_____________________________________________________________________________________
Heartland
Dental Care
His proximity shapes standards of conduct. Heartland Dental operates with what Pat describes as a‘ you need to be nice to work here’ policy. He explains that credibility depends on follow through.“ The moment where the rubber meets the road is when there’ s a supported doctor who isn’ t being kind to the team and we all let it slide. That is where we’ d lose credibility.” He ties belief to action rather than slogans. The policy applies to growth decisions as well.“ Even with affiliations, I love it when I ask about a potential affiliation and hear that the team didn’ t move forward because the doctor wasn’ t nice. Perfect. I congratulate everyone,” he remarks.
The stance extends to governance. Heartland Dental describes itself as doctor-led culture, and Pat defines that in operational terms.“ We have a very clear rule. Non-doctors cannot tell a doctor what to do clinically.”
The line sits at the center of the company’ s support organization model. Heartland Dental provides assistance with payroll, technology, marketing, credentialing, equipment, and lab coordination, but separates those services from clinical care decisions. Pat reinforces the seriousness of the boundary.“ If a doctor raises a concern, we investigate it.” When a doctor questions an interaction with the support team,“ we respond quickly to make sure they know we take these boundaries seriously on behalf of the practices we support.”
Heartland Dental support scale
Running support functions across many supported offices takes coordination and collaboration without control. Pat avoids the language of centralization and instead talks about support and collaboration.“ We don’ t view it as centralized. We see it as a support team that helps ensure supported
3M Oral Care is now part of Solventum.
Solving your toughest challenges. For a world of healthy smiles. Proudly supporting Heartland Dental with trusted, innovative solutions, including 3M ™ Scotchbond ™, Filtek ™, RelyX ™, Clinpro ™ and more.
© Solventum 2026. Solventum, the S logo, Clinpro, Filtek and RelyX are trademarks of Solventum or its affiliates. 3M, the 3M logo and Scotchbond are trademarks of 3M. americanhealthcareleader. com 39