Taking a Big Picture Look at Protecting Your Dental Office Assets

**As of May 2017, CDSPI no longer offers Group Benefits plans.**

For anyone who owns an office, it’s imperative to have insurance to guard against the financial consequences of a disaster such as fire or theft. But for dentists, that is by no means the only thing to consider. To safeguard your business assets, you may also need to account for situations such as:

• Protecting your office contents properly
• Dealing with the consequences of accidental equipment malfunction
• Keeping your practice going in the event of a disability
• Implementing an effective strategy to retain and attract excellent employees

Fortunately, your CDSPI insurance advisor can help you put plans in place to address these concerns. When discussing how to protect your business assets, here are some situations we can explore.

If You Haven’t Recently Reviewed Your Contents Coverage

The contents in your office (including your equipment and furnishings) are only covered up to the amount of insurance you’ve purchased. So if the cost of replacing the contents of your office with equivalent items has increased over the years and you haven’t reviewed your coverage amount accordingly, you could be caught short. For instance, suppose you recently purchased very expensive pieces of dental equipment. Failing to adjust your insurance to account for these new items could mean paying a significant amount of money out of your own pocket for their replacement in the event of an office disaster.

To get an accurate appraisal of the value of the items in your practice, you may consider asking a professional to conduct a valuation of your office contents. Armed with the information in that valuation, your insurance advisor can assist in ensuring you have the appropriate level of contents coverage.

If Your Equipment Accidentally Breaks

Properly functioning equipment in your dental practice is vital to your business. But if an important piece of equipment (such as a compressor) accidentally breaks, you could face serious financial headaches. Even if that equipment is under warranty, you could lose income while the device is inoperable.

Fortunately, equipment breakdown insurance offers protection should certain types of equipment in your office accidentally break down due to an insured peril. You can obtain coverage that provides two layers of protection:

1. Coverage that pays for the repair or replacement of broken equipment
2. Coverage that reimburses you if the breakdown results in a loss of income

If Disability Strikes

If you become disabled, your disability insurance benefits will help replace your personal income. However, you would still have to contend with the substantial expenses of your practice (such as rent and utilities). For many dentists, these business expenses total thousands of dollars each month.

If you have financial responsibilities at your practice, it’s advisable to obtain office overhead expense insurance. This coverage can provide you with the peace of mind knowing that you’ll receive a monthly benefit to help you continue to meet specified business expenses when you are disabled, because your practice’s income will likely be reduced or halted by your inability to work.

If You Want to Enhance the Well-Being of Your Staff

A happy and healthy dental office team is without a doubt an extremely valuable asset to a dentist. How can you help keep them that way? One method is by providing your staff with a benefits plan to help cover health-related expenses.

Of course, dentists want to be able to provide benefits that are reasonable for their budgets, especially since, according to a national survey², annual increases in health benefit costs (including prescription medication, medical expenses, hospital coverage and dental care) have outpaced inflation. Fortunately, CDSPI offers an effective and affordable solution. With CDSPI Group Benefits, eligible* dentists can access an employee group benefits plan for everyone in their office that can be tailored to meet their distinct budget and staffing needs. 

Unlike some benefit plans available on the market, CDSPI Group Benefits are highly customizable. Instead of having to purchase a “prepackaged” set of benefits for employees at a significant cost, CDSPI Group Benefits give dentists the flexibility to create their own packages by selecting just the types of health coverage they want and the limits for employees.

Offered through Quikcard, CDSPI Group Benefits can be provided in a number of ways such as on an insured basis or through affordable and innovative Health Spending Accounts (HSAs). What makes an HSA an innovative option for any benefits plan is that dental employees can use it for almost any health-related expense. Unlike plans that only cover very specific types of expenses (e.g., prescription drugs, dental and prescription eyewear), an HSA can be used toward the cost of most types of health treatments (e.g., laser eye surgery).

In addition to providing flexibility for employees, HSAs provide cost certainty for dentists. The employing dentist (not Quikcard) determines the annual spending limit under the HSA and decides what type of expenses can be covered. This solution allows dentists to provide benefits for their staff without having to be concerned with escalating costs.

For no-cost insurance planning advice from licensed, non-commissioned advisors who work exclusively for dental professionals and their families, contact CDSPI Advisory Services Inc. at 1-877-293-9455, extension 5002.

THE AUTHOR

	Ms. Whiteman is a professional insurance advisor at CDSPI Advisory Services Inc.

Email: insurance@cdspiadvice.com