Emily Vanney on Blending Patient Care and Organizational Leadership

In this episode of The Dental Economist Show, host Mike Huffaker sits down with Emily Vanney, chief operating and clinical officer at United Dental Partners.

Join them as they discuss: 

• Pediatric dentistry
• Blending patient care and organizational leadership
• How to recognize and retain talent
• Implementing AI tools and innovative dental products
• The future of dentistry 

Emily Vanney is the chief operating and clinical officer at United Dental Partners, a dental support organization providing dental services across Illinois and Indiana, and has over a decade of clinical experience. After joining United Dental Partners in 2017, she worked as Quality Officer, Director of Clinical Development, and Senior Vice President of Clinical Affairs. Emily is also a general dentist at All Family Dental and Braces Oak Lawn. 

Episode Highlights 

Key Components to Pediatric Dentistry Success: Emily stresses that the key is to make children feel cared for. What’s more, since children don’t mask their emotions as well as adults, their responses to treatment, whether positive or negative, provide an immediate guide for dentists to adjust their approach—this means they can learn quickly. Emily notes that having fun is also important when it comes to pediatric dentistry.

Hiring Practices: When hiring for pediatric dentistry, Emily says she looks for doctors that are open-minded and willing to try new things. Since many do not receive a lot of pediatric training in dental school, Emily needs doctors who are willing to step out of their comfort zone, and be open to mentorship training and coaching. Emily also tries to find out about a potential hire’s emotional maturity—how they deal with frustration, difficult patients, or challenging coworkers—since this may be tested when dealing with children and parents.

Patient Care and Business Growth: Emily says that patient care is at the root of any dental business success. She says that once “we’re taking great care of our patients”, then “the business side will follow”. That said, Emily stresses that effective patient care can only be achieved once doctors receive the right operation support, the right equipment, and benefit from a productive workplace culture. Patient care all comes down to getting “those pieces to fit together”.

Looking Toward the Future: Emily shares her excitement about future clinical advancements, focusing on technology and its impact on diagnosis and patient experience in pediatric dentistry. Although pediatric dentistry doesn’t always have access to the latest gadgets that general or specialty dentistry might do, she welcomes the use of AI in radiographs, and automation improvements in revenue cycle management.