ual services. Texas law expressly allows
DSOs to operate so long as DSOs do not
involve themselves in clinical treatment
and the provision of services by DSOs do
not impact the independent professional
judgment of the dentist or result in
improper ownership or control of the
dental practice by unlicensed persons.
DSOs have operated for decades in Texas
without significant problems and have
peacefully co-existed with non-affiliated
dentists.
NEW RULES UNDER CONSIDERATION
On August 8, 2014, the Texas Dental
Board officially proposed the new rules
and on September 5, 2014, the new rules
were posted for public comments with
comments being accepted through
October 6, 2014. On October 1, 2014, the
Dental Board conducted a public hearing
and numerous concerned individuals
(including dentists, attorneys and businesspersons) testified in opposition to
the new rules.
The primary areas of opposition to the
new rules were:
Potential litigation. The Dental Board
lacked authority to adopt the new rules
and the adoption of the rules could result
in litigation;
Concern about lost jobs. The new rules
could potentially put DSOs out of business and cause the loss of jobs;
Clarity and consistency. The new rules are
at best unclear and at worst inconsistent
with existing law; and
Unreasonable restrictiveness. The new
rules unreasonably restrict the ability
of licensed dentists to contract for
non-clinical administrative services. The
Dental Board stated at the hearing that
its intent was to enforce existing law and
not prohibit all DSOs from operating and
that it would consider alternative language to the proposed rules.
On October 6, 2014, the staff of the
Federal Trade Commission provided formal comments that stated that the proposed changes would, among other
things:
Reduce competition. The proposed rules,
if adopted, may discourage dentists from
affiliating with