Administering and coordinating the human resources side of a dental practice continues to be an increasingly daunting challenge. There are many pieces to the puzzle.

• There is the need to monitor ever changing state and federal labor laws.

• There is the need to be compliant with OSHA and HIPAA regulations.

• There is the need to maintain proper employment verifications.

• There is the need to understand and manage workers’ compensation coverage and claim resolution.

• There is the need to administer employee benefits such as medical, health care flexible spending accounts, 401(k) retirement plans, and life and

disability coverage.

• There is the need to process payroll and tax reporting.

• There is the need to manage vacation time and sick time.

• There is the need to have an effective, up to date, and well-written office policy manual.

The list goes on and on and on. And so – simply stated – I see most dental practices struggling with administrative overload. It is not that these functions don’t get done. Somehow they do get done because they have to. Some are performed by a payroll company. Some are performed by the doctor. Some are performed by the office manager. Some are performed by an accountant.

There is no question in my mind that it would be such a huge benefit to have these tasks organized and coordinated. I also feel that in the area of human resources so many policies and systems are evolving, that there is a continuous need for updated and current knowledge and information. As they say, “you don’t know what you don’t know”.

I have done some extensive research in this area, and in my first blog post of 2016, I plan to share some different solutions that will make your life easier. Wishing all of my readers a very Happy and Healthy New Year.

In late October of this year, a 66 year old general dentist in solo practice in Putnam, CT died unexpectedly while piloting his own small plane. The dentist was an experienced pilot who at one point had flown for US Airways. I learned about this tragic event from one of my clients who owns a dental practice less than two miles away from the doctor who died. Within three days of the accident, my client started receiving multiple calls a day from the deceased doctor’s patients requesting appointments to be seen.

Coincidentally – at about the very same time period – another client of mine in Framingham, MA told me about a general dentist in his town – solo practice – late 60’s – who had died suddenly from a massive stroke. The telephone calls from patients of the deceased doctor started almost as soon as that obituary was published.

According to the most recent statistics I could find from the American Dental Association, almost 70% of all dentists in the US are in solo practice. From my observations over these past twenty years of coaching and consulting, the value of a dentist’s practice represents a significant piece of his or her overall net worth. The fact remains, however, that if you are not able to transfer the goodwill of your dental practice to a prospective buyer, the value of that dental practice could easily drop to twenty five cents on the dollar. Obviously, you can’t transfer that good will from the grave.

My suggestion is not to advocate that you bring in a partner. I see far too many unhappy partnerships. Partners, as someone recently told me, are for dancing! But it would seem very necessary and important and prudent to protect yourself and your family in the event of something catastrophic. I suggest that if you want to continue working as a solo practitioner – that at 45 or 50 or in that age range – with probably twenty years still to go – you purchase a 20 year term life insurance policy in an amount that aggressively values the potential sale of your practice. This policy would be in addition to whatever amount of insurance you currently have on your life. Term insurance at that age is surprisingly affordable.

We all feel that we are bullet proof. That is human nature. But life, as I hope I have illustrated, is not always fair.