Dentistry on a larger scale requires a greater attention to detail. The number of moving parts on any given day are almost too numerous to count. When something goes wrong, you need your insurance coverage to be right.
Our experience working exclusively with practices both large and small for the last twenty plus years takes the guess work out of designing the right insurance program. We’re an independent agency that works with dozens of different insurance companies.
We understand your business and ours. We’ll help you get what’s right for you efficiently and economically.
THE TOP INSURANCE COVERAGE OPTIONS FOR GROUP PRACTICES
Professional Liability
(Malpractice)
Professional liability insurance is designed to defend and indemnify a doctor from allegations of treatment errors resulting in harm to a patient. Choosing professional liability coverage is serious business. Your reputation and even your ability to practice may depend on that choice.
Entity (Corp) Professional Liability
(Malpractice)
If you own a practice and your practice is structured as a formal entity (Inc., LLC, PC, PA, etc.), it’s important to make sure the practice entity is protected as well. In most cases, your individual professional liability policy won’t provide coverage for your practice entity, especially if you employ associate dentists or use dentist contractors.
Group Professional Liability
(Malpractice)
More and more, the group practice setting is being preferred to the traditional solo doctor practice. Just as the group practice setting differs from the solo practice setting, the risk profile of the group practice differs from that of the solo practice. At some point it makes sense for the practice owner to consider a group PL policy to serve as the coverage for every doctor in the practice as well as the practice itself. We can help you explore your options.
Business Disability Insurance
Most doctors are familiar with personal income replacement disability but what happens to a practice when an owner dentist can’t work due to a disability? Disability insurance can also be called on to cover the ongoing expenses of a dental practice or can be structured to make the payment on a practice related loan when the owner/operator dentist is out on disability. The point being that disability insurance can be a versatile financial tool when used properly by practice owners.
Business Owner's Policy
An office policy commonly referred to as a BOP (Business Owners Policy) is one of the broadest and most versatile policies you’ll ever buy. This policy will insure your office property (building, condo or lease space), contents and general liability. It doesn’t stop there. Designed correctly, the policy can also protect your practice from risks you haven’t even considered. We understand your practice, the most common risks and how best to address this with the BOP policy.
Worker's Compensation
Workers compensation is designed to cover the costs associated with an on the job injury or illness suffered by employees of the practice. Those costs include medical, disability and lost wages. A business owner is required to carry workers compensation in most states but even where not required, the laws are stacked against employers who don’t. Workers comp is not expensive for a dental or medical practice.
Data Breach / Cyber Liability
Your practice records and retains sensitive information about your patients. For most doctors, that information is now mostly stored in electronic form. There are laws in addition to HIPAA that specifically define your duties to protect those records. Studies have shown that the cost of just the obligatory notification and credit monitoring can cost upwards of $250 per record. Do the math.
Employment Practices Liability
Employment Practices Liability (EPLI) coverage is designed to defend an employer from allegations of wrongful termination, discrimination or sexual harassment made by an employee, former employee or job applicant. We’ve seen an exponential increase in practice related EPLI claims over the past five years and expect the trend to continue given the prevailing social climate.
Director’s & Officer’s Liability
Any practice large enough to have seated a board of directors has an exposure that can only be addressed by directors and officers liability insurance (D&O). The exposure itself is so great that most learned advisors with recommend declining a seat on a board of directors (even for a nonprofit endeavor) if D&O coverage is not provided.
Commercial Auto Insurance
If you own a vehicle in the name of a practice, it must be insured on a commercial auto policy. Not doing so could be catastrophic to your practice.
Group Health Insurance
Right now, Group Health Insurance through a practice will offer greater options and better pricing. Most practice owners have options they likely haven’t even considered, options that could save themselves a lot of money and maybe even make them heroes in the eyes of their employees. We can show you how.
Employee Benefits
It can be difficult for a practice to attract and keep the best talent. Group Benefits are one way of differentiating yourself from the competition. Offering short and/or long term disability, vision, accident and critical illness coverage will be appreciated by your team even if they ultimately pay most or all of the cost themselves.
401K / Pension Plan Bond
If your practice has a 401(k) in place for you and your staff, you are required by the IRS to secure a bond in the amount of 10% of the plan assets. These bonds are inexpensive and generally purchased for three year terms.
Key Man Life and Disability
Sometimes a practice may employ a person other than the owner who is very important to the daily operation of the practice. That individual is considered “key” to the success of the practice. So, what happens to the practice if that person is no longer there?
Life and Disability Buy-Sell Insurance
When there are two or more owners in a practice and each owner is also responsible for the daily production and overall operation of the practice, consideration needs to be given to what happens to the practice if an owner/partner becomes disabled or dies.
Personal Home & Auto Insurance
We’ve been conditioned by advertising to believe that Home and Auto insurance is all about price. We’re told that all home and auto insurance policies are created equally. It’s just not true.
Personal Home & Auto Insurance
Insuring your office for the risk of flood requires a specific and separate policy. A standard Business Owners (BOP) Policy will not cover your office for flood damage.
Commercial Earthquake Insurance
A basic office policy does not cover the risk of earthquake. If your office is located in a seismically active area, securing Earthquake Insurance is imperative.