Michael Ghaleb

Credentialing 101: How Insurance Panels Work (and Why They Take Forever)

Jun 15, 2026

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2 min read

Credentialing 101: How Insurance Panels Work (and Why They Take Forever)

You may be ready to see patients. The insurers need 90 to 120 days to agree you exist.

Michael Ghaleb

Jun 11, 2026

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3 min read

What is a DSO in dentistry?

The term is everywhere in dental school and early career conversations. Here's exactly what it means, how DSOs work, and why the model has reshaped American dentistry.

Michael Ghaleb

Jun 11, 2026

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2 min read

Dentistry just walked into Walmart

One DSO is expanding to 15 locations inside Walmart stores. It is not the first to try this. It might be the one that makes it work.

Michael Ghaleb

The $15 yard sign that built a dental empire: how Rick Workman made Heartland Dental

Jun 10, 2026

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5 min read

The $15 yard sign that built a dental empire: how Rick Workman made Heartland Dental

A farm kid from a town of 247 turned a single Illinois practice into the largest dental support organization in America, a network of nearly 1,900 offices, and a personal fortune Forbes pegs at $1.6 billion. Here's how he did it and why the model he pioneered is the most argued over force in dentistry.

Michael Ghaleb

Associate, buy, or build: the decision that's quietly worth millions

Jun 10, 2026

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5 min read

Associate, buy, or build: the decision that's quietly worth millions

Three ways out of dental school, three wildly different net worth curves. The gap between them is bigger than almost anyone expects, and the only number that matters is the one you run for yourself.

Michael Ghaleb

The PPO Math No One Shows You at Signing

Jun 5, 2026

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2 min read

The PPO Math No One Shows You at Signing

Joining a PPO plan feels like gaining patients. What the contract doesn’t highlight is how much of every dollar you earn, you immediately hand back. The arithmetic is worse than most dentists realize, and for many practices, it’s been silently compressing their margins for years.

Michael Ghaleb

Jun 5, 2026

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1 min read

The Overhead Truth Your P&L is Hiding

You billed a great month. You collected decently. And somehow you don’t have much left. Here’s what's actually happening, and what the numbers mean

Michael Ghaleb

Jun 5, 2026

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2 min read

The Written Fee Renegotiation Request

Most dentists treat their PPO fee schedules as fixed. They aren't. You can ask a plan to raise the contracted fees you agreed to when you joined its network — and most owners never do, which is exactly why a schedule set five years ago quietly turns into a pay cut as overhead climbs.

Michael Ghaleb

Jun 5, 2026

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5 min read

In-Network vs. Out-of-Network

“In-network” and “out-of-network” are two of the most used — and most misunderstood — phrases in your practice, by patients and sometimes by staff. Patients often hear "out-of-network" as "they don't take my insurance," which is usually false. Owners describe themselves as "a PPO office" or "fee-for-service" without always being precise about what that means for billing, patient cost, and who actually gets paid.

Michael Ghaleb

AOB vs. EOB: Two Terms Every Front Desk Should Get Right

Jun 5, 2026

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2 min read

AOB vs. EOB: Two Terms Every Front Desk Should Get Right

They look almost identical — both end in "OB" — and they get mixed up at the front desk constantly. But an assignment of benefits and an explanation of benefits are completely different documents that show up at opposite ends of the same claim. Getting them straight prevents collection headaches and catches money you're owed.

Michael Ghaleb

Jun 4, 2026

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5 min read

Stay In OR Drop PPO?

Once you understand what a PPO is, the harder question follows: should you stay in the ones you're in? It's the issue that quietly weighs on more practice owners than almost any other. Many feel trapped — resentful of the write-offs, but afraid of empty chairs if they leave.

Michael Ghaleb

Jun 4, 2026

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5 min read

PPO Explained

Dental PPOs are by far the dominant form of commercial dental coverage. Here is what you need to know.

Michael Ghaleb

Jun 4, 2026

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1 min read

The $109K Employee You Trust the Most

Dental embezzlement is not rare. It is not something that happens to careless owners. It is happening, statistically, to you or to someone you know.

Michael Ghaleb

Jun 4, 2026

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5 min read

Embezzlement Prevention

Dental embezzlement is common and incredibly costly. The natural next question is the one every owner asks: how do I keep it from happening to me?

Michael Ghaleb

Jun 3, 2026

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5 min read

UCR Fees Explained

Few terms in dental insurance cause as much confusion, and as much lost revenue, as “UCR.” Patients assume it’s a fair, objective standard. Plenty of dentists treat it like a fee schedule they’re supposed to match. In reality, UCR is one of the least transparent numbers in your entire revenue cycle, so much so that the American Dental Association flatly calls it “a misleading acronym.”

Michael Ghaleb

Jun 3, 2026

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4 min read

P&L Statement Explained

Understand one of the fundamental financial statements explained in a context familiar to you.

Michael Ghaleb

Why profit doesn't always equal cash and why your cash flow statement matters

Jun 3, 2026

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2 min read

Why profit doesn't always equal cash and why your cash flow statement matters

Understand the relation between profit, your cash flow statement, and P&L statement

Michael Ghaleb

The One Big Beautiful Bill Changed Dentistry. Here’s What Nobody Is Explaining Clearly.

May 13, 2026

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5 min read

The One Big Beautiful Bill Changed Dentistry. Here’s What Nobody Is Explaining Clearly.

The bill that cut your loans, shrank your repayment options, and told rural America to figure it out.

Michael Ghaleb

What Caused the DSO Boom? The Answer Is Hiding in the Debt Data.

May 13, 2026

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3 min read

What Caused the DSO Boom? The Answer Is Hiding in the Debt Data.

The reason why many young dentists choose a DSO isn't laziness. It's this.

Michael Ghaleb

The Six-Figure Trap Young Dentists are Falling into

May 11, 2026

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2 min read

The Six-Figure Trap Young Dentists are Falling into

Rising debt, higher living costs, and delayed ownership are creating a strange new reality where many young dentists earn six figures while still feeling financially behind

Michael Ghaleb

AI Is Quietly Replacing One of Dentistry’s Most Repetitive Tasks

May 10, 2026

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2 min read

AI Is Quietly Replacing One of Dentistry’s Most Repetitive Tasks

Most dentists think AI in dentistry will look dramatic, but the real transformation is happening quietly inside the workflow. The future winners in dental AI may not be the companies building robots — they may be the ones removing the most operational friction.

Michael Ghaleb

Insurance Companies Are Quietly Squeezing Dental Practices

May 10, 2026

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2 min read

Insurance Companies Are Quietly Squeezing Dental Practices

Most dentists have a reimbursement problem. As overhead rises and insurance reimbursements stagnate, some of dentistry’s busiest practices are quietly becoming its least profitable.

Michael Ghaleb

Private Practice Isn’t Dead. It Just Has to Evolve

May 10, 2026

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2 min read

Private Practice Isn’t Dead. It Just Has to Evolve

The future of independent dentistry may not look like the traditional solo office anymore. It may look more like founder-led regional groups with centralized systems, operational discipline, and corporate-level infrastructure.

Michael Ghaleb

Rising Costs Are Changing How Smart Practices Operate

May 10, 2026

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1 min read

Rising Costs Are Changing How Smart Practices Operate

Dentistry has officially entered its “everything is more expensive” era. The practices winning right now are not necessarily producing the most dentistry.

Michael Ghaleb

California Just Fired a Warning Shot at Corporate Dentistry

May 10, 2026

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2 min read

California Just Fired a Warning Shot at Corporate Dentistry

California’s new Senate Bill 351 directly targets private equity influence in dental and medical practices and New York may be moving in a similar direction.

Michael Ghaleb