Behind every successful practice is an office manager who displays innovative thinking, business acumen and leadership qualities, within their practice and their community. Each year, the AADOM recognizes these exceptional individuals and highlights their accomplishments at their annual conference. “I’ve been in dentistry for over 20 years.  When you’ve been around that long, you know what it takes to get results.  It takes a great team, great clinical skills and delivering a great patient experience,” said Kay Valentine, 2009 AADOM Office Manager of the Year.

The 2010 AADOM Office Manager of the Year will be featured on the front cover of The Observer, AADOM’s publication for dental office managers, receives free registration in 2011 to the Annual Dental Office Managers Conference and a check for $1,000, courtesy of CareCredit, AADOM Founding Sponsor. “We’re delighted to support the AADOM in recognizing the valuable contribution these professionals have made and support their professional and personal growth,” stated Cindy Hearn, Sr. VP of Marketing, CareCredit.  For nomination details, visit www.dentalmanagers.com.

About the AADOM: the American Association of Dental Office Managers (AADOM) is the country’s largest professional organization for office managers, practice administrators and other practice management staff.  The AADOM is committed to creating and maintaining a network of dental professionals to share resources and information, helping all members achieve the highest level of professional and personal development. The Annual Dental Office Managers Conference will be held this October in Las Vegas.

About CareCredit: for more than 20 years, CareCredit has been making it easy for patients to get the dentistry they need and want. Today, CareCredit is at work in more than 130,000 practices and has been used by over 20 million patients.  CareCredit is exclusively selected for their members by most state and national dental associations, including the AADOM, ADA Business Resources^SM*, AGD, AAOMS, and AAP, and is also recommended by leading practice management consultants. For more information on CareCredit, call 1-800-300-3046 ext. 4519 or visit www.carecredit.com.

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*ADA is a registered trademark of the American Dental Association. ADA Business Resources is a service mark of the American Dental Association. ADA Business Resources is a program brought to you by ADA Business Enterprises, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the American Dental Association.

Jameson teams use the 25 systems of a dental practice that Jameson has pinpointed and they rate themselves on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being poor; 10 being excellent.  Everyone rates the systems individually; then the group tallies their scores and studies the averages.  This acts as a measurement tool and a compass on where to focus your attention as a team for practice improvement and continuous growth.

Have you graded your practice lately?  Rate yourself on Jameson’s 25 systems:

1. Improve Teamwork
2. Discover Effective Communication
3. Develop & Achieve Mission / Vision / Goals – Strategic Plan
4. Understand Personnel Management
5. Have Exceptional Team Meetings
6. Provide Various Financing Options
7. Manage Insurance Policies
8. Experience Increased Collections
9. Schedule Effectively
10. Monitor Overhead Control / Fee Analysis
11. Track Business Monitors/Monthly Graphs
12. Enhance Your New Patient Experience
13. Deliver Excellent Diagnoses / Treatment Plans/ Consultations
14. Increase Treatment Coordination and Acceptance
15. Utilize Full Use of Technology and Equipment
16. Educate Patients
17. Establish Clinical Efficiency / Ergonomics Systems
18. Learn the Critical Factors of Documentation
19. Implement an Advanced Hygiene Program
20. Maximize Hygiene Retention
21. Maintain Superior Levels of Sterilization / Infection Control
22. Drive Patients to Your Practice Through Marketing / Practice Building
23. Provide 5-Star Customer Service
24. Build Specific Aspects of the Practice (i.e. – Cosmetic, Implant, Invisalign, etc.)
25. Develop Leadership Skills

How did you do?  Now, focus your attention on the low scoring items and get your systems into alignment.  This is the first step in having a practice that runs like a well-oiled machine.  Visit www.jamesonmanagement.com today and take a more focused, online Rate Your Practice survey.

If your practice is not doubling every ten years, you may have missed opportunities along the way.  How much have missed opportunities cost you?  Where would your practice be today if you had seized a few more opportunities over the last few years? Ken Runkle has uncovered 5 Rules related to the high cost of missed opportunities.  Learn them now and empower your practice to take advantage of opportunities for substantial growth today.

Download the pdf here:

MissedOpportunities

Visit the Paragon Blog!

1. Less is more.  Too much animation, sound effects, objects, text, etc., can overwhelm your patient, diluting your overall message.
2. The total amount of time you or a team member should invest into one digital case presentation is approximately 35 minutes.
3. Use PowerPoint templates to minimize the time you put into creating the presentation.  Why reinvent the wheel?
4. When altering an image to show potential cosmetic results, remember the purpose is to give the patient an idea of what he or she would look like with cosmetic dentistry.  It is not a diagnostic tool.
5. The patient photos need to show his or her teeth.  Sounds simple and like common sense.  However, we see photos all the time where the patient is not smiling that are being used.

For more information on Jameson Marketing and Digital Case Presentation services, visit www.jamesonmanagement.com.

By Misty Clark

Linda Miles, formerly of Linda Miles & Associates and creator of Speaking and Consulting Network, says that 70% of dental practices have reduced hours, laid off employees, cut benefits, or put a freeze on raises. In “Times are tough – no raises this year,” Linda tells us that salary increases for dental professionals may not happen this year because of our lagging economy. She says that merit raises are a much better option than cost of living raises for everyone. Linda believes that merit is based on four key components: attitude, responsibilities, performance, and the health of the practice. Read Linda’s article here, at Dentistry IQ.

Dianne Glasscoe-Watterson of Professional Dental Management answered a letter about “Keeping morale up in a down economy.” The questioner, a dentist, was worried about how to keep morale up when she could not give salary raises and was worried about having to lay off employees. Dianne says doctors need to inform their team of the practice statistics so they can understand “what it actually takes to keep the doors open.” They’ll become stakeholders in the business rather than dependents.

(You might also check out this article on salary versus commission for hygienists.)

But let’s get back to the top ten. Money aside, the desire for respect came in a close second. It’s not surprising. RDAs are proud of their credentials and want respect from their dentists. In a related topic, “many dental assistants feel that their employers treat them like they are ‘just an expense item.’” Furthermore, “not all assistants are created the same, “say ‘thank you’ when team members work hard, and “talk to your team to see where there might be problems.” The underlying theme in all of these points is respect. So how can you show your team members that you value and respect them?

In a Dental Economics article, Dr. Anil Agarwal says that not all employees are money motivated. To show his appreciation for his team members, Dr. Agarwal says that he “. I thank my team members daily for their efforts, and keep movie and dinner tickets handy for on-the-spot recognition when someone goes well beyond the call of duty.” He goes on to recommend the book, 1001 Ways to Reward Employees by Bob Nelson.

You might also read 555 Ways to Reward Your Dental Team by Dr. Joe Blaes and Dr. Nate Booth. I’ll close up this article with a great quote that’s featured in both of these books:

“A good leader is one who approaches leadership as a calling, a life engagement that, if done properly, combines technical and administrative skills with vision, compassion, honesty, and trust to create an environment in which people can grow personally, can feel fulfilled, can contribute to a common good, and can share in the psychic and financial rewards of a job well done.”

James A. Autry

Love and Profit – The Art of Caring Leadership

Don’t be envious or jaded, just get on board. For the average Dr. Joe, going green doesn’t have to involve redecorating or rebuilding. And contrary to a popular frog’s beliefs, it IS easy being green. Here are just a few ways to celebrate Earth Day this year:

Your Front Office

• Online Registration Forms – instead of printed paperwork
• Web Marketing – instead of phone book ads
• Texted Recall Reminders – instead of postcards
• Recycled Paper & Biodegradable Office Products
• Recycling Program in the Office – call your city for details

Your Back Office

• Digital X-rays – instead of conventional films
• Composite Fillings – instead of amalgams
• Safe Mercury Removal Procedures – see mercuryfreenow.com

The Facility

• Recycled or Bio-Friendly Building Materials
• Reusable Instruments & Supplies (when possible)
• Lush Landscaping & Rainwater Irrigation System
• Windows for Natural Light
• Furniture with Eco-Resins
• HVAC with Zone Controls
• Energy Saving Appliances
• Mercury-Free Lighting

Fact: The first LEED-certified dental office as Mint Dental Works in Portland. LEED® is the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program, which is part of the US Green Building Council.

Why Go Green?

Well, you are a human, aren’t you? Do you want your great-great grandchildren to have to wear a respirator 24/7? Other than that, green is good to get you more green. Let me explain. The hot trend in marketing today is giving – investing in people and community is what Generation G is all about. Consider that Miley Cyrus traded her mother’s Porsche in for a Prius, and you’ll see my point.

What better community could you support than the global community? Seriously, just like the Halloween Candy Buy Back can boost your marketing campaign in October, six months later, a Green Dentistry campaign centered around Earth Day has the potential to make a splash with local media.

• Find out what your city is doing for Earth Day and get on board
• Find out what local schools are doing for Earth Day and offer to help
• Sponsor a community clean-up day in a high-visibility area and wear T-shirts with your practice’s name in big bold print on the back
• Send out an e-newsletter advertising that any patient who wears green the week of Earth Day will get a special gift – and give away bedding plants or pet rocks
• Create a “How to Save Your Smile and the Earth” article that reviews the green things your office does, and submit the article to local newspapers and blogs

Get creative this Earth Day and make a mint in the process.

An interesting read… The Wellness Factor.

The Chicago Midwinter is huge, whereas ACE attracts about 100 dentists. At both meetings, my initial impression from January held true. The dentists in Chicago were buying and looking, and it seemed that everyone had a positive outlook. Unlike a few years ago, dental meetings in 2010 are not full of complaining dentists, but dentists who are gearing up and setting great expectations going forward.

There’s not a lot of truly new technology, but people are buying. I think this shows the downturn in research in development a few years ago; it’s catching up now.

The great outlook at Chicago was reflected at ACE in Tampa. Though the crowd was small, ACE dentists are in the cosmetic niche, so they do a lot or elective work. Even with this small piece of the market, dentists had an encouraging perspective on the future. The three-day conference focused on new ideas for more profitable dentistry. The group was fired up. Everyone has high expectations for upcoming year.

In my office,  we’ve seen a turnaround. Since February, we’ve picked up 25-30%. As of March, elective dentistry has resurfaced, as well. We’ve done a lot of cosmetic cases and consulted on many that will book soon. Hopefully it’s a trend!

For dentists, the first point of reference in advertising guidelines should always be the state board’s regulations. The Texas Dental Association, for instance, does not allow dentists to use testimonials in advertising. Other state dental boards regulate issues like statements of superiority, promising predictable results, and use of misleading statements.

Once your advertisement or website passes through the state board’s filter of regulations, consult the FTC guidelines. New policies prohibit promises of atypical results in testimonials, even with a disclaimer; revealing material connections with endorsers; and even on talk shows and in social media, celebrities have to tell people if they’re being paid for the endorsements they discuss.

These days, with online communities like Facebook and Yelp!, dentists who want to boost their advertising often look for testimonials from their patients. Demandforce and other marketing companies for dentists provide a service to acquire and post testimonials from current patients. Not a bad idea if you don’t know the rules and don’t have the time.

For video testimonials, the new guidelines could mean that you’ll need to script the patient testimonials prior to shooting or edit the videos for compliance before use.

A set of guides are available online to make the “16 C.F.R. Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising” a little easier for you to digest. Get the scoop here: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm.

www.smilemarketing.com

One of the occupational hazards of dentists and others in the healing arts is setting appropriate boundaries around caring for patients and what they do. While some in dentistry tout how much they care, perhaps as a marketing ploy, the truth is few patients are looking for a caring dentist! Because “caring” is mostly a hygiene factor. If you show up care-less, that is, without enough caring, patients detect your aloofness and interpret your detachment as a lack of interest. If you show up caring too much, you create a patient obligation that can actually work against you. The objective is to find the sweet spot between the extremes.

Of course, most dentists are unaware of those instances in which they cross the line by caring too much. However, if you’re trading patients with other dentists in your area, having the equivalent of a series of “one night stands,” you may be guilty of this all-too common trait among the most empathetic dentists.

What Patients Hate More

As a dentist, you probably haven’t seen it through this lens, but there’s something that patients find more distasteful than seeing a dentist. It’s seeing a new dentist.

When patients contemplate changing dentists, they can’t help but think of the formidable paperwork, the new environment, new procedures, new personalities and not to mention the general hassle factor. Changing dentists is so unsavory, a dentist would have to inflict a lot of pain to prompt a patient to seek out a new one. But they often do. Oh, not physical pain! Sure, that can happen. But more frequently, it’s psychological pain.

Using Your Cultural Authority

When you care too much, you impose an obligation or create an expectation of a certain patient behavior. It’s often justified as being in the patient’s best interests or the duty of a licensed professional. Even if you see it as merely a polite reminder about the importance of regular flossing, patients with moderate- to low-levels of self-esteem can interpret your well-intentioned suggestion as a prerequisite for being a practice member. Or what “good” patients do.

Each patient, not you, decides if your suggestions or recommendations are an imposition. And it may have nothing to do with the actual words you use, but merely the tone of your voice, body language and countless other nuances. That’s why it’s critical that you care, but not too much.

The Sweet Spot

One way to supply the essential information and guidance is to take a more oblique approach, moving from the first person, “It’s my opinion that you…” or “I think you should…” to the third person: “Many of our patients find…” or “Over the years we’ve noticed…” Patients are more likely to see this as a respectful acknowledgment of their free will—without it being packaged in an obligation that the patient may not be prepared to live up to.

If your heart is clouded by the financial payoff you hope to achieve by inducing patients to embrace your care recommendations, you’ve crossed the boundary between ministry and manipulation. One way to know if patients perceive that you’ve crossed this invisible line is to take an inventory of how many patients in typical month are first timers as a ratio to total patient visits. The higher the number, the leakier your bucket.

In cooperation with Collier, Sarner & Associates, Inc. (www.csanews.com). This is not tax advice. Please consult your own advisors.

Keith Drayer is Vice President, Henry Schein Financial Services. Henry Schein Financial Services provides equipment, technology, practice start-up and acquisition financing services nationwide. Henry Schein Financial Services can be reached at 800-853-9493 or hsfs@henryschein.com.

Your dental office has a sensational opportunity to get involved with your local community, which is great for marketing, and it also shows your business’s desire to give back to the community and nation. Keep in mind, the popular marketing trend of Generation G focuses on generosity, giving, and gratitude. HCBBP fits that bill to a T.

History of the program…
Dr. Chris Kammer started the Halloween Candy Buy Back Program in 2006 when his PR company asked him about an innovative idea for an October promotion. He didn’t invent the concept, but his program has taken off across the country. Dentists, patients, and US soldiers have shown their appreciation through countless letters, videos, pictures, and testimonials. As a free, volunteer-based program, Halloween Candy Buy Back works for everyone!

Here’s how the program works…

• Sign up as a participating dentist – it’s free.
• Learn how to set up your event at a location and time that works for you.
• Get your whole team involved.
• Learn how to advertise the event within your community.
• Give kids $1 per pound of candy they donate.
• Learn how to ship the candy to US soldiers who are serving overseas.
• It’s that easy. And the whole event is tax deductible.

Facebook: You’ll see ideas, posters, videos, and testimonials of dental offices across the nation that have found the Halloween Candy Buy Back Program to be a huge success.
Visit: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/pages/Halloween-Candy-Buy-Back/89356491948?ref=nf

Website: The Halloween Candy Buy Back Program is currently creating a new and improved website with TNT Dental. However, at the current site, you’ll have access to a wealth of information, tips, and newsletter archives to help you kick of your practice’s program.
Visit: https://www.tntsecureforms.com/?f=MTE1MQ

• Dentists Feel Bite of Recession
• Future of Healthcare, Autos
• Local Dentist Gripes to US Capitol
• Volunteer Dentists Needed in Valdosta
• iPod Touch and iPhone Dental Apps Available
• HemCon Signs Exclusive Agreement with Zimmer
• Survey of American Children’s Oral Health Released
• Toledo Dentists Launches New Pacifier
• Kansas Takes Steps to Offset Dentist Shortage
• UCLA School of Dentistry to Build New Cancer Research Facility

If you aren’t a friend on DentalBlogs at Facebook, you’re missing out. Request friendship today by visiting www.facebook.com/dentalblogs.

When a seasoned dentist like myself looks toward transition, he or she should realize, there’s a lot of opportunity to work maybe two days or three mornings a week. You can sell practice, or bring on an associate, and create a structure that allows you to stay involved and have a really nice professional life, but also slow down your pace.

When we look at the number of dentists leaving school and those facing retirement, we see a real problem in trying to deliver all the dental care necessary for the population of the future. We’re training 50% women, which has never happened in our industry to date. A consideration with this, though, is that not all women want to practice full time, particularly once they have a family. Many international students graduate in the states, then go back home. Clearly, to meet the needs of our population, young and experienced dentists will need to work together. Personally, I see this as a great opportunity to continue to practice at a slower pace and to focus on the kind of dentistry I truly enjoy.

Dr. Cranham runs a private practice in Chesapeake, Virginia, focusing on cosmetic, restorative and implant services. He is a Partner and Director of Education for The Dawson Academy bases in St. Petersburg, Florida. Additionally Dr. Cranham founded Cranham Dental Seminars which provides a combination of lecture and mobile hands-on programs. Dr. Cranham can be reached at www.dawsoncenter.com, www.cranhamdentalseminars.com, or at smildoc@aol.com.

So what does that mean to the average dental practitioner? A lot! We are responsible for providing the appropriate technical information by which our patients make choices, i.e. a root canal or extraction, medicate first or extract the hopeless infected tooth or even an implant or a three unit bridge? These two decisions basically stated that our informing the patient of “appropriate” technical information is not enough and that all alternate, viable medical modes of treatment, including diagnosis, as well as the benefits and risks of such treatments, must be explained.

A simple example of this is: do we use lidocaine, mepivacaine or articaine (Septocaine)? What are the advantages or each? What are the risks of using each? How often to the various issues listed with each drug arise? And on and on and on. Our dental procedures could now take one half hour and another additional half hour for informed consent. A suggestion… check with your attorney or with your state dental society and download the accepted informed consent.

That really is an ounce of prevention.

For several examples of these forms, contact Health Compliance Team, Inc.

Dr. Donald Cohen is a licensed practicing dentist in New York State for over thirty years with over 20 years of teaching experience at Columbia University SDOS and over 20 years as an Attending Dentist at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. He is past president of the New York State Society of Dentistry for Children and is currently Director of Compliance for Health Compliance Team Inc., a national compliance company delivering total on-site compliance solutions to dental offices and numerous seminars. Additionally, He is a Consultant to Henry Schein Inc. in practice transitions and compliance.

www.healthcomplianceteam.com
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2206373

Your principal asset

For most dentists, ownership of their dental practice is the major focus of their energy expenditures, financial situation, and professional lives. Years of blood, sweat, and tears, coupled with the relationships formed with both staff and patients, have caused dentists to form a deep-seated emotional attachment with their practice. For many, the dollar value of that practice represents a significant portion of their financial assets. For the new dentist, there
is a definite value in acquiring the patient base which has taken the transitioning dentist years to develop and will provide an immediate and substantial cash flow.

All experience transition

Whether it is due to a change in career direction, a desire to cut back on the responsibilities of ownership while still enjoying the benefits of clinical dental practice, or the desire to retire from dentistry, every practice owner faces an ownership transition. Ownership transition can be a total sale or a partial sale, that is, the formation of a partnership. The level of success achieved as a result of this practice transition will be directly linked to the amount of detail given to and the successful execution of the “Transition Plan.”

A buyer’s market

Decreased dental school enrollments and other demographic factors have created an imbalance in the numbers of graduating versus retiring dentists. This trend, which will continue for at least the next ten years, has contributed to falling dental practice sale prices, and has created a buyer’s market. For the previously difficult to market,
more rural dental practices, this dental manpower shortage has made finding dentists to serve almost impossible. These changes in the marketplace relative to practice transitioning have made advance,
detailed transition planning mandatory.

Goals of a successful transition

Before discussing the development of a transition plan, a brief discussion of the goals of transition is required. In addition to identifying the actual goals, each dentist will need to assign an order of priority to these goals. This prioritization will have a significant impact on certain aspects of the transition plan.

The most common goals discussed by dentists include a (1) desire to, in accordance with their preferred timetable, transfer patient care responsibility, (2) secure future employment for their staff, and give
back to the profession by passing the baton to a new dentist, and (3) maximize their practice equity (financial gain from the sale). There is no right or wrong order to the priority emphasis.

The economic health of the transitioning dentist will usually determine the order of the priorities. If the practice sale proceeds are a significant portion of the dentist’s retirement assets, then maximizing the financial return will be at the top of the list. If the doctor has a well-funded pension plan or other financial resources, and the sale proceeds will enhance the quality of retirement rather than providing the primary support for retirement, the order of importance will typically be the desire to provide continuity of patient care, ongoing employment, and passing the baton, with maximizing the financial
gain at the end of the list.

Factors affecting successful transitions

Prior to discussing the components of a transition plan, it will be useful to understand what is presently occurring in the transition marketplace. For a successful transfer of ownership, we must first
have an interested new dentist. Subsequently, location is at the top of the list relative to a new dentist’s interest in a specific practice opportunity. As previously discussed, rural practices, although typically more profitable than big  city practices, are having serious recruitment problems. Ninety percent of all practice sales today are in communities with populations of 50,000 or more people, and eighty percent of these sales are in cities whose metro  population exceeds 500,000.

The second factor is the practice’s ability to meet the financial needs of the new dentist. As a result of current levels of dental school related debt, the new dentist must meet specific levels of production to pay for the practice acquisition, school loans, and basic living expenses. Therefore, a practice needs to provide, on the average, $300,000 worth of production for an employed dentist, and $400,000 worth of production if the dentist is purchasing a practice. It is for this reason that eighty-five percent of total  practice sales involve practices with gross receipts of $350,000 to $500,000. While the highly productive and profitable practices of today frequently exceed $500,000 in annual receipts, the average new dentist (five years or less since graduation) does not possess the clinical skills required to produce this level of dentistry and subsequently sales trend toward the lower grossing practices.

After finding a suitable location and determining that the practice will provide for the financial needs of the new dentist, the new dentist will consider a multitude of other factors in selecting one opportunity over another. The major factors considered include (1) the practice’s overhead to revenue percent, (2) number of active patients, (3) new patient flow, and (4) recall system effectiveness. In addition, (5) quality and length of prior employment of the staff, (6) practice history, (7) types of procedures previously offered and/or produced, (8) involvement in any discounted dental plans, (9) appearance of the physical space occupied by the practice, and (10) the age, type and appearance of the equipment and furnishings will play a major role in the selection process.

The above represents the major concerns and factors reviewed by the new  dentist. The owner dentist is concerned with (1) the ability of the new doctor to pay for the practice-obtain financing with all the school debt, the tax implications and subsequent net proceeds derived from the sale, (2) the personality  and ability of the new dentist to relate to patients and staff, (3) the amount of post sale relationship required between the seller and buyer, and of course (4) the new dentists’ clinical competence. With the exception of the final concern, the other factors can be readily determined and resolved.

Today, one  hundred percent non-owner financing is readily available, the tax implications can be calculated, and typically several meetings with the new dentist will address the communication skills and personality of the new dentist.

Patients’ evaluation of the new dentist

Most senior dentists know and understand that the senior dentist’s own patients judge their clinical competence by non-clinical factors such as personality, gentleness, office appearance, etc. It is generally not possible to assess clinical competence until a year or more of actual clinical procedures performed by the new dentist are reviewed.

Unless the transition is preceded by a period of employment prior to the actual ownership change, senior dentists must understand they will have not be able to address the clinical competence issue. Senior dentists must accept the fact that the only control they have over this subject is the fact that the new dentist has been tested and licensed.

Determining the transition plan

The first step in formulating a transition plan involves an appraisal of the practice. The information gathered and evaluated during the appraisal process will aid in determining available transition options. These options may include (1) an outright sale, (2) role reversal sale, (3) partnership, (4) merger, or (5) production acquisition transaction. In addition, the appraisal will typically provide a comparison with other practices involved in transitions, thereby allowing an understanding as to how salable this particular opportunity might be. Finally, the appraisal should also provide ideas regarding enhancing the value of the practice and its desirability as a transition candidate.

Locating a competent transition consultant

The next step is locating a competent transition consultant. A transition consultant is one who understands the entire transaction, the various types of transitions, contractual matters, the operational issues of running a dental practice, and the need to have the relationships of the buyer, seller, staff, and patients intact after the deal is done.

The best source for these individuals is word of mouth referrals and/or recognized reputation. They may be national or regional “transition gurus”, the dentist’s personal accountant or another accountant who restricts their practice to health care providers and is familiar with the health care transition field, or an experienced local dental practice broker. Some of the dental supply companies also have knowledgeable consultants who have been assisting in
transitions for years.

The transition consultant will help the dentist identify various aspects of his/her transition. Questions needing answers include the doctor’s financial ability to retire and their personal transition goals. For
example, how long do they wish to stay on as an associate and/or remain available to aid in the transition process? What is the dentist’spreferred timetable? Are there any preliminary steps required to enhance the value of the practice? Which method of transition has the greatest chance of successful completion?

Make a plan outline

The answers to these questions should result in a brief written outline of the plan. The topics should include (1) goals, (2) timetable, (3) appraised value, and (4) anticipated post-tax and sale’s expense net sale proceeds, (5) planned transition options, and (6) a list of consultants to be involved. The plan should also contain an action
plan for completion of any activities that will enhance the value of the practice or increase the chances the practice will be selected by prospective new dentists.

Understanding that an inactive practice loses five percent of its value
per week, an important part of the plan should also include a list of people to be called in the event of an un-anticipated career ending disability or death. Aletter of instructions to family should be included listing those contacts and stressing the urgency to act expediently in transitioning the practice. Apart of the plan needs to
include sharing this letter and plan with significant family members. Many dentists, especially if incorporated, will execute a power of attorney authorizing a specific individual to immediately begin transition proceedings if required as a result of the dentist’s death.

When and how to start

If an appraisal has not been completed or updated within the past two years, this is the first step. Developing an exit strategy plan, even if it is years away, should also begin as soon as the appraisal is completed. A stockbroker will advise that one should set a target sale price the day one acquires a stock. Similarly, the exit strategy is part of
the potential financial reward of practicing. Good business sense dictates the plan should really have been started when the practice was first acquired. Part of a transition plan started early in one’s career will allow for inclusion of a well-funded pension plan and less reliance upon practice sale proceeds for retirement needs.

The timetable for the actual implementation of the plan will be dependent upon the personal wishes, needs and financial resources of the dentist. Metro areas are seeing a common market time of one-to two years from listing to sale. Rural area practices face three-to-five years if they can be transitioned at all. The length of time required for location of a prospect and transitioning of the practice requires that the practice opportunity be listed at the earliest time that the doctor is willing to complete the transition. If the seller is fortunate enough to immediately locate a buyer after listing, the dentist needs to be ready to act. At the time of listing, he/she must also realize they may be continuing to own the practice for a long time.

An alternative

For dentists considering retirement, many have a difficult time starting the process because of the emotional attachment to their practice. These dentists, unless or until they find something else they would rather do than practice dentistry, will be unable to activate their transition plan. If the practice of dentistry is their only interest,
their hobby, and the center of their later life, there is no law stating that they must transition their practice.

For these dentists, their transition plan is to practice until they can no longer do so. Their plan maybe as simple as one day closing the doors and retiring.

For Henry Schein Professional Practice Transitions call: 1-800-730-8883