Page 23 - MS Perspectives 2014 YIR

SmileSaver: A RoadMap from Growing Pains to Sustainably
Successful Organization™

By Chris Kamen
DDS, Co-CEO and Dental Director of SmileSaver

In this interview, Chris Kamen, DDS, describes how he has used Management
Systems' methodologies and tools to build multiple successful businesses. As
described in the interview, in the early 1990s, Dr. Eric Flamholtz and Dr. Yvonne
Randle worked with Dr. Kamen and his leadership team to identify and address
Growing Pains at SmileSaver - a company he jointly owned (with a partner). Our
work included helping Dr. Kamen, his partner, and his leadership team:

 develop and implement an effective strategic plan and planning process;
 clearly define roles, responsibilities, and an overall structure that would

support the achievement of the company's goals;
 enhance their skills and capabilities through leadership development and

executive coaching.
After the sale of SmileSaver, Dr. Kamen continued using the knowledge that he had
gained from Management Systems - about how to build successful organizations™
as he assumed leadership roles in other companies.

What led you to create the company?

While I was still a student at USC Dental School it occurred to me that we received
essentially no business training to help us manage our practices. We did not have
basic information about insurance companies - and how to help people afford the
dental work they needed.

I began talking to dentists who were knowledgeable about these issues in 1976,
while I was still two years away from graduating at USC Dental School. While I had
heard a little bit about insurance companies and HMO's, there was no formal
education on these matters in school.

I discovered that most patients could not afford the dental care they needed and
wanted. At that time very few people had dental insurance, and those who did
usually worked for very large companies. For people who worked in, or owned,
small companies, there were no options.

What did the company do?

Our core business was providing patients to dentists who needed more patients and
providing dental coverage to the public who were otherwise unable to get insurance
coverage anywhere else. We contracted with dentists to provide benefits to the
patients and we charged the patients an annual or monthly premium depending on

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