ADAPT Blog

Maybe COVID was the last straw. Perhaps you’re tired of spending sunny days at the office rather than on the golf course. Maybe a health concern now makes practicing difficult, or even impossible.

No matter what the reason, you’re ready to retire ASAP, but you don’t want to leave your patients in the lurch.

And you don’t quite want to sell, not yet. You might need the health insurance until you qualify for Medicare. Or maybe you still want to consult and train your replacement, but simply can’t do the hands-on work any longer.

We hear lots of questions about managing staff during practice transitions, so we made it the focus of last week’s ADA Practice Transitions Coffee Talk webinar.

Dr. Betsy Shapiro, ADA Director of Practice Management and the ADA Center for Professional Success, joined ADAPT’s Dr. Suzanne Ebert, Vice President of Dental Practice & Relationship Management, for this hour-long conversation. The two shared their experiences with managing staff through their own practice transitions, as well as lessons learned from working with other dentists.

This is part of the “What Went Wrong Wednesdays” series, in which we explore common problems of practice transitions – and offer tips to help you avoid them.

Retirement should be a well thought-out event that you take ownership of. To truly take control of your future, retirement planning should start years – even decades – before you anticipate finishing your career.

Here are two scenarios that illustrate what happened when a doctor did not completely think through their exit plans, along with suggestions to help you avoid the same fate.

This is part of the “What Went Wrong” series, in which we explore common problems of practice transitions – and offer tips to help you avoid them.

At ADA Practice Transitions, we place a heavy emphasis on making sure incoming doctors share a similar philosophy of care as the practice owner. While it may not be immediately apparent, having a shared approach is critical to the success of your future career or retirement plan, even if you are planning to sell and walk away.

By popular demand, ADA Practice Transitions (ADAPT) is expanding!

Starting today, dentists who either own a practice or want to work in Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota and New Hampshire can create an ADAPT profile!

This is part of the “What Went Wrong” series, in which we explore common problems of practice transitions – and offer tips to help you avoid them.

Welcome to “What Went Wrong Wednesdays,” a series in which we explore common problems of practice transitions – and offer tips to help you avoid them.

Many dental contracts include some version of a restrictive covenant, also called a non-compete clause. These clauses prohibit an employee from practicing within a specific geographical area (typically a defined radius) for a certain period of time after leaving a practice. These covenants generally also have a non-solicitation clause that will bar an associate from directly soliciting the employer’s patients or other employees.

This clause helps protect an owner dentist from competition – but it can also limit an associate’s career movement.

ADA FDI 2019 is a great place to think about your career path. You can earn CE credits, hear best practices, and network with fellow dentists. Our ADA Practice Transitions team will be on site and ready to share the knowledge and resources you need for future success.

We recommend stopping by these sessions to talk transitions with us!

There is a widely-held belief in the dental industry that confidentiality is essential when a dentist decides to sell their practice. This idea is heavily promoted by dental brokers and has been embraced by many dentists. In fact, some dentists report that they had little to no contact with the buyer of their practice until they closed the transaction.

Written contracts protect both sides from misunderstandings and can put your relationship on equal ground. No matter whether you are joining a practice as an associate, intending to pursue a sale/purchase, or hiring someone, a contract helps you start your relationship on the right foot.

This week, we will examine three scenarios where contract misunderstandings turned into more serious problems. The ADA offers an eBook, Dentist Employment Agreements: A Guide to Key Legal Provisions, that includes a wealth of details and sample contract language, plus several shorter articles on compensation, malpractice insurance, non-competes, and more.