What Should be in My Associate Agreement?
Apr 12, 2023
Today's blog post is all about associate contracts and things you should be aware of before signing one. While this blog post provides a great start to be aware things to look for, you always want to review your contract with a lawyer. Better yet, you want to review with a dental specific lawyer. Trust us when we say this is not the area you want to be afraid to spend your money on. If cut corners now, it can be detrimental in the future.
This blog post is based on our Dental Education podcast conversation with Joe Hess. Joe is dental specific lawyer who can be a tremendous resource for you.
Things to Consider Before Signing Your Associate Agreement:
- Is your salary/compensation package based on a flat fee or paid on a formula?
- How would you like to be paid?
- How are lab fees being handled?
- Are you responsible for paying 100% of that or a different percentage?
- Always try to negotiate a daily minimum you'll receive.
- As an example, you could put, "I want a minimum of $600 per day or 33% of net collections, whichever one is higher."
- What benefits are they offering?
- Will they give you CE reimbursement or give you a CE budget?
- Are they sponsoring a retirement plan or giving you a 401k?
- Review the termination section, restrictive covenant and non compete in detail.
- How long does the contract last for?
- Think about the future when you're signing the contract.
- Make sure the accounts receivable are spelled out specifically.
- The contract needs to address re-dos and re-treatments.
- Representations and warranties need to be dental specific.
- What records will be transferred over?
- What records will you take custody of? Active? All? Are inactive patients excluded?
These are just a few things to consider before signing your associate agreement. Again, it is vital that you review this is in detail with a dental specific attorney. We've worked with Joe Hess on many, many deals and have only great things to say about him. He understands your dental needs, he is reasonably priced, and most importantly, he will have your back and give you the confidence you need and deserve.
If you'd like to hear more about associate contracts, listen to the podcast episode here. As always, reach out to us with any questions you may have. If you'd like to reach out to Joe specifically, you can contact him here.
If you found this helpful, please share it with your dental student friends and let us know of more contact you'd like to see in the future! We are here to help you, so let us know what you'd like to see!
While you're here, here are additional blog posts you may be interested in: