Interview with Green Chamber Member: Direct Dental Administrators

In a recent conversation with John Cunningham, DDS, President of Direct Dental Administrators, he shared his philosophy on how transparency and honesty are the foundation for a sustainable business…

LL:  How did the idea for Direct Dental first come about?

JC: I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area and went to UCSF Dental school where I became very aware that San Francisco is a thought leader when it comes to building transformative business practices that benefit the greater good. Early on in my career I became very involved with the American Dental Association as a national spokesperson for the value of self-funded dental plans to improve patient benefits and save money for employers. As a practicing dentist in Marin, I was seeing that patients with quality dental plans maintained better health and were more likely to complete dental care necessary to remain healthy.  And it has been proven that oral health has a powerful impact on heart health and overall immune system functioning–keeping clean teeth and gums translates into far more than looking good from the outside, it can save your life!

Unfortunately, many of the dental insurance plans available were full of exclusions, limitations and restrictions that passed costs onto the patient.  Working with the American Dental Association and the California Dental Association, I became a leading advocate for improved dental benefit plans that put more premium dollars into patient care and eliminated the high profit margins found in traditional plans.  These principles of “putting the money where the mouth is” lead to the formation of Direct Dental Administrators and our tagline of Simple. Honest. Benefits.

LL:  Why did you decide it was important to incorporate sustainability into your business practices?

JC: As stated above, our mission was always based on improving health through more efficient use of benefit dollars.  Our plans always returned all excess funds to the employer every year that claim experience was favorable — as often as nine years out of 10 for many plans.  We adopted the idea of “sustainable benefits” because we found that once a client adopted one of our plans, they stayed with it because it worked well and improved employee health.  Sustainability has been in our DNA for quite some time, so joining other like-minded businesses was a natural progression for us.

LL:  What does sustainability look like to you?

JC: In our plans, sustainability is manifest as Simple. Honest. Benefits.  Our simple plan designs have more efficient use of plan dollars to drive the most dollars into patient care.  Returning excess dollars and transparency of how the plan funds were used supported our mission of Honesty.   And sponsoring plans that fit the needs of each client to improve health of their employees and their families brings a real “benefit” to that company.  We are also very committed to our nonprofit community and donate back to our many nonprofit accounts with money and employee time–where they are paid to be a part of helping our community thrive through volunteerism.

LL:  Did you face any obstacles along the path to becoming a sustainable business and what challenges do you still face?

JC: Of course we are always challenged by big insurance companies who dominate the marketplace and do not comply with sustainable practices or transparent plan designs.  The insurance industry is full of wasteful practices and we needed to upset the status quo while remaining competitive.  Becoming a sustainable business was easy.  Being a smaller company, we could get everyone on board and grow into an efficient sustainable business.  We continually meet to review best practices and develop innovative practices.

LL:  Can you tell us more about specific sustainable business methods that Direct Dental practices?

JC: We have developed a practice of eliminated paper reporting whenever possible.   We are initiating a full web based portal for connection with clients, dentists and patients.  Internally, we have eliminated most of our paper and use the electronic methods of data storage that is efficient.  We also do the usual recycling, online meetings, and providing sustainable wages and benefits to our employees.

LL:  What advice do you have for other businesses who are trying to adopt green business models?

JC: Small steps will lead to a sustainable cultural change.  Disruptive change is most likely to reduce employee compliance.  Routine reinforcement and review of practices is essential.

LL:  Do you see any trends in the dental industry emerging around conservation and sustainability?

JC: There are dental offices, like Dr. Nammy Patel in San Francisco, that have been certified as Green Businesses.  Given the chemicals used and harmful waste produced in a typical dental practice, this is an admirable achievement.  As more dentists move to paperless practices, we’ll see an increased awareness of environmental impact and hopefully adoption of more green initiatives.

LL:  How did you find out about the Green Chamber and what made you decide to join?

JC: I found out about the Green Chamber of Commerce from William Acevedo at Wendell, Rosen, Black & Dean Law Firm.  They are a client as well as a certified Green Business.  We already were a certified Green Business and B-Corp member, so it just made sense to expand our support of the organizations with our same business philosophies.   We’ve found that word of mouth and personal contact within the Green Business Community is a refreshingly personal way to do business and builds the base of sustainability in our community.  This is a choice of business practice that fulfills our personal and business goals.

Direct Dental Administrators

P.O. Box 542

San Anselmo, CA 94979

www.directdentalplans.com

415.457.2836