Where are the Patients Moving?
How Population Changes Can Affect your Practice
Let’s ignore the news that China’s population declined in 2022 for the first time since the early 1960s and the ramifications of a smaller China on the global economy. The population shift in the US to more rural and southern locations by retired Baby Boomers and work-from-home millennials may have a dramatic affect on your practice.
The Baby Boomers
This is the generation born between 1946-1964 that have been the economic engine for this country over the past 60 years due to their size alone. They are still a powerful force in spending, but as retirees that spending has changed to focus more on travel and medical spending.
Opportunities (because everything is an opportunity):
The Baby Boomers still make great patients for your practice. So continue to market to this generation while diversifying your patient base across generations.
Baby Boomer dentists are retiring and selling their practices. A large majority are selling out to DSOs as indicated in the drop in private practice ownership from 66.5% of dentists in 2001 to only 46.2% in 2021. If you are looking to purchase a practice from an established Baby Boomer, there should be plenty of opportunities over the next 5 to 10 years.
The top three states in terms of population growth for 2022 were Arizona, Florida and Georgia. Many states in the North experienced a third straight year of population decline. So if you are a young dentist looking for a practice, go where the patients are and try to find a city with a dentist per capita ratio of less than 67 dentist per 100,000 residents. If you are an established dentist in an area of declining population, you have an opportunity to cast your marketing net a little wider to a larger geographic area that will be drawn to what makes your practice special.
Generation Z
Let’s skip the Millennials (those born between 1981-1996) as that may include you and certainly a majority of your team and focus on those born between 1997-2012 known as Generation Z. This generation has been described as more educated, well-behaved and depressed than any previous generation. This is the first generation that has always had the internet and iPhone and feels connected to the larger world.
Opportunities (because everything is an opportunity):
GenZ is focused on personal well-being and health, so they should make for great patients as they mature if your practice focuses on hearing their story.
With phones permanently attached to their bodies, GenZ will demand to communicate with your practice via their phone. This does not mean reading that email you just sent, but notifications and payment options via an app.
As this generation joins the workforce, they are looking for ways to improve the world around them and dentistry is an amazing way to benefit others. The ADA predicts a de-aging and diversification of the dental workforce over the next 10 years as GenZ takes over for the Baby Boomers. Be sure to encourage the GenZers in your life to pursue their dreams, especially if it involves dentistry.