As the seller of a dental practice, there is much you must do to put your practice up for sale and market it to prospective buyers. Although your transition team will help you throughout the process, the responsibility of collecting relevant information and keeping it organized falls to you.
There can be so much to prepare and organize, how do you know where to start? Or what to include? We’ve compiled this cheat sheet with guidance from the American Dental Association to help you.
About Your Practice and Community
Prospective buyers will have many questions. Make it easy for them by preparing the following background information about your practice and community.
Community Demographics
The U.S. Census Bureau, local library, and local dental society may have research to help you compile community demographics. Be prepared to answer questions about population data, demographic trends, and economic factors. These include:
- Home ownership,
- Employment,
- Average income,
- Top employers,
- New real estate or economic developments,
- Tax rates,
- Age ranges,
- Insurance access, and more.
Competitive Analysis
You should know what makes your practice different and who your top competitors are. List tangible differentiators – what does your dental practice offer that no one else does? What does your practice do better than anyone else? Then, list your top three or four competitors. What procedures do they offer? What’s their patient mix? What makes them special? Finally, look at your patients. What value do they bring to the overall practice?
Patient Records
For the last three years, segment your patient list into three main categories to start with: active, inactive, and minors. Begin discarding or storing old records appropriately. Rules vary by state and circumstance – check with your state dental board.
Dental Equipment
Have a list of all your dental equipment and the:
- Description
- Manufacturing year
- Brand name
- Model or serial number
- Capabilities and capacity
- Repair history
- Warranty and owner’s manual
- Inspection record
Business Office Equipment
- Computer/printer/copier
- Service/support contact
- Brand name
- Model or serial number
- Capabilities and capacity
- Repair history
- Warranty and owner’s manual
- Inspection record
- Software version
Practice Numbers
Potential buyers will evaluate your practice largely on these numbers. For the last three years, list your practice’s:
- Number of active patients
- Dentist and hygiene production
- Accounts receivable
- Number of new patients per month
- Referral sources
- Production per patient and per hour
- Case acceptance rate
- Collection rate
- Total number of hours worked per month hygienist/dentist
Valuation
Click here to view our Dental Practice Sales Checklist, which covers the data you need to gather for the valuation.
OSHA and Regulatory Compliance
Even if you’ve never had an instance where an injury or exposure occurred, it’s still a good idea to have your plans written down, as well as what’s stored on site. These include:
- Hazard communication program
- List of hazardous chemicals
- Material safety data sheets
- Fire prevention plans
- OSHA injury log, if applicable
- Medical records for employees who had occupational exposure
- HIPAA privacy policies
- Exposure control plan
- Partnership agreement
- Badge monitoring service (nitrous oxide or x-ray)
- Managed care plans and agreement
Contact information
Finally, help your buyer get started on a positive note by giving them an updated list of contact information. Write down who to contact at the following companies or departments:
- Landlord
- Risk management insurance carrier
- Patient insurance carriers
- Practice healthcare insurance carrier
- Credit card companies
- Financial institutions
- Practice management software
- Web site design and development
- Contacts for local dental study clubs or chapters
- Dental labs
- Dental equipment supplier
- Original architect/contractor/builder if known
- Anesthetic gas supplier
- Waste hauler for garbage and/or hazardous wastes
While this is a comprehensive list, there may be circumstances unique to your practice that aren’t included. If you have any questions, contact N/L Transitions for an independent appraisal and consultation.