Dental RCM 
Bootcamp

Amol Nirgudkar helps dental practices grow and reach their revenue and profit goals. As a certified public accountant, business consultant, author, and inventor, he has 20 years of experience working with dental practices and groups. He is the co-founder of Patient Prism, an award-winning call and lead tracking software that leverages the power of artificial intelligence to improve marketing performance, sales delivery, and operational efficiencies within dental support organizations. Patient Prism employs advanced artificial intelligence to optimize dental marketing strategies, ensuring the acquisition of the most valuable patients. This technology not only facilitates patient conversion into scheduled appointments but also promptly identifies and addresses any operational challenges, guaranteeing the successful completion of patient treatments. Amol has five patents to his credit. He is also one of the most well-known and highly followed thought leaders in dentistry and shares his knowledge abundantly via social media platforms. On a personal note, Amol has traveled around the country and the world accompanying his piano prodigy daughter for concerts and competitions. Last year, in the midst of war, Amol and his daughter Ovie took a humanitarian trip to Ukraine and helped refugees that were affected by the war.

Brian Colao is the Director of Dykema’s Dental Service Organizations Group. He has been serving the dental industry for over 25 years and is widely regarded as one of the foremost authorities in the United States on DSO formation, DSO business structures, DSO related mergers and acquisitions, and the full array of regulatory compliance requirements for DSOs. Brian was named a “2019 DSO Influencer” by Group Dentistry Now.

Trina McNeal is a top-performing revenue enablement specialist and strategic operations leader known for driving growth within corporate dental practices and dental support organizations (DSOs). Committed to meeting the unique needs of dental leaders, Trina’s niche experience includes success in maximizing reimbursement without increasing patient volume. Trina offers distinctive insight into the complexities of dental business operations—expertise she has gained after 10+ years of mastering the ins and outs of revenue cycle management and learning the nuances of an evolving industry. A trusted bridge- builder and visionary, Trina transforms operations and positions dental practices for ongoing growth. As the Director of Revenue at Riccobene & Associates, a DSO based out of North Carolina, Trina was designated to perform a deep dive into the organization’s revenue cycle practices and establish a strong, effective unit. She tracks every dollar that comes through her department, from patient to insurance payments. As Regional Manager at eAssist Dental Solutions, Trina provided leadership for a $144M revenue cycle across 89 dental practices and 175+ independent billing contractors. Notably, she propelled revenue growth from $400K to $12M (2,900%), while expanding the client base by 345% within a two-year period. In the face of a challenging business transaction, Trina was promoted to Senior Regional Operations Manager, where she salvaged a key client relationship and spearheaded a successful merger. In this capacity, she also oversaw 1,400+ dental practices with 2,000+ contractors, 375+ employees, and $25M+ in revenue. Trina was also lauded for executing a major company merger previously deemed irrecoverable. Trina completely transformed Mason Dental Center as Practice Manager. Entrusted by the office’s sole practitioner, Trina modernized office operations, enabling explosive, sustainable growth. During her nine- year tenure, she fueled a 257% client increase, boosted revenue 221%, and dramatically reduced turnover to less than 15% annually. In tandem with her contributions, Trina managed multiple functions, from fiscal planning and accounting to credentialing and compliance. Trina is inspired to help create a stronger educational foundation for up-and-coming leaders in the industry, particularly women seeking to make an impact as revenue enablement professionals. She is also a member of Women in DSO and hopes to be instrumental in promoting more diversity and inclusivity among the industry. Trina holds a Speciation Certification in Leadership Management from Harvard Online Business School, as well as completed courses in leadership principles, management essentials, and strategy execution.

Dr. Charles Moser, CEO & Founder at Blue Horse Personal Development. Dr. Moser considers himself more than a clinician. Dental school, residency and then back to Houston to own multiple practices, before taking a position as the Dental Director for a fast growing DSO in Houston. Daily duties included the oversight of 40+ associate dentists and over 200 team members. Mentoring, coaching, training and improving the lives of owners and associates was his job. Dr. Moser was on the front line of 2 exit events. March of 2018 Dr. Moser became a key member of the Dentist Entrepreneur Organization. He used his coaching experience to help other dental offices understand the thinking of the complex dental mind. Dr. Moser became a Certified Speaker Trainer and Coach for the John Maxwell team. And in 2022 Blue Horse Personal Development was born. Teaching and training leaders all the way up and down the org chart from CEOs to office managers creates avenues for everyone in the company to work in their zone of genius. Company’s have become more profitable with less stress in a matter of 90 days. Recently partnering with Kevin Wheeler, an Operations expert, their reach has expanded.

Ato Kasymov is passionate about technology solving hard problems in complex and highly regulated industries, and found the problem of U.S. dental insurance billing to be a perfect candidate for disruption. He currently sets the direction and strategy at Zentist. Prior to founding Zentist, Ato spent more than 10 years in corporate financings and investments at various large-scale financial institutions. He served as the CIO of National Investment Corporation, a $100B sovereign wealth fund in Central Asia. Prior to that, he served as the Head of Corporate Finance at Samruk-Kazyna, an $80B sovereign wealth fund focused on Central Asia regional investments. Mr. Kasymov holds a dual MBA from the London Business School and Columbia Business School.

Donna Ramadan joins Great Lakes Dental Partners as the Director of Revenue Cycle. Donna has more than 30 years of healthcare experience on the hospital and medical group side.Donna is a Registered Nurse with extensive ICU and trauma clinical experience. After leading several hospital inpatient care units, she earned a Master in Business Administration from Northern Illinois University and transitioned to Revenue Cycle Leadership.Prior to joining Great Lakes Dental Partners, Donna has lead Revenue Cycle Operations at several hospitals including Northwestern Medicine, Delnor Hospital; and The Cleveland Clinic. Understanding both the clinical and financial aspects of care delivery is key to successful Revenue cycle operations and developing relationships with providers.Outside of the office, Donna enjoys gardening, kayaking and spending time with her two dogs.

Sina S. Amiri possesses 17 years of cross-sector and cross-functional expertise in the U.S. and Canadian healthcare industries, 12 of which has been dedicated exclusively to advancing dentistry. Prior to his current leadership role as the Vice President of Revenue at Zentist, a venture capital-backed revenue cycle management (RCM) software company whose technology solutions are used by over 40 of the fastest growing dental support organizations (DSOs) in the U.S., Sina served as the Vice President of Strategic Markets to some of the leading cloud-based enterprise software companies serving multi-location dental service providers across North America and Europe. His senior leadership experience also includes running the national operations of a private equity-funded DSO with hundreds of employees. Throughout his career, Sina has personally delivered over 100 Continuing Education accredited seminars and instructed at Continuing Education courses teaching more than 5,000 healthcare practitioners in the U.S. and Canada how to maximize their practice value. His personal commentary and analysis on the dental industry and private equity’s consolidation of it has recently been featured in national publications with as many as 20 million readers.

Cissy Mangrum, MBA, CMPE, CPC, CDC, CDBS, is a VP of Revenue Cycle Management at Specialty Dental Brands with 20+ years of experience helping medical and dental practices achieve operational revenue success. Her background started in medical practices as an operator leading and growing physician multi-specialty practices to success through operational success and revenue integrity improvement; she then moved into the operational revenue cycle because of her passion that providers should be paid for their services. She has a history of a successful track record of positively turning practices around and setting up practices for revenue achievements. She works closely with payers and peers to ensure that she stays on the cutting edge of automation and processes. She focuses on team member and leadership growth, education, training, and providing the best tools for her teams to ensure the practices have the optimal revenue experience.

22 years of experience in the dental industry, including DSO technology leadership, software product design, M&A, and diligence. Currently Vice President of Process Design and Improvement at Sage Dental, and President and Bluegrass Advisors. Previously Chief Product Officer at CareStack, Vice President of Information Technology at Intelligent Solutions, Vice President of Information Technology at Coast Dental

As the Founder & CEO of Fidler and Associates, Jon has a history of building teams by connecting talent with opportunity. Jon began honing his talent recognition skills working for the Arizona diamondbacks (MLB) in the scouting and player development departments. In his role Jon was responsible for not only recognizing the physical talent of potential prospects, but also developing that talent into a Championship Caliber team. For the last 13 years, Jon has focused his skills specifically within the dental industry. During this time, Jon has placed successful executives throughout the country for dso’s, multi-location groups, manufacturers, distributors, and other dental-related organizations. throughout his career Jon has been responsible for hiring, training and developing numerous performance award-winning employees and executives. Jon is a graduate of the University of Iowa and currently resides in Austin, tx.

Tarek practiced Dentistry and Periodontal surgery while simultaneously working in Management and Marketing. He graduated as a dentist from Alexandria University in Egypt. He has a graduate certificate in Periodontics & Oral Medicine from the same University and a Diploma in Sales & Marketing from the American University in Cairo. He has an MBA from Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas. Tarek has a CVA certification from the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts. His expertise includes Dental Support Organizations platform development and management, M&As, Business Valuation, and Dental Organizations Management. He has written three publications and is currently working on a book addressing the management of dental practices and DSOs. He is currently the Co-founder of Modern Smiles (10 dental practice locations), a partner at Community Dental Partners (82 dental practice locations), the Co-founder of OrthoDent Management LLC (12 dental practice locations), and President/Founder of Precision Advisory LLC. Tarek is also a public speaker and competes in Toastmasters International.

Paul Kaiser is the CEO of DentalXChange and has over 20 years of healthcare IT experience including MedeAnalytics, Cognizant, TriZetto, TDS Clinical and Cerner. Paul is known for motivating and positioning teams to consistently exceed financial and operational goals and for creating positive cultures of accountability. He is passionate about relationships, innovation, partnerships and the opportunity to bring new ideas to the dental industry. Paul holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Central Missouri where he is also a board member for the University of Central Missouri Alumni Foundation. Paul is an avid golfer and resides in Southlake, Texas where he enjoys spending quality time with his family.

Ray Caruso is the CEO of Lone Peak Dental Group, a collection of pediatric and orthodontic dental practices throughout the United States. Little did he know when he joined the US Army as a dental assistant in 1991, he was starting a long career in dentistry. After serving his country and graduating college, he joined Heartland Dental Care working at the front desk of one of their early offices. Heartland shaped his business acumen and provided the basis for his growth into new operational roles. He later joined DecisionOne Dental in Chicago as VP of Operations and then quickly became the COO. The experiences in change management and execution prepared him for his move to Lone Peak Dental, where he built the infrastructure necessary to support and grow it into the $100+ million-dollar company it is today. When he’s not working, he’s playing guitar or hiking with his wife and daughters in Denver, CO.

Lisa serves as TDN’s Vice President of Revenue Cycle and is responsible for Payor Relations and all Revenue Cycle Management functions. 20 years of experience in DSO Revenue Cycle across 5 National DSOs (Coast Dental, Benevis, Dental One Partners, Sage Dental and TDN) with extensive knowledge and experience in payor relations, contract negotiations, credentialing, EDI, billing and collections. Lisa has worked with several carriers on developing their websites, and provider interactions. Additionally, she has been active with Dentrix on beta testing & software development. Most recently Lisa has been appointed by Delta Dental as a lead on their national Provider Advisory Council. Lisa holds an undergraduate degree from The University of Connecticut, and a Juris Doctorate from New York Law School. She is a retired member of the Connecticut Bar Association. Lisa lives in the Tampa, FL area and is active in Community Theater and passionate about Tampa professional sports, especially the Tampa Bay Rays.

Philip developed a passion for building businesses as he watched his father pursue the American dream by building an enterprise software business out of their garage. Even as a child, he found ways to help with the many things an entrepreneur needed to build a business. He graduated with a Healthcare MBA from The Wharton School and a BS in Business Administration from the Haas School of Business at University of California, Berkeley. He started his career in strategy consulting at PwC where he worked on various projects for The Walt Disney Company. He then joined as the 8th employee at HealthAllies, a venture-backed health tech company acquired by UnitedHealth Group. He was a bridge between the business and engineering teams in product management. After HealthAllies, he worked in venture capital sourcing and evaluating emerging companies. After business school, he joined Henry Schein where he gained deep experience in multi-site dental and medical businesses. He’s proud to have helped a division grow over 500% and consecutively hit the budget for 36 quarters. Most recently, he was the Co-Founder and CEO of the Smilist, one of the largest dental support organizations in the New York metro area. In his spare time, he enjoys running and has run four marathons including the Boston Marathon. When not running, you’ll find him on the tennis court with his friends and family.

Vasilios has over 25 years of experience leading large national provider and dental organizations’ revenue cycle management departments. Adept at growing value, creating strategic growth plans, and bringing laser focus on operational excellence and execution. Vasilios is known for his ability and dedication to mentor, develop, retain, and lead top talent with strong industry knowledge and high processing capacity. His excellent people skills, combined with knowledge, drive unified strategies, trust, and exceptional client relations. Data-driven decision maker that can drive large, extraordinarily complex initiatives. Known as a subject matter expert, thought leader, innovator, change agent, presenter, author, and collaborative business partner.

"My latest adventure includes this amazing opportunity to be a part of SGA Dental Partners leadership. I joined this team in January 2022, through strategic merger, after serving as Chief Financial Officer of Dental Partners of Southwest GA. Guided with a high beam focus on accelerated acquisition growth, streamlining of processes and clear integrity of the financials, my continual focus is investing in great processes with great people to yield great results. Before joining the dental industry, I worked in various financial leadership roles across multiple industries, including health systems, critical access hospitals, nursing homes, rural health clinics, the automotive and heavy equipment industry, and auditing. I earned a BA in Accounting from Valdosta State University and I am a graduate of the Leadership Institute at Columbus State University. My greatest joy from my work comes from building teams and watching others grow in their roles facilitating a win-win situation for both the individual and the organization. Outside of work, I most of all enjoy time with my husband Chad and two children, Tyler (16) and Bella (14)."

Mike Jakob is the CFO of Dentologie, a tech-enabled, patient-focused dental group for urban professionals that is aiming to reinvent the dental experience. Mike brings to Dentologie 25+ years of strategic, financial and operational leadership at the executive and board levels in VC & PE backed organizations. Mike previously served as Sr. Director of CFO Services at Alvarez & Marsal; CEO of Swing King, an automated on-course golf contest; and President, COO and CFO for Sportvision, the company best known for the invention of the 1st and Ten® line that places a virtual yellow line on the football field during telecasts. During Mike’s tenure Sportvision technologies were employed in 18 sports at the Olympic, professional and collegiate level and used at over 5,000 events annually reaching more than 100 million fans and captured ten Emmy Awards, the inaugural Sports Business Journal “Sports Technology/Innovation of the Year” Award, and was named by Fast Company Magazine’s as one of the “50 Most Innovative Companies in the World”.

Clinnie Biggs, Jr., is the Vice President of Revenue Cycle Management with Elite Dental Partners. He has over 30 years' experience and expertise specializing in dental revenue cycle. Clinnie has worked in academic medical organization dental practices, not-for-profit dental, for-profit dental and DSOs. His revenue cycle experience includes transformations, business process automation, practice management system implementations, internal control reviews, payor contracting, payor enrollment and credentialing and fee schedule standardization and optimization. Clinnie is a graduate of Golden Gate University with an MBA in Finance and Liberty University with a BS in Accounting.

Ryan McCostlin is the CEO and founder of Tailwater Dental Partners, a DPO headquartered in Nashville with general dental practices in Tennessee and surrounding states. Prior to founding Tailwater, Ryan led finance and people operations at Bernard Health, a healthcare and HR tech firm. Prior to that, he lived in Washington, DC where he started his career at The Advisory Board Company and Huron Consulting. He's taught as an adjunct instructor of organizational development at Vanderbilt University and as a faculty member for the Tennessee Bar Association. He also writes online at www.ryanmccostlin.com. Ryan lives in Nashville, TN with his wife, Elizabeth, and their three children. He has a B.S. degree from Vanderbilt and an MBA from Yale.

Mike Huffaker is an accomplished Chief Revenue Officer in the dynamic world of vertical SaaS cloud software. He spearheads both the sales and marketing divisions of Planet DDS, the leading provider of cloud solutions for the dental industry, with a focus on developing people, driving growth, and implementing effective go-to-market strategies. Mike has played a crucial role in the ascent of Planet DDS, steering it through four successful acquisitions and driving an astonishing tenfold revenue surge over the past four years. This remarkable trajectory bears testimony to Mike’s leadership in scaling businesses, with a passion for problem-solving while investing in the potential of people.

Kara Ficker is an experienced executive with a demonstrated history of working in various industries in both large and mid-size companies. A multi-skilled finance leader, Kara has extensive experience in budgeting, financial analysis and all phases of the monthly accounting function, leadership, and team development. Three years ago, she assumed responsibility for our Revenue Cycle Management. Under her direction, we have seen significant increase in negotiated fees, increase in auto posting of claims, and recently the rollout of a centralized insurance verification process. ROI on CIV is over $2m in year one. Kara received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Louisville before earning her MBA from Webster University. She was recognized as a Best in Finance honoree by Louisville Business First in 2019.

Dr. Samantha Champagnie is a seasoned and exceptionally successful finance and operations healthcare leader. Revenue cycle and operations management in healthcare are her passions. From developing comprehensive procedures to implementing intelligent automation to using technology to drive cost and time savings, she strives to continuously change the status quo and achieve the impossible. With her Doctorate and Master’s in Business Administration, and her 27 years of experience in healthcare finance and operations, Samantha brings a strategic and unique combination of talents that have allowed her to upgrade organizational competencies, streamline operating procedures, reduce operating costs, strengthen performance, enhance technological capabilities, and improve bottom-line results. She is a transformation leader who believes strongly that part of her job is to help those who work for her discover their strengths and maximize their potential. Samantha sees herself as a coach and mentor which is a core part of leadership.

I attended UW-Whitewater in pursuit of a Business degree. Quickly transitioning into the dental field, I have spent the last 23 years in the dental space. In those years I have worked chairside, managed offices, opened additional locations, managed revenue teams, helped coach and build teams all while following my passion of empowering others. I joined eAssist in June of 2019 and have taken every opportunity thrown my way. Starting as a Success Consultant, moving into the Launch Division,becoming a Team Leader, eventually becoming a Regional Leader. My journey continues as I help create our DSO/Special Markets division.

Consulting with dental practices and DSOs for nearly 15 years, Brian is an ally to leaders throughout the industry. His goal is to provide state-of-the-art technology to help clients simplify the business side of healthcare - from patient payments and financing, patient engagement, and HIPAA, OSHA, and PCI compliance. As SVP of Sales for Rectangle Health, he leads a growing team dedicated to sourcing, signing, and launching new business. Based on a consultative approach, Brian recommends ways to make it easier for dental organizations to improve efficiency, increase profitability, and boost patient satisfaction.

Michelle joined the dental world in 2020 when she got an accounting job with Juniper Services, an emerging DSO in Reno, Nevada. Within a year, her exceptional skills and dedication led her to be promoted to the role of Senior Accountant, and shortly after to Revenue Cycle Manager. Prior to working in the dental industry, Michelle worked in hospitality operations for The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe, and other hospitality groups. With an in-depth understanding of the business structure, overall company operations, and the systems utilized, Michelle possesses the wide scope of knowledge crucial to her role as Revenue Cycle Manager. Michelle is actively involved in the development of efficient procedures and provides training to our practice operations teams, ensuring smooth financial operations all practices. Michelle's academic background includes a Bachelor's degree in Hospitality Management from Georgia Southern University. When she is not working, she is busy renovating her new house and spending time with her husband and dog.

Lance has 17 years of Consumer Finance experience contributing in various roles. Currently, he serves on CareCredit's Dental Leadership team overseeing their industry partnerships. Lance is passionate about how financing can equip practices to help more Patients get the care they desire. He is a husband, a father to three daughters and enjoys being outdoors as much as possible.

Erik Schear is the Senior Director of Business Development at Sunbit with over 25 years of professional consultative sales experience. With a demonstrated ability to create meaningful and strong business relationships in the industry, Erik is a trusted partner to leading mid-market and large DSOs. He offers strategic counsel to dental groups through thoughtful approaches to patient collections, financing, and payment solutions, enabling them to serve many more patients. His extensive industry knowledge has played a pivotal role in driving Sunbit's exponential triple-digit growth in the dental industry.

Krysten Garduno is the Director of RCM for Espire Dental. She has been serving the dental community for over 15 years and has experience with both RCM and operations within dental practices. She’s had the honor of speaking as the subject matter expert of RCM for several great partners including the California Dental Association, Dental Nachos, and the Rocky Mountain Dental Convention. When it comes to the revenue cycle, Krysten is a big advocate of automation and having a skilled team work hand in hand.