Next-level strategies to protect your orthodontic practice

Bre Cohen discusses preparing your practice for unforeseen risks

It’s safe to say COVID-19 has hit the dental industry hard. Having to close doors for months can be a big blow to any practice; and while traditional insurance is great, chances are it didn’t cover your business interruption during this pandemic.

So, how will you handle the next adverse event? That thought makes many cringe and for good reason. However, entrepreneurial dental practices are finding ways to protect their business risks that fall outside of traditional insurance through Enterprise Risk Management programs like those from Strategic Risk Alternatives. These programs are nothing new; they’ve been utilized by Fortune 500 Companies for decades. Strategic Risk Alternatives saw a need in the market to make these programs available to small-to-midsize companies and did just that. Their Enterprise Risk Management program serves as a lifeline to successful companies going through a difficult time and allows them to be proactive instead of reactive in protecting their practices.

How does it work?

Much like a 401(k) helps you use tax-advantaged dollars to prepare for retirement, the Enterprise Risk Management program by Strategic Risk Alternatives helps you use tax-advantaged dollars to prepare for unforeseen risk. It utilizes US Tax Code 831(b), which helps businesses set tax-deferred income aside for risks that fall outside of traditional insurance. This includes COVID-19-type disruptions as well as other cash flow disruptions. Examples follow:

• Contingent business interruption
• Political risk
• Supply chain interruption
• Key employee loss/critical illness
• Payroll protection
• and more …

Strategic Risk Alternatives serves as 831(b) plan administrators to help you identify risks, create a customized plan, manage transactions, monitor compliance, prepare paperwork, and other ongoing client services to ensure you are prepared for the next unforeseen risk.

“When COVID-19 hit, dental practices currently utilizing our program were able to recoup cash flow losses in a matter of days through their 831(b). If you own a successful practice, consider the advantages of setting pre-taxed dollars aside for unforeseen risks — big or small,” says Bill McKernan, President of Business Development at Strategic Risk Alternatives. “Unforeseen risk is real, and it happens every single day. It could be something as big as the next pandemic or as small as being out of work for a short period of time due to a medical issue. With our program, you’re able to make your practice whole again and rest a little easier at night.”

Other programs for dental practices

Strategic Risk Alternatives also offers a Dental Protection Plan program to help practices warranty their work. With a clearly defined warranty, you can increase patient retention and use pre-tax dollars to pay for rework.

Strategic Risk Alternatives works with the practice to custom-design a defined warranty program based on their individual practice needs. Through this program, the practice would set aside money from transactions and put it in their 831(b) Dental Protection Plan to fund warranties for their work. Depending on the terms the dentist sets, the warranty may require a patient to come back once a year to check the work and honor the warranty. This creates customer peace of mind, retention, and loyalty. In addition, you are building a war chest to pay for any issues that do arise.

Interested in learning more? Contact Strategic Risk Alternatives by visiting their website, strategicriskalternatives.com/DPP, or calling Bill or Ed at (208) 424-2249 for a free assessment and to learn more about protecting what you have worked so hard to build.