Retired dentist, Joseph Fendall Outten, DDS of Greenville, South Carolina and his daughter, Mary Cornelia Outten, a healthcare executive with over 35 years of experience in healthcare negotiations, created the Dental Advocacy Group.
The organization’s founding comes from Dr. Outten’s deep love for the practice of dentistry and quality treatment of dental patients. Dr. Outten noticed that increased pressure from managed care entities, as well as franchise or corporate dental conglomerates, have changed the competitive landscape for the traditional, community dental practice.
Dr. Joe Outten
Dr. Outten believed that changes in competition and lower insurance fee schedules were creating a pennies-for-profit environment which could result in the erosion of quality patient care. The answer to this dilemma was to create an organization that could help community dentists by providing higher fee schedules, combined with broad insurance access to support patients financial benefit.
Cornelia spearheaded the Dental Advocacy Group’s formation as an innovative solution for community dentists. She began utilizing a lifetime of contacts to develop relationships that would result in higher fee schedules and stress-free credentialing.
Today, the Dental Advocacy Group remains true to its founding and continues to help community dentists throughout the United States.
Our Leadership Team
Cornelia Outten
Managing Director
As Co-Founder and Managing Director of Dental Advocacy Group, I guide the organization to fulfill its mission of creating enhanced profitability for private dental practices. My passion to negotiate mutually beneficial relationships between providers of care and payers of care translates well in the dental industry. Our assembled team is quite diverse, and collectively produce our value as dental revenue experts.
James D. Bolt, DMD
Chief Member Advocate
Jim Bolt, DMD joined Dental Advocacy Group as its Chief Member Advocate. Dr. Bolt, having been mentored by Dr. Outten from an early age, shares the same passion, energy, and concerns about the practice of dentistry. Dr. Bolt has become the driving force behind engaging dental students and helping them better prepare for the practice of dentistry. He also serves as a resource to the large and growing membership.
Susie Oliver
President & CFO
As a member of the Dental Advocacy Group team, I have the great fortune of providing leadership to the Account Management and Operations teams. I am able to utilize my past experience leading business operations, finance and customer service teams to support the DAG team and our clients. We have assembled a diverse group of experienced Dental and Insurance experts that demonstrate their passion and commitment to supporting our Client Practices. The team drive and focus are on continuous improvement, consistent communication and delivering value to our clients every day.
Michael Ingram
Vice President, Sales & Marketing
My role with Dental Advocacy Group allows me to draw on three decades of experience in business and relationship development. By focusing on key partner relationships, we can offer programs to private dental practices that truly increase revenue, while simplifying the insurance and PPO contracting process. By working directly with our partners and clients, we develop and promote solutions that provide tangible, lasting value to the dentist.
Peg Patton
Vice President, Operations
Joining Dental Advocacy Group allows me to leverage my 30+ years of payer and provider experience while supporting practices as they navigate complex payer landscapes. I believe in the ability to indirectly make a difference in the health and wellbeing of patient’s lives through supporting practice success. The ongoing pursuit of operational excellence, loyal relationships and industry knowledge provides an environment for growth and inspiration in an ever-changing environment. A vigilant commitment to our clients drives the passion to change lives one practice at a time.
Jim Honn
Vice President
Technology, Data, Analytics & Compliance
My role on the Dental Advocacy Group leadership team allows me to utilize my several decades-long technology, data, compliance and operational healthcare industry experience. Accordingly, I have assembled a multi-faceted group of experienced technology, data, analytics, and compliance healthcare experts whose focus is on providing a stable and predictable technology, data, and analytics infrastructure to enable continuous improvement as well as to deliver timely and targeted data solutions to our clients so they can make better informed decisions about all aspects of their practice.
Cynthia Roberts
Vice President, Practice Intel
As VP of Practice Intel, I collaborate with DAG clients to harness the power of practice intelligence, enabling them to make data-driven decisions that accelerate business success. Leveraging DAG’s proprietary practice portal, I guide clients in identifying and prioritizing key performance indicators to achieve both operational and financial improvements. With over 20 years of experience in dental operations and management consulting, I have dedicated my career to empowering dental practice of all sizes to thrive strategic, data-driven decision-making.
