ReachOut Healthcare America
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Dental management services |
| Founded | 1997 |
| Founder | Michael Howell, Daniel Goldsmith |
| Headquarters | Farmington Hills , United States |
Area served | 22 U.S. states |
Key people | Chris Bird (CEO as of 2012) |
| Products | Dental care coordination, mobile dentistry services (Big Smiles) |
| Owner | Morgan Stanley Private Equities |
| Parent | Morgan Stanley Private Equities |
| Website | www |
ReachOut Healthcare America (RHA) is a dental management services provider based in Farmington Hills, Michigan. It operates as part of the private equity holdings of Morgan Stanley. The company delivers dental care coordination across 22 states in the U.S., partnering with 8,700 schools and serving approximately 1.5 million patients as of May 2012. RHA primarily targets dental service facilitation for children enrolled in Medicaid who lack adequate access to care.
Under the brand name "Big Smiles," RHA manages a mobile dentistry coordination initiative aimed at schoolchildren nationwide and runs similar programs for members of the U.S. military. Previously, the company also administered dental services for elderly and disabled individuals residing in nursing homes but sold off this segment in December 2011.
Some critics contend that the Big Smiles model is designed to increase Medicaid reimbursement by performing a high volume of procedures, some of which are questioned for their necessity. Nonetheless, RHA asserts that it plays a crucial role in expanding dental care access to underserved groups and emphasizes that it neither employs dentists directly nor controls clinical decisions made by mobile providers serving schools.
History
ReachOut Healthcare America was founded in 1997 by Michael Howell and Daniel Goldsmith with an initial focus on organizing dental services for nursing home residents in Michigan. By 2003, the company broadened its reach to include schools, foster care programs, group homes, homeless shelters, and mental health facilities.
In 2005, ReachOut initiated dental care coordination within five school districts located in St. Louis County, Missouri. The firm attracted investment from private equity company Sentinel Capital Partners in November 2007, which facilitated a 500% growth in patient numbers and supported the acquisition of two competitors. Subsequently, ReachOut became part of the portfolio managed by Morgan Stanley Private Equities.
Legal issues arose in 2011 when ReachOut faced allegations concerning unauthorized dental work performed on a child in Camp Verde, Arizona. The affected school district responded by issuing a cease and desist order to halt ReachOut’s operations on its grounds. Similarly, Nevada’s largest school district, the Clark County School District, terminated its contract due to concerns about insufficient parental consent and inadequate emergency response following treatments. Despite these disputes, ReachOut’s mobile dental teams reported treating around 80,000 children since 2006 with high levels of patient satisfaction.
By 2012, multiple Arizona school districts continued their partnerships with ReachOut, including the Peoria Unified School District, which served over 2,000 students from high-need communities. CEO Chris Bird stated that between 2010 and 2012, dentists affiliated with ReachOut provided care to more than 100,000 children across Arizona. The majority of services were preventive—such as examinations, cleanings, sealants, fluoride applications, and fillings—with only 1.3% involving more complex procedures like crowns or root canals.
In July 2013, a report issued by U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley and Max Baucus reviewed corporate dental care practices connected to ReachOut. While acknowledging certain allegations against the company, the report concluded that such issues were not widespread and attributed some problems to management contracts with individual dentists outside ReachOut’s direct oversight. Additionally, it noted a lack of standardized procedures for obtaining parental consent within ReachOut’s operational framework.
See also
- All Smiles Dental Centers
- Aspen Dental
- Kool Smiles
- Small Smiles Dental Centers
- Smile Starters
- Pediatric dentistry
Further reading
- "JOINT STAFF REPORT ON THE CORPORATE PRACTICE OF DENTISTRY IN THE MEDICAID PROGRAM." 113th U.S. Congress, 1st Session. ST. Prt. 113-16. Compiled by the Staff of the Committee on Finance United States Senate under Chairman Max Baucus, and the Committee on the Judiciary with Ranking Member Chuck Grassley. June 2013. also accessible via Scribd.
External links
- ReachOut Healthcare America
- Big Smiles Dental (Alternative link) - a division operated by ReachOut
- Reach Out Healthcare America – legal firm engaged in ongoing litigation involving ReachOut
- Collins, Katie. "Big Smiles dentists visit Thomson Primary School." Brush News-Tribune. April 17, 2012.