welcome to the newest episodeof the Semi-Day Dental Podcast,
(00:24):
Jeremy.
Today we have an amazing showon hand man.
I'm super excited to introducethe doctors at Awaken Health,
Drs Florencia Goluboff and DrMichelle Benjamin.
Welcome to the show, guys.
It's an honor to have you here.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Thanks for having us.
We're very excited.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
So, doctors.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
I deal, as you know,
with a lot of small businesses
in the local community, and oneof the things that I've
experienced in speaking to smallbusiness owners is there is a
lack of health insurance fortheir employees.
Owning a small business andrunning a small business can be
very, very challenging.
There's a lot of things to do,and one of those is insurance,
(01:08):
and one of those is insurance.
You guys have come up with apretty interesting model that
you wanted to share today, socan you explain I don't know who
wants to take the lead here canyou explain what DCC Benefits
is and how it was developed tomeet the needs of small
businesses?
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Yeah, no, absolutely.
Dcc Benefits was a jointventure between Semide Dental
and Awaken Health to reallysolve the problem of accessible
and affordable benefits packagesfor small businesses.
This was this.
This kind of came as the resultof.
Both Awaken Health and SemideDental were members of the Davie
(01:41):
Cooper City Chamber of Commerceand we both have access to care
plans that are very similar ina membership plan type approach.
And you know we are part of theChamber of Commerce and our
Chamber of Commerce brethren,right Like.
We talk about how difficult itis to get good benefits packages
(02:06):
for our employees.
That's going to improveattraction and retention of our
talent, right.
So we decided to combine forcesand, through this benefits plan
, offer a really comprehensivebenefits package that includes
access to medical care anddental care at a very affordable
(02:27):
rate.
You know typical plans willcost an employer $450 to $550 a
month per employee when theyoffer benefits, and our plan
comes in at $100 a month and theemployer gets to choose how
much of that they subsidize fortheir employees.
(02:47):
So we're very excited to bringthis to our local community and
really help other smallbusinesses out, because we're
small businesses too, right.
So we get how difficult it isto offer those types of
incentives.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Very, very
interesting.
I'm curious, though, becauseobviously many businesses
already have insurance grouphealth plans in place, many
don't, and obviously it'simportant for employee retention
and to keep your staff happy byhaving good benefits for them.
Is this like what's the targetideal audience for this program?
(03:26):
Is this specifically gearedtowards those companies that
have absolutely no insurance inplace currently, or is it also a
benefit to companies thatalready have group plans in
place?
Can you talk a little bit aboutthe distinction between
traditional health group plansand this new service you're
offering?
Speaker 4 (03:45):
Yeah, so yes, ideally
it's going to be targeting
those small businesses who, youknow, financially weren't able
to originally provide theiremployees with a benefits
package.
So that's kind of our idealniche customer.
But we're also presenting it toreally, you know, small, even
(04:07):
medium-sized employers that arelooking to also save money and
who are in the area as well.
You know, this is obviouslymore of a local target because
we are here located in the DavieCooper City area.
So we are, you know, looking ata local target, but usually
(04:28):
small to medium sized businesseswho either have something in
place already and are looking to, you know, find something more
affordable and higher quality,or who don't have anything at
all and would like to startoffering their employees
benefits.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
And Dr Benjamin, I
really I wanna piggyback on
something you just said there.
For a lot of places they offerbenefits but they are
disappointed with the quality ofcare they're receiving for the
tremendous amount of money thatthey're paying, right?
So I would love for you guys totake a minute and discuss your
(05:05):
model, discuss the directprimary care, because it's
beautiful.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Direct primary care,
or short for DPC, is a new
nationwide movement here inSouth Florida.
It's pretty new and we're luckythat we knew about it and we
started this.
It pretty much gives affordable, accessible, personalized care
to patients.
So with this plan they havefull access to the medical
(05:37):
doctor.
They can be seen right away.
If they're sick.
We try to see our patientswithin 24, 48 hours.
There's no wait time when youcome see us.
There's no rushing through thevisit.
You know you're seen.
You're not a number.
We get to really know you andhelp you.
It's all about prevention, it'sall about optimizing health,
(05:59):
but if you're sick we also seeyou that day.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
And we try to.
And the key with direct primarycare, what kind of
differentiates us from, say, aconcierge type practice, which
most people have heard ofconcierge medicine is really the
price tag that comes along withit.
So you know, obviously in theemployee benefits package it's
100 including both, but we tryto keep the price point low
(06:23):
versus concierge medicine Prettymuch.
We offer the same quality ofcare and the level of care but
at a much more affordable price.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Concierge care that
doesn't break the bank.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
So you mentioned, you
guys mentioned it's $100 a
month for the plan to enroll,but you also, dr Alex, you
talked about customizing thebenefits.
Talk a little bit, if you could, alex, first about what's
basically included under the$100 and how the plan kind of
covers additional things thatmaybe aren't encompassed under
the plan, and then also a littlebit about the customization of
(06:59):
the benefits.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Yeah, absolutely the
customization of the benefits.
Yeah, absolutely.
So that's one of the one of thekey components of this benefits
package, right?
Is that the employer gets tosubsidize all or nothing of this
, right?
So the the basic cost is ahundred dollars per employee and
that gives you access to awakenhealth as your primary care
physician and somebody dental asyour dentist.
(07:21):
We something that that Doc saidearlier that I really loved is
that a key difference of AwakenHealth, and something that
Semire Dental takes a lot ofpride in too, is just how much
time we take with people.
People aren't kind of rushed inthrough our offices like just
being another number.
So this isn't a package that isjust based on low cost.
(07:47):
It's really like you're gettingpremier medical and dental
services for you and youremployees.
So, again, it's $100 a month.
Employer gets to decide howmuch of that they want to cover.
We deal directly with employees.
So once we enroll the businessinto the DCC benefits plan, then
we deal directly with employees.
(08:08):
So that's one less HR headachethe employer has to deal with
After that.
So as far as I'll let thedoctors talk about the medical
services that are included inthe plan I'll touch a little bit
about.
On the dental side.
With the plan you havebasically all of your preventive
dentistry included.
You have two cleanings a year,you have your fluoride
(08:30):
treatments, all of your checkups, your oral cancer screening is
done every year, your fullcheckup, x-rays, CT scans
whatever we have to do from apreventive and diagnostic
standpoint is fully covered withthe plan.
Then, on top of that, youreceive 30% off any and all of
(08:50):
our services, whether that issomething necessary like a
filling or a crown, or somethingthat is necessary for other
reasons like deniers orwhitening.
That 30% is applicable acrossthe board, with an additional
$500 off Invisalign services.
So it's a very, verycomprehensive dental benefits
package, and I'll let thedoctors talk a little bit about
(09:11):
how the medical side of it works.
Speaker 4 (09:16):
So essentially, with
the medical benefits, the
employees will have their annualcheckup and basically it covers
all of our office visits, sothere's really no limitations on
how many times the employee cansee us.
However many times they need usis however many times they see
(09:38):
us.
So it's open access.
A part of the direct primarycare model is improving access
to cares, so they also havedirect access to us via text and
phone and we usually canrespond within 24 to 48 hours,
and we usually can respondwithin 24 to 48 hours.
And then we also offeredtremendous discounts on
(10:01):
laboratory and diagnostictesting.
So you know, there is apotential that people can choose
to get some kind of like asecondary insurance to cover the
catastrophic things and whatnot.
In that case we can run labsand diagnostic imaging through
insurance.
If not, we do get big discounts, so we can save a lot of money
(10:24):
when it comes to paying forthose costs as well.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
We also want to make
it convenient for the patients
and the employers.
We draw blood here in office soyou don't have to go to another
appointment to get your labsdone.
But we can also offer if wehave a group we can even go to
their office and run everyone'slab that day.
So it's convenient for everyone.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
It takes time, yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
All good stuff.
One of the things thatimpresses me kind of, as a
bystander looking from theoutside in at both your
practices, what you're doing.
Obviously I love the directprimary care model.
I think that anytime you have adirect line into your
healthcare provider it gives youan added sense of security and
a peace of mind.
And I know, dr Alex, over atyour practice nobody likes to
(11:15):
say this all the time tongue incheek, right, nobody likes going
to the dentist and there'snothing worse than getting to a
practice and there's this kindof medical setting and
everything's sterilized and itjust can be very uncomfortable.
One of the things that you doat your practice is create a
warm, welcoming environment foryour patients that not only hits
them when they come in the doorbut extends throughout the
(11:36):
relationship that you build withyour patients so that when
somebody comes into your officethey feel very, very comfortable
being there, which is a hugething when you're going to the
dentist, you know.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
It is.
It is, you know, regardless ofwhat medical setting you're
walking into, there's alwaysfears and apprehensions that are
associated right.
So it's important for us totake those things into account
and be sensitive to those things.
And that's one of the thingsthat really, when we were at the
initial stages and ideas forthis partnership, really kind of
(12:10):
attracted us to Awaken Health,in that they have a very similar
philosophy.
Right, it is a.
Every detail is taken intoaccount.
Right From the moment you walkinto the office you feel like
these are practitioners that payattention to the details and
are working really hard to getit right.
(12:31):
So it's a very excitingpartnership and we really hope
that it can solve a lot ofissues for small businesses
around our community.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Yeah, very excited to
see this new model launch for
you guys.
How can our listeners learnmore about this?
Any business owner out therethat finds themselves intrigued
by this idea that's looking forbenefits to give their employees
, what's the best way for themto learn more and reach out to
you guys to get enrolled?
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Yeah, so they can
find all the information on the
plan through dccbenefitscom.
That's dccbenefitscom.
It'll be in the show notes too,so they can just click on that
and I'll let the doctors talkabout how they can contact your
office.
They can contact either officeto get started with the plan.
Speaker 4 (13:17):
We'll, we'll, we'll
work things out yeah, and best
way to reach us is, you know,really anyway, uh, by phone, so
or text, or email, and we'll getback to you all right, sounds
good yeah we.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
We will course drop a
link down below in the
description to all theinformation, the website contact
information, so you guys canreach out and learn more.
Guys, always a pleasure, lovewhat you're doing in the
community.
Keep up the great work offeringtrue value for our community.
So thanks for what you're doing, guys.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
Thanks.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Jeremy.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
Thanks Alex, thanks
Alex.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Thanks Awakened
Health and keep smiling folks.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
Everyone take care.
All right, bye-bye, bye.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Thanks for tuning in
to this episode of the Seminary
Dental Podcast.
We hope you enjoyed the show.
Don't forget to subscribe,leave a review and follow us on
social media for the latestepisodes.
You can find us at SemideDental.
If you have any questions, feelfree to reach out.
We're always happy to help.
Until then, keep smiling andstay curious.