During your career there are times when you should examine and revisit your insurance coverage to ensure you, your family, your dental team, and your practice are protected.
As a dentist, there are 5 times in your career when you should check your insurance coverage.
At Washington Dentists’ Insurance Agency (WDIA) we provide insurance exclusively for dentists in Washington state. For more than 30 years we have worked with dentists all over Washington. In doing so, we have learned a few things to help you manage your dental career and your dental practice.
During your career there are times when you should examine and revisit your insurance coverage to ensure you, your family, your dental team, and your practice are protected.
DDS | DMD Graduation
On average, dentists are sued at least once in their career. It’s a good idea to purchase professional liability (malpractice) insurance before you begin to work as a dentist.
New graduates often get deeply discounted rates on professional liability insurance during the first few years of their career. Be sure to review your policy annually, and make sure it still fits your needs.
Other insurance policies to explore the first few years of your career are disability and life insurance. If you have loans to repay, disability and life insurance coverage assures you, that your family will not be beholden to debt if you are involved in an accident or fall ill.
Upon Specialist Designation
Specialty dental care requires special coverage. From protecting against claims of malpractice, to covering your investments in technology and technique, insurance that accounts for the specificity of your work should be considered and purchased.
In addition, some dental specialties require riders on existing coverage for full protection. The good news is that WDIA agents are experts at navigating the ins and outs of insurance policies for dental specialists and can direct you to effective coverage for your needs.
Practice Purchase
Buying a practice is a dream come true for many dentists. Protecting your dream empowers you and your care team to produce outstanding smile outcomes for patients every day. It’s why, at this critical juncture in your career, you need to proactively consider insurance coverage specific to your practice.
When you purchase your dental practice, you should:
- Double-check your professional liability policy to make sure coverage is in line with the treatments you provide.
- Purchase a business owners policy to protect the physical space of your practice, equipment, and technology.
- Disability coverage is a must upon practice purchase, to protect your livelihood and keep your practice running if you become injured or experience prolonged illness.
- Group medical coverage provides health care benefits to you and members of the care team, making your practice a desirable place to work.
Establish Ownership
If you’ve owned a practice for five, ten, fifteen years or more, you know that there’s no coasting in dentistry. This includes insurance policies for dentists and dental practices.
Insurance policies change, shift, and update along with all the moving parts of your business. Every year you should examine your policies, and make sure your coverage still fits your needs.
WDIA expert agents are non-commissioned. As your advocates for insurance protection, WDIA agents can audit your policies with you to make sure your levels of coverage fit your practice, and your career.
Practice Sale
The sale of your dental practice should trigger changes to your insurance coverage. Practice sales can mean many things including expansion to group ownership, becoming an employee dentist, more volunteering and missionary work, or quasi-retirement to full retirement.
What we have learned is that if you are exploring a practice sale, you should also be exploring changes to insurance coverage to fit your changing needs. It’s best to get in touch with Matt, Kerri, or Emily to discuss your evolving needs, and plan for appropriate coverage.
If you would like to review your current coverage or get quotes for additional coverage, please contact WDIA at 1-800-282-9342 or info@wdiains.com.
WDIA is a WSDA company. Learn more at wdiains.com.