Summary
How Pacific Dental Services Health is linking dental care, oral-systemic health, Epic data sharing, and value-based care to improve whole-person outcomes.

In this episode of Analyzing Healthcare, Jason Schifman speaks with Daniel Burke, Chief Enterprise Strategy Officer at Pacific Dental Services Health, about dental-medical integration and the mouth-body connection. Daniel explains how PDS grew through de novo expansion, dentist ownership, and innovation, while using Epic data sharing to connect oral health with broader medical outcomes. The conversation explores periodontal disease, diabetes, payer interest, value-based care, and how dental practices can support whole-person, preventive healthcare.

What You’ll Learn

• ✅ Why PDS built through de novo growth
• ✅ How dentist ownership supports alignment
• ✅ Why oral health matters in chronic disease
• ✅ How Epic enables dental-medical collaboration
• ✅ Why payers are watching integrated care
• ✅ How PDS structures innovation at scale

Key Timestamps

• (00:02) Introduction to Daniel Burke and PDS Health
• (01:52) Pacific Dental’s history and founder-led culture
• (04:14) Owner-doc model, alignment, and dentist-level accountability
• (05:20) Why PDS stayed independent and invested in innovation
• (09:13) De novo growth, under-leverage, and financial discipline
• (14:59) Why PDS views healthcare as relational, not transactional
• (22:53) Why PDS moved into integrated dental-medical care
• (23:27) The science behind the mouth-body connection
• (25:35) Gum disease, diabetes, and medical cost reduction
• (29:28) Epic, data sharing, and virtual collaboration
• (31:15) Partnership models with medical groups
• (33:40) Why co-located medical and dental care improves follow-through
• (40:30) Patient reception to integrated care
• (41:32) Why payers are interested in dental-medical integration
• (43:25) Value-based care and risk-sharing opportunities
• (44:35) A1C testing in dental practices
• (48:23) Physician fee schedule and oral health referral incentives
• (51:35) How PDS structures innovation at scale
• (55:16) Final takeaway: oral health as better healthcare

Key Takeaways

• 💎 PDS grew through dentist ownership, de novo expansion, and long-term alignment.
• 💎 Oral health should not be separated from medical care.
• 💎 Periodontal disease can affect chronic conditions and medical utilization.
• 💎 Epic helps connect dental and medical teams through shared data.
• 💎 Payers see oral health as a lever for better outcomes and lower costs.
• 💎 Integrated care may scale through co-location, partnerships, data sharing, and value-based reimbursement.
• 💎 Innovation at PDS is supported by dedicated teams, structure, and disciplined testing.

Guest Bio

Daniel Burke is Chief Enterprise Strategy Officer at Pacific Dental Services Health, where he helps lead enterprise strategy across one of the country’s most innovative dental and integrated care platforms. PDS Health, formerly Pacific Dental Services, supports more than 1,000 dental practices and is advancing a model that connects oral health, medical care, data sharing, and whole-person outcomes. Daniel’s work focuses on growth strategy, dental-medical integration, payer engagement, innovation, and building scalable care models that support better patient health.

Resource Links

Guest: Daniel Burke – Chief Enterprise Strategy Officer, PDS Health

Host: Jason Schifman – President & Co-Founder, SCALE Healthcare

Podcast: Analyzing Healthcare by SCALE Community

SCALE Community: https://www.scale-community.com

SEO Keywords

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