Are You Prepared For A Disaster?

Today, I wanted to share a very important video that I think every Dentist needs to see. I will warn you, it’s a little long, but the lessons in it are too important to miss. With hurricane Harvey, Irma, Jose, and more still to come I wanted you to see this.

You will meet Dr. Ed Hood and his team from Denham Springs, LA who went through a disastrous flood in August of 2016 (which was not even caused by a named hurricane.)

At our January Diamond Member Retreat (where our Diamond Coaching members gather quarterly to grow their practices) Dr. Hood and his team shared their stories of perseverance and the lessons they learned about overcoming a disaster.

After they tell there story (around 17 mins in) we go through what every Dentist needs to do to prepare their practice.

For instance, did you know that flood insurance only covers up to $500,000? Which isn’t even enough money to replace one to two ops!

Lessons Learned …

  • Know What Your Insurance Really Covers

    What does the fine print say? How much does your flood insurance cover, what does your business interruption insurance pay (and not pay), your insurance for the contents, what’s included in a flood or other natural disaster?

  • Have In Your Emergency Fund

    The more profitable you are as a practice, the more you have in your emergency fund to cover disasters. When a disaster strikes it’s not just your practice that is affected. Your staff is affected, your patients are affected. With an emergency fund in place, you can help your team AND serve your patients.

  • CASH IS KING

    In times of disasters. Money is slow to come from any insurance or government help and you will need to dip into your own pockets if you want anything done quickly.

  • Have a Disaster Plan

    For your practice – a communication plan that everyone in your office knows. The questions will start flying immediately … will we get paid? Will the office be open? How long until we have our jobs? The unknown is the biggest challenge to overcome. What happens in a storm, flood, fire, or earthquake? Basically what would happen if your office shut down tomorrow? How will you communicate with your team and your patients? What are your back up plans?

  • Data Backup/Safety

    If your only data back up happens in your office, what happens when your office is destroyed? Mirrored back-ups are good, but they also have to go to the cloud and/or off-site. The cost of a server vs. the cost of a lost day of production.

  • Retention of Team Members

    Without a slush fund to keep key team members, you loose all the money you put into training team members. The cost of paying them during the lost time is so much less than having to find and train new people.

I hope no one has to go through this, and spending some time and thought on the lessons that Dr. Hood shares can help everyone.

If we can help you create a plan for your practice – let us know.

About the Author

John Meis, DDS, FAGD, DICOI

Dr. John Meis is the founder of The Team Training Institute. An innovator in practice management, marketing, leadership, and team development who at his peak was producing in the top 1% of dentists in the United States. He multiplied his 1 practice into 12 and has been a partner in more than 180 dental practices, playing a key role, visiting, coaching and innovating on the ground in these practices. After extensively studying the most successful dentists, dental practices, and business owners he developed the “Productive Practice Mindset” from which the core principles of the Team Training Institute were created. The Productive Practice Mindset consists of 11 key habits and attitudes which differentiate them from less successful practices. Get a free copy of his book to double your production - the right way!