Articles

You’re in Good Company

Workers shaking hands

Since the pandemic began in March, much has changed in the dental world starting with the closure of offices for routine treatment. Many practice owners who had their transition plans set as they began 2020 found themselves changing their timeline, priorities, and reconsidering their options.   

Henry Schein Professional Practice Transitions (Henry Schein PPT) has been actively engaged with practice owners to address their concerns.   In May, we conducted a survey to understand practitioners’ changing priorities and needs, so that we could meet your objectives and support you in meaningful ways. 

We track data from multiple sources including the American Dental Association’s Health Policy Institute bi-weekly panel survey, which, similar to  our survey, found that there was a segment of respondents looking for accelerated divestiture of practice assets.*  Underlying health or financial considerations prompted some to shift focus from practicing dentistry, to divestiture, resulting in an immediate need to assist these practitioners with finding a successor for their practice, staff and continuity of care for patients. 

As a result of this need, and to ensure clients could sell their practices in a timely manner, we created an Accelerated Divestiture Program (ADP). The ADP was designed to help practice owners go from listing to closing in weeks instead of months by prioritizing a quick sale.  Utilizing the expertise and extensive network of the professionals at Henry Schein PPT, we are helping those practitioners who could not go back to practicing to realize a return on their life’s work that would support them in their retirement. Through this process we have been able to transition many practices that sellers had thought were unsellable and thought that they would just be closing their doors.

There is no “one size fits all” in a practice sale.  When a practitioner shuts their doors and walks away and they don’t evaluate other options, everyone loses.  They lose, their patients lose, and their staff loses. Most of the time there are other options which is where one call to Henry Schein PPT can connect you to a consultant who can help you to identify and explore all your options. With a Henry Schein PPT Consultant, you are in good company. They will help you through this stressful process and help you get the best possible result for your specific situation, which may not mean closing your doors.  Better financial outcome for the owner, quality care for your patients, and jobs for your employees. A win-win-win.

Many doctors have re-evaluated the timing of their transition and are re-thinking their plan. Now is a good time to re-evaluate your transition plan, if you have one or to develop one if you don’t. And it is always advisable, pandemic or not, to create the plan with a knowledgeable dental transition advisor. You need someone who has experience with dental practice valuations, sales, and transition planning specifically in the dental industry. Henry Schein PPT has Transition Sales Consultants nationwide with that expertise, as well as the resources and industry contacts of Henry Schein.

For more information, call 866-491-2443.

*The week of June 1, 2020 ADA survey results showed 13% of the respondents planned to sell their practice in the next 6 months, 16% planned to retire, and 5.3% were going to file for bankruptcy.