Management

The right time for DSOs to hire consultants

As anyone who has been watching the MLB postseason knows, sometimes even the best teams need to make a call to the bullpen. For DSOs, that can mean bringing in outside consultants to help solve some of their thorniest problems. Knowing when (and whom) to consult could spell the difference between hitting the next level or hitting a wall.

What’s happening: DSOs big and small are increasingly bringing in outside management consultants to tackle specialized problems or accelerate growth.

• Firms like Polaris Healthcare Partners and TUSK Partners focus exclusively on group dental practices, offering strategic consulting and M&A advisory services tailored to DSOs.
  

• The big generalist consultancies—the McKinseys, Bains, and BCGs of the world—have started paying attention too, with large DSOs engaging these blue chip firms for broad strategic initiatives.

What it means for you: Not every DSO needs McKinsey on speed dial, of course. The calculus for hiring consultants depends on your size, stage, and goals:

• Emerging DSOs (small groups): If you’re an entrepreneurial dentist with, say, 3 to 5 locations, you’ll likely hit a point where you can’t do it all yourself. At this stage, hiring a full-time COO or CFO may be financially out of reach, but a specialized consultant can fill the gap and save you from reinventing the wheel or making rookie mistakes in legal structure, financing, or practice integration.
  

• Mid-market DSOs: Once you’ve scaled locations to double-digits, consultants are often brought in for specific projects or expertise where the core team lacks bandwidth. For example, say you’re implementing a new cloud-based practice management system across 40 offices—that’s a massive change-management task. It might make sense to engage a healthcare IT consulting firm or specialist to map the rollout.
  

• Large enterprise DSOs: Even the giants find moments to bring in outside heavy hitters. Common triggers include a planned transformational move, like merging with another large DSO, entering a new national market, or overhauling the organizational structure, where an objective outside perspective is valuable. Top consulting firms (generalist or specialist) can provide a broad strategic review, extensive benchmarking data, and cross-industry knowledge.

Why it matters: Engaging outside consultants is a high-stakes decision. Done right, it can be a game-changer for a DSO’s trajectory; done poorly, it can become an expensive distraction (or worse). 

How to get the most out of consultants: If you do decide to hire outside help, follow some critical guidelines:

• Scope surgically: Define the business outcome, the timeline, and the owner on your side. Tie fees to milestones where possible.
  

• Pick for fit: Boutique for dental‑specific problems, generalist for cross‑functional change. Validate with at least two references that look like your business.
  

• Wire to EBITDA: Ask explicitly how recommendations flow to revenue, cost, cash, or valuation.
  

• Plan the handoff: Build internal capability and schedule knowledge transfer so the improvements stick after the team exits.
  

• Benchmark relentlessly: Use external data sets, like Planet DDS’s mid‑year benchmarks, to set targets and track lift. 

Watch out for these gotchas: Scope drift, junior teams, and “playbooks” that ignore chairside realities will stall adoption. Demand senior time, insist on measurable outcomes, and keep your operators in the room.

Bottom line: A carefully chosen consultant, deployed at the right moment and for smart reasons, can give your DSO the extra horsepower it needs to grind out a win in the modern dental marketplace.