Think beyond “quick fix” staffing to improve long-term recruitment, retention, and patient access to care.
Traditional temporary staffing solutions may fill a short-term need—but a consistent, contingent labor workforce can maximize capacity for existing operatories, flex to address evolving patient needs, and encourage long-term resilience and growth.
Acquisition, new builds, and capacity expansion: What’s the most strategic growth option for DSOs?
In the rapidly evolving landscape of dental care, dental service organization (DSO) leaders are confronted with a critical dilemma: how to most effectively grow revenue while mitigating risk. Should they acquire existing practices through due diligence, accurate valuation, and successful integration of leadership and staff? Should they invest time and money into new build-outs— which require capital-intensive site selection, construction, permitting, and hiring of new staff?
Could it simply be less risky—and more cost effective—to increase capacity within their existing practices?
Many DSO leaders do see the opportunity to expand operations wherever they may have under-utilized operatories or additional time slots on evenings and weekends. However, these opportunities are frequently hindered by staffing limitations, or the fact that existing full-time employees often do not want to take on these additional shifts. This brings to the forefront one emerging strategy for effective capacity expansion: contingent labor.
How dental practices use contingent labor to tackle staffing challenges
Temporary staffing once served as a mere stopgap to ensure continued production during employee absences. These days, it’s increasingly recognized for its ability to enhance flexibility and boost productivity in unused operatories during non-peak hours.
With access to vetted, trained, and W-2 compliant staff—who are willing to work as little as a single shift or as much as three to four days a week—practices can create more sophisticated staffing plans that fill the gaps, increase appointment availability for patients, and capture production with just a few new investments in operating overhead. This approach evolves temporary staffing into a more flexible and sustainable staffing strategy—one that relies on a contingent labor workforce that can regularly fill staffing needs for the long haul, without running afoul of any contract labor laws or regulations.
Investing in a mutually beneficial relationship: recruitment, retention, and employee value
Recruiting and retaining skilled staff (particularly hygienists) remains a significant undertaking; according to a recent study by the ADA Health Policy Institute, 88% of practices describe this task as “extremely challenging.” Issues of training shortcomings, salary dissatisfaction, and burnout are pervasive, with over a third of dentists feeling overworked. To address these challenges, DSOs must invest in their staff—and demonstrate how an employee’s value is inextricably linked to personal career development.
High-retention practices support their teams through training on new technologies and the creation of work environments where staff feel
genuinely valued. Yet temporary staff members are often left out of these retention efforts, though they experience the same issues of dissatisfaction and burnout when they feel undervalued or overwhelmed.
For every single place of employment, temporary dental workers must become deeply familiar with unique cultural and behavioral dynamics, the objectives and priorities of the business, the collection of tools and software, and ways to effectively contribute to the success of the practice. (This applies even when a temporary staff member works only sporadically for a practice.) When practice owners and managers acknowledge this reality—and choose to see “temps” as a consistent, contingent labor force worth investing in, both the practice and the dental professional will see significant growth.
Flexibility, stability, and increased access to care: The industry trends that point to contingent labor
Trends in the landscape highlight the necessity for DSOs to embrace more flexible staffing models that effectively meet both operational demands and patient expectations. A contingent labor model is particularly relevant for today’s workforce (ranging from students to long-serving professionals) — which increasingly values flexible employment that offers the stability of healthcare benefits, paid time off (PTO), and a predictable workload. Labor-compliant part-time roles not only accommodate these needs; they also mitigate patient cancellations and help manage the ever-fluctuating schedules of dental practices—ultimately protecting practices from lost revenue.
Contingent labor also addresses the needs of the patient community, which now demands shorter wait times, greater adaptability to their schedules, and more convenient appointment slots. As of March 2024, the average wait time for an initial appointment stood at 14.6 days. A contingent labor force can close this gap in access to care by opening up capacity for available production, or by taking on evening and weekend time frames.
With a contingent labor strategy, practices can respond to the growing demand for more dynamism in scheduling—increasing production for the practice, flexibility and stability for the dental professional, and access to care for the patient.
Successfully implementing a contingent labor strategy
At onDiem, we’ve made it a best practice to regularly collaborate with the leadership of the most successful DSOs in the country. It’s how our team can best understand the internal objectives and communication challenges DSO leaders face when optimizing staffing for production potential.
“I can’t confidently count on my area managers to give me an accurate perspective on who’s available to work, and when,” one executive told us. “I know my team members are taking additional shifts on temporary staffing platforms. I know they’d be willing to work in more flexible ways if I only had insight into their availability.”
This conversation, among others, helped us understand a key component of a successful contingent labor strategy: Practice managers must have accurate insight into when dental professionals are willing and able to work. Our team responded by developing the onDiem availability calendar—a platform feature that not only records a professional’s availability to work, but also dynamically updates a practice’s open shift calendar to optimize for the most effective and productive staffing mix. The same executive is now looking at ways to take advantage of our platform for their entire staff—not just for insight into overall availability, but also to take advantage of a cost-controlled way to ensure W-2 compliance and provide employee benefits such as health insurance and PTO.
How organizational leaders can start gaining the benefits of a contingent labor workforce:
1. REVIEW CURRENT ORGANIZATIONAL NEEDS.
Understand your existing staffing strategy to find the right contingent labor solution.
2 .DE-RISK BY GRASPING 1099 V. W-2 DISTINCTIONS.
Hiring a 1099 worker as an “easy fix” can lead to a costly, long-term headache. Turn to leading partners on this topic such as onDiem to navigate complexities and mitigate risk.
3. IDENTIFY YOUR BEST INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL PARTNERS.
Traditional temporary staffing platforms are not always built for long-term staffing needs. Use an external partner who thinks beyond their own business value and invests in yours.
4. CREATE A COMMUNICATION STRATEGY FOR YOUR REGIONAL AND PRACTICE MANAGERS.
When they clearly understand the value of contingent labor, managers can help communicate needs and objectives at the staffing level.
5. COMMUNICATE YOUR PRODUCTION AND BUSINESS GOALS IN YOUR KEY MARKETS.
A platform like onDiem will assess your business goals in order to connect you with qualified professionals in your markets on and off platform.
Dispelling the myth: Contingent labor is expensive.
When comparing hourly rates with traditional temp staffing in mind, platforms such as onDiem, which focus on providing a contingent labor workforce, may appear to be a more expensive solution. However, the daily cost of our contingent labor is comparable to what a DSO would pay their own employee. After factoring in fringe benefits—including but not limited to healthcare benefits, PTO, and state & federal taxes, the daily rate for onDiem is within 5% of a fully loaded W-2 employee.
The real benefit for practices within a DSO comes from the incremental production driven by a supplemental workforce. A contingent workforce solution such as onDiem can foster a consistent and dependable professional community within your practices, forge mutually beneficial relationships between practice management and staff, and allow for increased productivity and satisfaction for all. Reducing vulnerability to sick days, vacations, and run-of-the-mill employee turnover with reliable contingent labor will drive an optimized dental practice.
Contingent labor: the key to successful staffing and DSO growth
As DSOs navigate the complexities of growth and market potential, the key to their success is within their ability to staff in more sophisticated and dynamic ways. By leveraging contingent labor solutions in response to new industry trends and demands, DSOs can ensure sustainable growth and continued excellence in patient care. The future of DSOs will depend significantly on their ability to integrate these staffing dynamics into their operational strategy.
Executive Summary
- By embracing contingent labor, DSOs can gain a workforce that grows revenue and expands capacity while mitigating risk.
- To successfully implement a contingent labor strategy, invest in your supplemental workforce and in solutions that give accurate insight into staff availability.
- Contingent labor addresses key industry trends: the professional’s demand for flexible employment with comprehensive benefits, and the patient’s need for improved access to care.
- The incremental production driven by a contingent labor workforce outweighs the cost of implementation—and leads to long-term business value.
Connect with a member of the onDiem team.
