Nancy Kagan began her career in the dental industry immediately out of high school. She attended hygiene school and practiced hygiene professionally after graduation for over three years. However, with her innate passion for teaching and an engrained entrepreneurial spirit, Nancy found that she was looking for opportunities that would allow her to make her own mark on the dental industry.

“I took my background in dentistry and used it to propel me into other avenues,” Nancy explained. She started a staffing agency for dental offices and managed practices for over 25 years before she finally pursued practice management consulting, an industry that she has now been in for the past 18 years.  

Nancy found that while dental school prepares dentists for the technical aspects of their career, it truly lacked practice management training. For that reason, she decided to start her own consulting firm, focused in the New England area, to fill the gaps and help other dental practices succeed.  

“You have to look at the investment in your people at the same level as you look at the investment in your equipment,” Nancy said. “It doesn’t matter what you do if it’s not being managed correctly. You can’t ignore that investment.”

When hired by a dental practice, Nancy and her team of consultants typically begin their work at the front desk, coaching, listening and conducting verbal skills training. They focus on the cycle of patients as they circle through the practice. “We want to make sure you’re always driving the bus and not letting the patients drive,” Nancy pointed out. “We help with implementation. We don’t just tell you what to do but we’re right there with you, creating really good systems and protocols for the practice.” 

Nancy’s team will also establish measurements for the systems they establish in order to ensure their work is effective. Then, in addition to the patient aspect of training, they will also teach staff how to use a wide array of dental software. “There’s a lot of moving parts to the day,” Nancy added.

Along with consulting, Nancy’s team started handling virtual billing services for dental offices over four years ago, an avenue that turned out to be widely successful, especially preceding a global pandemic.

“COVID hit and it changed the game,” Nancy conveyed. With dental practices closing and in-person consultations being near to impossible, she knew she had to change how they were conducting business, deciding to focus more so on their remote billing services. “You can’t be afraid to fail,” Nancy encouraged. “You have to use it as a lessen or a jumping off point.”

During this time, Nancy also reached out for advice from her long-term friend and mentor, Mark Rosen, who also owned a dental consulting practice. In the wake of COVID, the two united to host a webinar on what dental practices can do to prepare for reopening after shutdowns. With over 1,400 dentists in attendance, Nancy and Mark realized that they were even stronger as partners.

“It springboarded into us doing something together,” Nancy expressed. In July of this year, Nancy and Mark decided to merge their two companies together to form Rosen Summit Dental Advisors. “It was a great marriage and broadened the scope of what we could offer to dental clients.”

Now, despite these uncertain times, Nancy is thrilled for what the future will bring to their business. After expanding their billing services nationwide, the dental billing portion of their business is exploding. Nancy maintained, “I think we deliver a great product – it’s an investment every dentistry should make.”

“When you’ve found your passion, you’re really lucky,” Nancy admitted. “I feel very blessed to have found something I’m still so passionate about. I work a lot and I have an excruciatingly dedicated team who works a lot.”

This passion follows her outside of the office as well. From blog writing to public speaking events during normal times, she is continuously working to educate and train those in the dental field. She also hosts an office manager networking group, as well as a study group for new dental practice owners, teaching classes that offer continuing education credits.

When asked what’s on the horizon for Rosen Summit, as well as herself, Nancy doesn’t anticipate slowing down anytime soon. “We want to continue growing. We want to scale,” she said excitedly. “I’m very inspired by women that keep working even after they get to a certain age and they’re still vibrant and vital. I like being in the company of my contemporaries that are still engaged at a high level. I don’t look at my work life as ever ending.”

If your dental practice is looking for consulting or billing services, make sure to check out Rosen Summit Dental Advisors!