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Healthcare 100 presents

Four Levers Driving Organic Same-Store Growth

Marketing Patient Access Case Acceptance Revenue Cycle

The Second Annual Leadership Summit. Nine operators went on the record with real numbers — and it's all here, free.

No email. No form. No gate.

Heartland · Affordable Care · Sage · DCA · Riccobene · Tally

The squeeze
2–3% Same-store growth
per year
5–6% Cost inflation
per year

That gap is where value quietly disappears. Most operators try to close it by spending more. These four levers are the other path.

Why it matters

Every operator is told AI will transform their business. Far fewer are shown how.

The problem

Growth has to come from the locations you already own.

Why it persists

Proof takes a two-year experiment. Only the biggest groups can afford one.

What this is

Their results — and the one move each said returns $100,000 of EBITDA in a year.

60,000 Patients recaptured

In one year, by one outbound team.

Jeremy Stroud, Heartland Dental

29% Production per patient

By retraining assistants, not doctors — measured in their worst practices.

Dr. Cindy Roark, Sage Dental

50%+ EBITDA increase

From cleaning up credit balances. No new patients required.

Peter van Riper, Tally

Up to 40% Calls never answered

Demand you already paid to create.

Heartland Dental, pre-support baseline

Insights from the Healthcare 100 interviews

Four levers. Nine operators. Real numbers.

01

Marketing in the Age of AI

Patients now send AI agents to call your contact center. If your team can't hand over pricing and availability on demand, the agent doesn't book.

“The agent is equipped with the patient's insurance, the patient's desired time, and is shopping.” Sherianne James · Heartland Dental
SJSherianne JamesEVP & CMO, Heartland Dental
JMJenn McClainCMO, Affordable Care
02

Patient Access in the Age of AI

Answer rates ran 60–70% at the practice level. A dedicated outbound team recaptured 60,000 patients that would have been lost.

“Last year, our outbound team recaptured 60,000 new patients that we would've otherwise lost.” Jeremy Stroud · Heartland Dental
LDLorri DetrickPresident & COO, Riccobene Associates
JSJeremy StroudVP Patient Services, Heartland Dental
ANAmol NirgudkarCEO, Patient Prism
03

AI-Enabled Case Acceptance

Two years of convincing doctors got nowhere. Retraining the assistants lifted production per patient about 29% — in the worst practices, not the best.

“APT went up about 29% in our worst practices.” Dr. Cindy Roark · Sage Dental
CRDr. Cindy RoarkSVP & Chief Clinical Officer, Sage Dental
TMDr. Trey MuellerChief Clinical Officer, Dental Care Alliance
TQDr. Tim QuirtSVP Clinical Operations, Heartland Dental
04

AI-Driven Revenue Cycle

Credit balances run about 5% of revenue, and roughly 85% aren't real refunds. Cleaning them up drops straight to the bottom line.

“I can't think of another way to increase EBITDA by 50 percent in 12 months.” Peter van Riper · Tally
PVPeter van RiperCEO, Tally
Operators at the Four Levers workshop
July 15, 2026 · 139 operators in the room

At some point, all of us are going to be an AI company — hopefully letting humans flourish because of it.

Amol Nirgudkar · Co-host, Healthcare 100

Listen & watch

All four conversations, unedited.

About 35 minutes each. Start with the lever you need.

Panel 1 of 4

Marketing in the Age of AI

Sherianne James · Jenn McClain

Panel 2 of 4

Patient Access in the Age of AI

Lorri Detrick · Jeremy Stroud · Amol Nirgudkar

Panel 3 of 4

AI-Enabled Case Acceptance

Dr. Cindy Roark · Dr. Trey Mueller · Dr. Tim Quirt

Panel 4 of 4

AI-Driven Revenue Cycle Management

Peter van Riper

The workbook

The left pages are theirs. The right pages are yours.

  • Insights and direct quotes from all four panels
  • The $100K Monday play from every panelist
  • A scorecard to commit to your own four moves

No email. No form. No gate.

The $100K Monday plays

What one move returns $100,000 of EBITDA inside a year?

We asked every panelist. Their answers are in the workbook.

Listen & subscribe Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube LinkedIn
Amol Nirgudkar & A.J. PeakCo-hosts, Healthcare 100