Minal Sampat’s passion for dental health and direct experience as a licensed practitioner led to the launch of her own entrepreneurial venture. She has been in the marketing field for over seven years and is the Founder and President of the marketing consulting agency, Growth Management Marketing, LLC (GMM). In addition to leading a marketing agency, Minal also treats patients as a dental hygienist. She holds an Associate of Science degree in Dental Hygiene from Middlesex County College and a Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree in Communication & Biological Sciences from Rutgers University.
Minal’s record of accomplishment as a marketing director, practice growth manager, patient acquisition manager, and dental hygienist for a leading provider of pediatric dental health and orthodontic services in NJ demonstrates her ability to lead a comprehensive marketing and client referral program. She strongly believes in collaboration and brand engagement from all members of the team to achieve a genuine emotional connection to the success of a company. She speaks on a range of marketing topics from marketing strategy, digital & social marketing to patient engagement and marketing evaluation. Her marketing expertise delivers a presentation to help dental practices get results from their marketing efforts. Her lecture combines emotional engagement, empowerment, and experience so attendees leave excited and confident about the marketing opportunities available to them.

I would like to extend a warm welcome back to all our members. I trust you all had a very good summer and were able to take time off with family and friends. I would like to extend a big thank you to our immediate past president Dr. Devang Modi for the amazing job he did last year. I’m not sure which one was better, his presidency or his dancing skills!! Either way they will be hard shoes to fill in. Our President Elect and Educational Coordinator Dr. Genevieve Fernandes has arranged a great line up of speakers for this upcoming year. Please mark your calendars so you do not miss the meetings. One of the highlights of this year is our full day course in October 2017 when we will have Dr. Dennis Tarnow present to our society. Due to the continued support of members like yourself, and corporate sponsorship efforts headed by Dr. Ira Rosen, we are able to offer this course to you for the ridiculously low price of $25 as a member benefit (make sure to register by September 20th to get this price; after that it is $50).
My first meeting at the Pines was about 15 years ago. What struck me the most was the number of members that were in attendance. Having come from another component in another state it was amazing to see such vibrant camaraderie. When I was approached by Dr. Ethan Glickman about 11 years ago to attend one of the monthly board meetings I appreciated the opportunity to be a part of organized dentistry. The collaborative efforts of these dedicated board members has made our society what it is today and for that I thank them. When Dr. Simos approached me to “climb the ladder” I felt very honored and today as your president I am humbled at the opportunity to serve MCDS and its members. A wise executive once said, “A person in power can either swell or grow.” I am pretty adequate in the first category and would rather achieve more of the latter!! In fact since joining the Board I have seen tremendous professional and personal growth and I would encourage all our members-especially the younger ones- to give it a try. You will not be disappointed. I will see you on September 19th.

In Memoriam (Excerpted from the Star Ledger)

Dr. Thomas H. Paterniti Metuchen dentist with a distinguished public service career; he was known as the “Dean of Middlesex County Democrats” Dr. Thomas H. “Doc” Paterniti, 88, died Saturday, May 13, 2017, at John F. Kennedy Medical Center’s Haven Hospice Care Center in Edison, N.J., surrounded by his loving family. Dr. Paterniti, a dentist for 60 years with a private practice in Metuchen, N.J., served twice as mayor of Edison and 12 years in the New Jersey Legislature, representing the 18th District as a state senator and assemblyman. He was also Middlesex County’s longest-serving Democratic Municipal Chairman, a post he held in Edison for a total of 31 years until 2015.
Dr. Paterniti served for 26 years as chairman of the Middlesex County March of Dimes Campaign and for many years on the Central New Jersey March of Dimes’ board of directors. Dr. Paterniti was a founding member and trustee of the Edison Sheltered Workshop for people with developmental disabilities and he served on the board of directors for the Central Jersey Association for Exceptional Children.
Dr. Paterniti was past-president of the Edison Library Board of Trustees, the Metuchen Chamber of Commerce and the Metuchen Rotary Club.
He is survived by his loving wife of 59 years, Helen “Pix” (Soltesz) Paterniti; a son, Thomas H. Paterniti of Pittsburgh, Pa.; three daughters, Maria Tomaro and her husband, Freeholder Charles Tomaro of Edison, Sarah Mandel and her husband, Dr. Marc Mandel of Westfield, N.J., and Lisa Paterniti of Edison. He is also survived by six grandchildren: Amanda Troiano and her husband, Christopher, Justin Tomaro, Thomas and Tara Paterniti, and Brian and Joseph Mandel, and by a great- granddaughter, Scarlett Troiano.

Reports Executive Director & Legal Counsel – Mr. Arthur Meisel Mr. Arthur Meisel reported that a civil lawsuit against Aetna has been filed. This is in regard to Aetna’s effort to recover payment that were made by mistake. He had reported at the House of Delegates meeting on June 6th that the Supreme Court on May 4th rendered a unanimous decision in Allstate v. Northfield Medical Center. The case dealt with corporate practice and insurance fraud. A brief description of the case and its significance was presented. Finances Dr. Mitch Weiner and Randi Shook worked on analyzing the 2016 figures. They first looked at where there were savings; i.e., new telephone system, copy machines, pension restructuring and the new accounting firm. This will be put together for the proposed 2018 Budget. Dr. Vitale thanked both Dr. Weiner and Randi Shook for all their work and the clarity in developing the new financial statement. Membership Dr. Brett Handsman, Chair of the Council on Membership, thanked Dr. Vitale for the opportunity to chair the council and is looking forward to working with Charles Sperry when he assumes the role of Director of Membership. He reported that he has been on the council for seven or eight years as Union’s rep. He has been looking at the downward trend of numbers in losing members each year. We are down 181 members from this time last year. The ADA tries to reach out to these members and each NJDA membership rep in each component is asked to try to get them to renew. He is hopeful that we will succeed in getting them to renew as he has done with good success as Union’s rep. Before looking at the numbers he thought the problem was with the young members (age 25-29), however, the 45-49 age group has the highest percentage drop, 14% v. 12% for the 25-29 age group. They plan to work hard in lowering these figures in these age groups as well as all the other age groups. Dr. Handsman was asked some questions regarding retention. Dr. Mitch Weiner had brought up the fact that we seem to recognize members when they first join and then again when they reach the age of 65 with 30 continuous years. He would like to see how to address the gap between these two events and recognize members for their service. Development Mrs. Maureen Barlow reported that Henry Schein was thrilled with Charles Blair. We made $13,000 with Charles Blair and $16,000 with Stephen Chu, however, we had to pay out $10,000 to Dr. Chu. NJDA is building momentum with its new program for the upcoming year with Henry Schein, Care Credit, etc. She distributed the free Practice Analysis form from Henry Schein. The Leadership Conference will be held at Top Golf in Edison on November 1, 2017. Component leaders (Presidents, President-Elects, V.Ps., Treasurers, Secretaries, Program Chairs and Editors, including ASDA leaders) will be invited to attend. We have attempted Leadership Conferences in the past. They were successful and then dropped. We need to re-create the Leadership Conference and create programs and to set up structure for future years to come. It is important to continue with follow up. Dr. Diana Galvis reported that the first CE meeting is scheduled today following the Board meeting and will decide what the future plans are. She looked into its history and hopefully will be able to map out things that can go into the future. She expressed her appreciation for the guidance and knowledge that Maureen Barlow shared with her. She encouraged everyone to be on the outlook for quality speakers. If you attend a meeting or CE and you feel the speaker was worthy, give us feed back of the potentially good speaker. You are a scouting agent for us. If you attend any program, please fill out the course evaluation form. She informed everyone that there is an electronic version of the form. Dr. Galvis reported that we have scheduled three Resource Day events in three parts of the State, Mt. Laurel, East Windsor and East Hanover. You can create your own schedule for yourself and your team. Free shredding will be offered. The fee is $95.00 for a full day conference and you can receive 8 credits. The fee for non-members and staff is $150.00 Annual Session Dr. Renee Arace thanked Dr. Vitale and the officers for honoring both her and Maureen Barlow for their work on Annual Session. This is her first year chairing the Council and collaborating with the students. She feels the students are our future and Annual Session is a great place for student involvement. She felt there was a great team effort at Annual Session and it was very successful. She heard only great reviews on the floor plan on CE and the vendors were very happy. Charles Blair received the best attendance. Revenue was up, $191,000 in 2017 vs. $185, 000 in 2016; expenses were higher in 2017 over 2016. There were 350 member registrants and 150 others. Middlesex, Bergen, Essex and Hudson had the best component attendance. The Council is negotiating the 2018 contract with the Newark Liberty Airport Marriot. The House of Delegates meeting will again be part of the Annual Session Conference. Dr. Arace felt that the Delegates are part of our leadership and should attend the Annual Session meeting as well as the House of Delegates. She is looking forward to the May 17-19, 2018 Annual Session Conference. DENTAL BENEFITS Dr. Art Bilenker, Chair of the Council on Dental Benefits, was unable to attend today. Dr. Ed Tirpack, Tri-County’s rep on the Council, gave the report. He reported that the last Council meeting was May 17th and they reviewed the Claim Resolution Program statistics and noted the trend of increased audits since January. They discussed Federal Plans, in particular Delta Dental, requiring predeterminations prior to issuing benefits or allowing dentists to pass the fee onto patients. There is no predetermination, no reimbursement and the dentist cannot charge the patient. There is no coverage nor benefits available when service are provided by a dentist who does not participate in the Delta Dental PPO Network. Aetna mailed a bulletin to participating dentists listing new claim codes. Look for these codes, they will be posted on the NJDA website. Horizon recently sent out term letters, stating termination without cause claiming that it is part of the PAR Contract. This is affecting most specialties. Currently we are uncertain of the reason, but will followup. Empire of NY amended its contract for specialties showing that GPs must keep certain procedures in their office and are limited to what they can refer. Horizon recently sent out re-credentialing letters, as well as Cigna, with some amendments for NJ dentists. The council discussed how to better communicate this information to our members. Dr. Tirpak reported that Mr. Art Meisel will report on the NJ Supreme Court decision regarding Allstate. He announced that the Council’s next meeting date is September 13, 2017. GOVERNMENTAL AND PUBLIC AFAIRS Dr. Elisa Velazquez reported that she has enjoyed working with Mr. Jim Schulz during her first year as Chairperson. She was delighted to report how easy it was to navigate during the Annual Session and felt it was the best yet with a very successful Town Hall meeting. They are still trying to negotiate a date to visit a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) and the Council is planning a joint meeting in Trenton with PAC. This will be followed up with an email. There are a few hot issues in Trenton. 1) The Universal Dental Application Bill was signed on in both the Assembly and the Senate and unanimously passed through the Assembly Committee. Senator Singer and Addiego are both on the Health Committee. This will be a very positive change. 2) A bill to prevent the sale of health care provider networks is looking for Senate sponsorship. This does not relate to ERISA plans. 3) There are changes in opioid subscribing laws and we are amending the guidelines to stay current with the laws. Please look for them in Monday morning eblasts. 4) At the last hour, dental was put into a bill stating we may have to be licensed as an ambulatory care facility which will be cumbersome and costly. We will keep you posted. Bill S278 –Jim Schulz reported that for the past six years, we have been able to carve dentistry out. This bill would require medical offices to be licensed for ambulatory surgeries. He has heard there is criticism of the Board of Dentistry to combat these decisions and why it has not been monitored. It has been announced into legislation with a fee of $5,000 a year and with DOH oversight. NJDA will try to get Senator Vitale to move dentistry out again. We are only able to react and respond. Dr. Conaway is chair on the Assembly Health Committee and a friend. He probably does not want to pass this legislation. Jim will keep the members posted. Also the negative reports in the press can hurt us and we have to work hard to undo the negativity. Mr. Schulz reported that we had 100% success in the election primaries yesterday; everyone who we supported won. He feels that we have made real progress with securing a dental director, giving us the opportunity to make changes with the health space. There are three weeks left to pass the budget and that will be the end until December. NJDA will attempt to get certain bills passed during this period. He stressed the importance of getting our brand out to the public so the public is aware of what NJDA is and what we do for dentistry and for the public. STATE BOARD OF DENTISTRY Dr. Alan Rothstein reported on the May 3, 2017 State Board Meeting. He discussed the draft copy of a paper regarding changes in licensure and registration, including a mandatory 10 hours of CE in specific disciplines. The CE as currently proposed will be divided between 3 hours hands on for CPR including training in AEDs, 3 hours of pharmacology and internal medicine control of infectious disease, 2 hours in controlling and preventing infectious disease (OSHA) and 1 hour in professional ethics. It is out for review and it is highly likely that it will be adopted. The Board did recognize that there are real problems in these areas. Dr. Rothstein announced that there is a State Board meeting today. Both Dr. Rossi and Art Meisel could not attend; Dr. Joan Monaco will be there for NJDA. ADDITIONAL COUNCILS, COMMITTEES & TASK FORCES, OFFICERS & TRUSTEES Council on Peer Review Dr. Sandy Goldstein, Chair of the Council on Peer Review, reported that there were 21 cases assigned so far in 2017. Five cases were successfully mediated, three cases were closed prior to mediation and thirteen cases are pending. Dr. Walter Chinoy suggested that we have a regular column in the newsletter explaining the Peer Review process; possibly giving some examples of cases without specifics. He feels this is a very important council that is beneficial for both the dentist as well at the patient. OFFICERS Dr. Thomas Rossi, Vice President Dr. Rossi reported on the health benefits plan, AMT. As this is an employee benefit, we need to have a clear answer on what we have now vs. AMT. Until we get better clarification from AMT, it is status quo. We are looking to update staff job descriptions and the Employee Manual. Dr. Alan Rothstein, President-Elect Dr. Rothstein reported that both he and Dr. Mark Vitale will be attending the ADA President-Elect’s Conference in July and has scheduled an appointment with Dr. Kathleen O’Loughlin to discuss governance. Dr. Vitale addressed the absence of certain component representation on Councils. Both Atlantic-Cape May and Bergen were asked to look into asking its members. It was suggested that they mention the fact we can video conference or call in so that those components that have to travel a significant distance, can attend.