Lois Banta provides her expertise to dental practices, both large and small, through Banta Consulting, across the country and internationally. And as a highly sought-after speaker on the American Dental Association circuit, the Thomas P. Hinman Dental Meeting and other popular venues, Lois’ seminars are a must for every member of the dental team. Lois also has written monthly columns for Dental Practice Reports and has been a featured writer for the Dental Economics, Australian Dental Journal, Dentistry Today, AGD plus other numerous journals. Lois’ recently published book and DVD series “Secrets to Practice Success” is getting rave reviews. In 2016 Lois was named one of the Top 25 Women in Dentistry and received a Lifetime Achievement Award with AADOM.
Lois Banta is CEO, President, and Founder of Banta Consulting, Inc., a company that specializes in all aspects of dental practice management. Lois has over 40 years of dental experience and consults and speaks nationally and internationally. She is the owner and CEO of The Speaking Consulting Network, and a member of ADMC (Academy of Dental Management Consultants), NSA (National Speakers Association) and AADPA (American Academy of Dental Practice Administration).
Dr. Charles Blair is dentistry’s leading authority on insurance coding strategies, fee positioning, and strategic planning. He has individually consulted with thousands of practices, helping them identify and implement new strategies for increasing legitimate reimbursement. Dr. Blair’s extensive background and expertise makes him uniquely qualified to share his wealth of knowledge with the dental profession. A widely-read and highly-respected author and published, he currently offers several publications, Coding with Confidence, Administration with Confidents, Diagnostic Coding for Dental Claim Submission, Medical Dental Cross Coding with Confidence and the Insurance Solutions Newsletter. Also through his expertise, he founded Practice Booster which optimizes insurance administration and aids in maximizing reimbursement. He holds degrees in Accounting, Business Administration, Mathematics and Dental Surgery.
Wendy Briggs is a registered Dental Hygienist with more than 25 years of experience. For more than 16 years Wendy has helped thousands of dentists take control of their practice and uncover millions of dollars of unseen/untapped revenue by serving their patients at a higher level. Production is never the goal, it’s the result of taking great care of our patients. She has consulted with more than 3,718 dental practices in 12 countries. She is a published author who has been featured in virtually every dental publication and has lectured for and consulted with many of the top leaders is the industry. In addition to her managerial expertise, Wendy has one of the most highly regarded hygiene and Periodontal programs in the industry. Dental Service Organizations and privately owned practices soar when they adopt her protocol.
Mitch Brill is a founder and managing director of Altium Wealth Management, LLC . In addition to having practiced law, he has over 17 years of experience in the areas of securities, financial services, estate planning, and exit strategy planning for businesses and executive benefits. Prior to joining Altium, Mitch founded his own financial services firm, Elite Strategic Partners in 2003. In 1996, he began teaching wealth planning to financial advisors and continues to regularly lecture to professional organizations on the creation of efficient financial strategies and portfolios for both individuals and businesses. His legal background includes positions with the New York County District Attorney’s Office, New York State Attorney General’s Office, and the United States Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York. In 2007, Mitch published the first edition of this book, Keep It, Grow It, Enjoy It, Bestow It and is currently working on the second edition. Mitch holds a Master’s Degree in the Science of Financial Services and is both a Certified Financial Planner and a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy in addition to having earned his Juris Doctorate. He lives in New City, NY with his wife and three children.
Katherine Eitel Belt is Healthcare’s Unscripted Communication Coach! International keynote speaker, author, and coach, Katherine is best known for helping professionals develop phenomenal, non-scripted telephone and client communication skills, personal and professional greatness, and intuitive team leadership as well as train-the-trainer and executive speaker’s programs. With 30 years of experience, her training company, LionSpeak, helps hundreds of dental, veterinary, discretionary healthcare practices and corporate sales/executive teams achieve extraordinary results by communicating with greater clarity and inspiration. Her Lion Camp Leadership Experience in San Diego is a premier team retreat for professionals and healthcare teams nationwide. Katherine is a Spotlight-On-Speaking champion, National Speaker’s Association member, Speaking Consulting Network board member, past-president of the Academy of Dental Management Consultants, and recipient of the 2015 Linda Miles Spirit Award for contributions to the dental industry.
Andy Cleveland, “The Dental Accounts Receivable Ninja” has been in the Revenue cycle space for almost 20 years and has served a variety of capacities. He started working with dental practices on the collections floor motivating difficult patients to pay on everything from hygiene visits to full mouth restorations. Learning the business from the ground up he developed a proficiency in recovering lost revenues and rose to the top of his field. He realized his skill sets were better utilized working with clients so, he moved to the consulting and service side of the business where a greater impact could be made. Currently, he works with individual and group practices optimizing their patient accounts receivable process to ensure maximum profitability and patient retention. He also is the Sensei of DentalPracticeNinjas.com a free resource designed to help dentists find reputable partners to help with other crucial functions in their practices. He recently was interviewed on DentalTown, is a member of The Academy Of Dental Management Consultants (The ADMC) a speaker and networker that enjoys specializing in the dental field.
Patti DiGangi believes dentistry is no longer just about fixing teeth; dentistry is oral medicine. As a navigator and long-time clinician, she guides audiences through the rough waters of coding. Practices and practitioners are obligated to use the code that most accurately describes the treatment provided, even in a fee-service practice. Accurate coding can increase profitability and provide an important metric. This gives us the power to quickly arrive at data-driven decisions improving the oral-systemic health of our patients.
Her efforts have assisted thousands of professionals to code more accurately and efficiently. In fact, the American Dental Association recognized her expertise by inviting her to write a chapter in its CDT 2017 Companion book and again for CDT 2018 Companion. Patti holds publishing and speaking licenses with ADA for Current Dental Terminology©2017 and a license for SNODENT©2017 diagnostic coding.
Patti shares her insights and expertise through a book series called DentalCodeology –books of easily digestible stories about patients we see every day. In 2018 she released her 6th book CDT 2018 Shifts Metrics Driven and 7th book Teledentistry Pathway to Prosperity. Patti offers for continued learning and growth through her Dental Codeologist Member group and DentalCodeology Insurance Navigator online certification program.
Debra Engelhardt-Nash has been in dentistry over 25 years. She is a trainer, author, presenter and consultant. Debra has presented workshops nationally and internationally for numerous study groups and organizations. As a result of her work, she has had the honor of meeting amazing people and speaking in beautiful countries such as Peru, Sweden, Romania, England, Croatia, France, and Turkey. She is a repeat presenter for the American Dental Association, the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry and the Chicago Dental Society Midwinter Meeting. In 1990, based on the needs of her clients, Debra established an Office Manager’s Study Club in Portland, Oregon. She discontinued facilitating the group when she moved to Charlotte in 1994, but the Office Manager’s Study Club continues to meet and has expanded and flourished. Debra was a contributing editor for “Contemporary Esthetics and Restorative Practice” magazine, “Contemporary Dental Assistant” magazine and has written for a number of dental publications. She has been honored twice as author of the year for her contributions to dental journals. She was also an instructor for the Central Piedmont Community College Dental Assisting Program and a guest instructor for Medical College of Georgia School of Dentistry and Oregon Health Sciences University Continuing Dental Education. Debra is a founding member and served two terms as President of the National Academy of Dental Management Consultants. She is currently the Vice President/President-Elect for this organization. Debra is also a member of the American Academy of Dental Practice Administration. She has been repeatedly recognized by Dentistry Today as a Leader in Continuing Dental Education and a Leader in Dental Consulting. Because of her contributions to the industry of dentistry, Debra received the Kay Moser Distinguished Service Award given by the American Dental Assistants Association in 2008. It is their highest honor. She has also been chosen as one of the Top 25 Women in Dentistry for 2014 by Dental Products Report. She is the 2015 recipient of the Gordon Christensen Lecturer Recognition award presented by the Chicago Dental Society.
Lola Gazivoda is currently a Senior Relationship Manager – Vice President with M&T Bank’s Business and Professional Banking Group in Westchester County. Lola joined the M&T Westchester team in 2013 and has over 12 years of business banking experience. Previous to joining M&T Bank, Lola held other positions with Chase Bank & Capital One Bank.
Lola was born and raised in Albania and is very proud of her heritage and gets involved with many of that community’s nonprofits. She also gets involved with other nonprofits like March of Dimes & volunteers her time to help at the Bronx nonprofit “Grace Outreach” who serves low-income women of all ages pursue higher education.
She resides in Bedford with her husband John and their three children – Daniel 16, Nicoleta 13 and Julia who is 2.
David J Goodman, CPA, MST has worked with dentists and dental practices for over 25 years,. He has a unique perspective on dental practice management, taxes and finances, which he incorporates into his presentations to dental organizations. He has spoken to dental conferences around the country and presents annually at the Greater New York Dental Meeting. He has written articles on the business of dentistry for various publications including Dental Economics. David is managing director of Lawrence B Goodman and Co. located in Fair Lawn, NJ. For over 45 years, Lawrence B Goodman and Co has been providing tax, accounting and advisory services for dentists during all stages of their professional careers. David is a graduate of the A B Freeman School of Business at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA and received a Masters of Science in Taxation from Seton Hall University in South Orange, NJ. He is a member of the Academy of Dental CPAs, the New Jersey Society of CPAs and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Robert J. Gray is the founder and President of Gray Pilgrim and Associates, LLC, a firm dedicated to improving the quality of life and income for Dentists. In 1975 he graduated cum laude, having earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration/Accounting. Following college graduation, Mr. Gray worked as a consultant for American Medical-Dental Management Consultants, Inc., where he rose to Vice President in 1978. In 1979, he started his own firm. That firm is today known as Gray Pilgrim and Associates, LLC.
For over thirty years, Mr. Gray has assisted his clients with managing their practices, improving their financial success, and planning for the future. He was proud to be one of the founding members of the Academy of Dental CPA’s, a distinguished group of accountants who specialize in the dental profession.
Mr. Gray’s has lectured to dental teaching programs at several universities, state and regional dental societies and dental study clubs on issues related to both tax and practice management. He is one of the key instructors at the ADCPA week-long continuing education programs called “The Business of Dentistry” recently held in Aruba, St. Martin, St. Croix, Maui and Kauai. Mr. Gray is an instructor for Henry Schein’s Dental Business Institute, their Career Development Program and travels throughout the United States for regional seminars.
His specific knowledge of both practice management and clinical dentistry allows him to offer a unique perspective not often found among consulting or accounting firms. The ability to help clients achieve their goals is his ultimate focus.
Kevin Henry is the co-founder of IgniteDA.net, a community designed to empower, educate and enlighten dental assistants. Kevin is a nationally known speaker and author, using a wealth of knowledge he has gained since coming into the dental industry in 1999. He has served as the managing editor for Dental Economics and the group editorial director for Dental Products Report. He is also the founder of Dental Assisting Digest and Modern Dental Assistant. He was recently named as one of the top 5 influential voices in the dental industry on Twitter.
Bonnie Hixson, as the founder and publisher of the Progressive Dentist magazine, Bonnie is dedicated to helping strong clinicians and dental professionals build successful businesses where the best dental care can be delivered. Over the past twenty-two years, she has worked closely with dentists and teams to help them differentiate their practices, enhance the overall patient experience and improve practice profitability. Bonnie received the 2014 Enterprising Women of the Year Awards’ Honorable Mention and is a member of the American Society of Magazine Editors, The Association of Magazine Media and the National Association of Professional Women. As Executive Editor of the magazine, she works with business and dental industry experts to provide progressive insights on the business of dentistry. She is also one of the principles in the associated ProDentist Network where members enjoy geographic exclusivity and an open environment to explore and implement successful business trends and initiatives. Over the past twenty years, she has worked closely with hundreds of dentists and teams to help them build strong businesses using proven systems to enhance the overall patient experience and improve practice profitability.
Tim Irwin is the Vice President, Sales for Nordent Manufacturing, Inc. Mr. Irwin is co-inventor of the InstRenew® Sharpening Assistant (US patent 6,808,441 B2) and has more than 20 years experience in instrument manufacturing, design and maintenance. He lectures extensively throughout the United States on the sharpening and maintenance of dental hand instruments. Currently, Tim is the Vice President of Sales at Nordent Manufacturing, Inc. Tim manages all aspects of global sales and marketing, including 18 independent sales representatives, all domestic and international distributor and private label business and KOL relationships.
Bete Johnson, a 20-year sales, marketing and practice management veteran is currently, Senior Vice President of Strategic Partnerships for CareCredit. She has been a core part of the CareCredit team for over 15 years and was recognized as one of the top twenty-five women in Dentistry. Bete’s engagement with dental professionals including consultants, associations, practices, dental suppliers and provides the opportunity to network and create new relationships that benefit the dental profession.
Abe Kasbo is Founder and CEO of Verasoni Worldwide, a marketing and public relations firm with offices in Montclair, NJ and Austin, Texas. The firm delivers integrated marketing, public relations, advertising, and digital strategies across channels to clients in the US, Europe, The Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Verasoni Worldwide’s clients include Georgia-Pacific, Colgate, Henry Schein, AECOM, NeoGraft, Nobel Biocare, Montauk Financial, Raritan Bay Medical Center, Hurley Medical Center, and Integrated Healing Technologies. Abe serves as an advisor to CEOs and C-Suite executives on communications, branding, and public relations strategies. He is a sought-after speaker nationally and internationally. He has spoken at the Swedish American Life Sciences Summit in Stockholm, Sweden and the #140 Conference Montreal in Montreal, Canada. Mr. Kasbo has been featured in The New York Times, Institutional Investor, PBS/Chicago, The National, The Record, The Star-Ledger, FOX, WOR, New Jersey Monthly, AM970 The Answer, and NJBiz, Journal of Hospital Contracting, Becker’s Hospital Review, as well as international media outlets in Europe and the Middle East. Mr. Kasbo is Chairman of Verasoni Ventures, which incubates and advises startups in healthcare and financial business services, including his latest company, Biztourage.com. In 2015, Mr. Kasbo was recognized as Economic Bridge Builder of Year by the Governor and Legislative Branch of the State of Michigan – Wayne County in Michigan also bestowed the same honor. He is the founder of OnlyOneToothBrush.com – a philanthropic effort aimed to bring 200,000 toothbrushes to support the oral health of Syrian refugees in Germany, Canada and the United States. Mr. Kasbo holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and International Relations from Seton Hall University.
Steven Kizy is a forward-thinking, warm-hearted leader with enough wherewithal and vision to drive his company, Midway Dental, to the national stage. At the age of 14, he started his first business in his father’s convenience store in Detroit selling cell phones. What started out as a curious 14-year old’s project for side-cash has become the basis for an entrepreneurial spirit that enables Midway to disrupt the market and provide exceptional support to dentists. His brother and sisters who practice dentistry have seen the worst in dental supply and encouraged him to bring that change to the industry. While attending Wayne State University, Steven met his wife, Bianca Kizy, an ophthalmologist. In 2019 they welcomed the newest addition to their family, beautiful Isabelle, who is 5 months as of June. They share a genuine love for family—including their 22 nephews and nieces who all look up to them with adoration. It is Steven’s love of family that has given him the ability to craft such a tight-knit, family-like culture at his company. As such, it was natural for him to assume the CEO role at Midway in 2016. Since taking the helm, Steven has opened six new markets and has built a unique culture with his team that is new to the dental environment. His horizontal management system enables key team members to effect micro-to-macro level agendas at Midway with an unmatched degree of adaptivity. Midway has grown north of 100% in the trailing twelve months, and he has personally received awards for excellence and performance with Inc. 5000, 30 in their Thirties, and NDC member of the year, to name a few.
Dr. Matthew Krieger graduated from New Jersey Dental School in 1998. He started his practice in 2003 from scratch and built it to a full time practice in just one year. Despite one of our country’s most significant recessions, Dr. Krieger has collected more than one million dollars, in 3.5 days per week, in each of the last six years, with 30% growth. Last year he collected over $1,400,000. He has maintained an overhead of 57%, and has done all of this while participating with PPO Insurance plans. He is the founder and CEO of Million Dollar PPO, a dental practice management coaching and consulting firm. He lectures on practice management, CAD/CAM dentistry, and is a highly effective clinical/efficiency coach. He is an active member of the ADA, AGD, AACD, ACE, and the Crown Council and earned over 600 hours in continuing education in all aspects of clinical dentistry and practice management.
Robert Malandruccolo joined the Practice Solutions(Dental Division) line of business in March 2013 as an Area Manager covering New York and New Jersey. In 2014 Robert was promoted to Regional Business Development Officer and services Dental clients seeking financing for Projects, Additional locations, Acquisitions, Equipment, and Commercial Real Estate purchases. Robert has over 14 years in the dental industry and formal educational background in Finance/Economics from St. Johns University.
Linda Miles, CSP, CMC, is an internationally recognized consultant, speaker, and author on dental practice andstaff development. Linda is a successful businesswoman who not only founded LLM& A, a leading INC 500 dental management consulting firm in 1978; but also founded the Speaking Consulting Network in 1997. She sold those two businesses in 2007 and 2010 to devote more time to Co-founding the Oral Cancer Cause (OCC) in 2013. In 2016 Linda CoFounded with Dr. Tanya Brown, ULTIMATE TEAM MASTERY, an online virtual classroom program. Linda has spoken in all 50 states and on four continents, authored four books and mentored many other dental consultants.
Eric Nuss is the Director of Business Development at North American Dental Group (NADG). In his current role, he identifies and acquires practices and groups to merge into the NADG. He is also tasked with associate retention programs including development of a business education program launching soon.
Previously Eric worked for Henry Schein Dental where he served as the Director of Business Solutions and Consulting. He was responsible for building and managing a portfolio of distributed Dental Business services including business education, consulting and services including Practice Analysis, 360˚ Practice Development, Consulting Services and business services through a network of national consulting partners and service providers.
He also contributed to the education of the sales force in the US through a series of courses called “Career Development”– training the sales force on business concepts in dentistry. In addition, Eric created a revolutionary program called the Dental Business institute, a program for entrepreneurial Dentists.
Eric has also been involved in education in one form or another since 2000. He has taught a wide range of students- from adolescent’s to adult professionals in a variety of settings delivering an equally varied subject matter. Eric completed his MBA at the University of Iowa in Business Administration in 2012 and is using that knowledge to support the dental profession at large with increased business acumen.
Adele Reische of Synergy Practice Management brings a unique blend of training, support and insight to her clients, coaching them through the shift from surviving to thriving. With over 30 years of experience in dentistry, management, and speaking, Adele rallies the troops to action, engaging everyone on the dental team as they work together to effect positive change and growth for the entire practice.
Adele is the Director of Member Relations of the prestigious Speaking Consulting Network (SCN) and is also a graduate of The Consulting U, a masters training, and continuing education program specifically for dental practice management consultants. Adele is an active member of the Academy of Dental Management Consultants, The American Academy of Dental Office Managers as well as a Certified Consultant in Employment Law and is the Director of Provider Affiliations with The Allana Smiles Foundation.
Allen Schiff is the managing member of Schiff & Associates, LLC (S&A). Prior to forming S&A, Allen was a partner with Smart & Associates (formerly Grabush, Newman) for 30 years and was their practice leader for dental practice management services. Allen has over 35 years of experience in the areas of dental practice management. Allen’s services include business planning to include obtaining financing, succession planning, exit strategies and long-range planning. Allen has assisted dentists with practice acquisitions, start-ups, operational analysis and associate contract analysis.
Jennifer Schultz has spent over 20 years working in and with dental practices as a hygienist, trainer and consultant. Jennifer has always been passionate about efficiency and productivity, and founded Virtual Dental Office to help practices save time on insurance training and tasks. Jennifer then developed The Achievement Blueprint, an online program that helps dental teams get things done, communicate easily and hold one another accountable.
Dr. Roy Shelburne, an honor graduate from VCU’s Dental school, opened a private general practice in Pennington Gap, Virginia in 1981. In 2008, he surrendered his dental license to practice dentistry after being convicted of healthcare fraud and was sentenced to 24 months in Federal Prison. Now a subject matter expert for the ADA and a nationally known speaker, writer, and consultant, Dr. Shelburne candidly shares his mistakes, his experiences, what he learned as a result, and how to avoid the same life altering experience. His goal? To increase legitimate reimbursement while reducing risk and to keep you out of prison.
Adrienne Twigg is an HR and employment compliance specialist with Bent Ericksen & Associates. As Bent Ericksen & Associates’ Henry Schein Dental liaison, Adrienne provides educational programs, training and human resource services to dental professionals. Adrienne has presented to dental students and residents at Vanderbilt, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and Memphis, the University Alabama at Birmingham, and the University of Louisville Dental Schools and Colleges. She also partners with Henry Schein Dental, Patterson Dental and Nashville Dental, speaking to their clients and doctors on Human Resources, Personnel and Employment Compliance issues in support of greater “people success”. In addition to her Human Resources knowledge and expertise, Adrienne also holds a Certification in Drake P3, an online talent management system that uses an assessment instrument, including an Emotional Intelligence component, to help employers hire and manage high-performing employees. She is a member and past Membership Director of the Miami Valley Medical Group Management Association; is a member of the American Association of Dental Office Managers, the American Academy of Dental Group Practices, the Academy of Dental Management Consultants, Speaking Consulting Network, and the Society for Human Resource Management.
Tim Twigg is the President of Bent Ericksen & Associates. Bent Ericksen & Associates has been the leading authority in human resources and personnel management in the healthcare industry, helping dentists successfully deal with the ever-changing and complex labor laws. Tim brings over 30 years of practice management and business consulting experience and knowledge specifically in the healthcare field. Tim’s expertise extends to leadership and business development, strategic planning and marketing, and communication skills. He has presented seminars nationally on practice management, human resources, and employment compliance. Tim is a published author and currently co-authors a regular column in Dental Economics entitled: “Staff Issues”. He is part of the management faculty and/or speakers’ bureau for: Career Fusion, Seattle Study Club, Hygiene Fusion, Jameson Management, and LVI Global. Tim is the past president of and a member of the Academy of Dental Management Consultants and a member of the Speaking Consulting Network. He is a member of the Society for Human Resources Management and VetPartners, the professional consulting association for the veterinary industry.