Episode #20
She Bought a FAILING Dental Practice & Spent a Decade Rebuilding it - Meet Dr. Kaori Ema
Most people buy a business that's already doing well. Dr. Kaori Ema, DDS, MAGD, did the opposite. She acquired a struggling dental practice with a bad reputation, angry former patients, and paper charts, then spent nearly a decade rebuilding it into Printers Row Dental Studio and the cosmetic brand Chicago Veneers. In this episode of Healthcare Business Growth Conversations, Dr. Ema sits down with host Rakesh to break down what the acquisition really took: the hidden problems no one warned her about, the red flags every buyer should watch for, the insurance and branding decisions that finally grew the practice, and the patient-experience and leadership lessons she learned the hard way. If you're thinking about buying a practice, building a healthcare brand, or creating a patient experience that actually retains people, this one is packed with hard-won lessons. ———————————————— In this episode you’ll learn: - Why she took on a struggling practice, and what she missed going in - The single biggest red flag when acquiring a practice (reputation and goodwill) - "Trust, but verify": doing your own due diligence - Going out of network and using assignment of benefits to reduce patient friction - Why she built Chicago Veneers as a separate cosmetic brand - Managing patient anxiety and why the front desk makes or breaks experience - Leadership: building, and fixing, the right team - What keeps her going after a decade of building and rebuilding ———————————————— Connect with Dr. Ema: Website: https://www.prdentalstudio.com/ IG: https://www.instagram.com/chicagoveneers IG: https://www.instagram.com/smilesbydr.ema ———————————————— ABOUT THE SHOW: Healthcare Business Growth Conversations, hosted by Rakesh at Orange Carrot Media, features candid conversations with healthcare practice owners on growth, marketing, patient experience, and the reality of running a practice. Subscribe for new episodes.
