Sharing office space is a common strategy for driving down overhead and improving a practice’s bottom line.

In this post, we’ll cover the pros and cons of dentists sharing office space.

Shared costs for equipment

Purchasing new equipment can be an expensive investment, especially for machines only used for part of the day. Sharing space and equipment can help you upgrade sooner and take advantage of fresh technologies.

Hire additional staff

Whether it’s an extra hygienist, a dental assistant or simply more help at reception, it’s easier to rationalize additional support staff with more dentists in the office.

Increased patient base

Many dental patients find a new office via word of mouth. The more dentists you have working in the office, the more referrals come into the practice as a whole. Combined marketing budgets will also yield greater results.

Scheduling challenges

Sharing facilities and equipment becomes more complex as more dentists are added to the office. Even something as simple as having enough chairs in the waiting room can be a real challenge without systems in place to control patient flow.

Working together

Working together means compromise, even if you’re the practice owner leasing out a chair. From setting a marketing budget to choosing furniture for the waiting room and hiring/firing employees, you can’t form a partnership without giving up some control.

Terms to consider

The more details you hammer out in advance of sharing an office, the better. Consider including the following details in your agreement:

• Duration of the lease and terms of termination or renewal
• Division of shared expenses
• Will the office have a shared or separate phone number?
• How any issues will be resolved
• Guidelines for how the practice will be insured