In this episode, Ash sits down with Nick Hinshaw from WinStar Insurance Group to discuss how insurance can play a critical role in reducing stress for dental practice owners and their teams. The conversation covers essential insurance policies beyond the mandatory requirements, like disability insurance and group benefit plans, which can offer peace of mind to both owners and staff. Nick explains how regularly reviewing disability policies ensures coverage matches the evolving needs of practice owners, helping prevent unwanted surprises if a disability occurs.

They highlight the importance of offering group benefit plans—such as health, dental, vision, and disability insurance—to retain employees and build a supportive practice culture. With turnover rates high in dentistry, especially in urban environments, providing comprehensive benefits can make a practice competitive and foster loyalty among team members. Ash and Nick also touch on insurance requirements for equipment purchases and warn against forced-place insurance imposed by lenders, which is often expensive and limited.

To find out more and connect with Nick, visit:

https://www.winstarins.com/breweries.html

Or you can email him at nhinshaw {at} winstarins.com

Key Topics Discussed:

• Insurance as a tool for stress relief in dental practices
• Benefits of non-mandatory insurance, especially disability coverage
• Regularly updating insurance policies to match current needs
• Importance of group benefit plans for retention and practice competitiveness
• How supporting employees with benefits impacts practice culture and output
• Challenges with lender-imposed (forced-place) insurance on equipment
• The need for proactive, communicative insurance agents
• Asking staff about the benefits they value most
• Risk management and reducing pressure for practice owners

Welcome to Beyond Bitewings, the business side of Dentistry, brought to you by Edwards and Associates PC. Join us as we discuss how to build your dental practice, optimize your income, and plan for your future. This podcast is distributed with the understanding that Edwards and Associates PC is not rendering legal, accounting, or professional advice. Listeners should consult with their business advisors before acting on any of the information that is shared at Edwards and Associates PC. Our business business is the business of dentistry. For help or more information, visit our website@eandassociates.com hello, and welcome to another episode of Beyond Bitewings. My name is Ash, and in today's episode we have a very special guest. His name is Nick Hinshaw, and he's with Windstar Insurance Group.

In today's episode, we will be talking a little bit about insurance benefits of it and how it can actually help alleviate stress. So without further ado, Nick, how are you today?

I'm doing great. I really appreciate you having me here.

Oh, absolutely. Yeah. What did you think of the show?

It was great. Met tons of dentists, dental hygienists, all the different roles, students as well. So it's been awesome to connect with a bunch of different roles here within the dental industry.

Oh, wow. That's fantastic. Yeah. I have to agree. Tell our listeners a little bit about Windstar Insurance Group. What do you guys do, how long you've been with them? Company.

Yeah. So Windstar Insurance Group, we are a specialty insurance agency here in the state of Texas, and we work with very specific niche verticals, and I am in charge of the dental practice verticals. So we began actually with the dental program in April of this year, and it is taking off like gangbusters. It's been a really fun launch. We're doing really well, and we have a really robust program that touches pretty much every part of risk management for dentists and dental practices. So what I like to say is we help dentists ensure their wealth. We help them ensure their practice and their employees. Right.

And so we take care of all of those facets and really try and perform risk management and add value on top of just giving you a certificate of insurance or something like that.

I'm glad you said that because Texas is a great state for that. And it's growing. It's been growing for the past two decades, and I don't see it stopping anytime soon. So it's a good market to be in. So for our listeners today, let's talk a little bit about insurance.

Right.

I think we all have a generic idea of what an insurance is. Sometimes certain lenders may force you to get certain kinds of insurance for you to qualify for the loan. But let's talk about some of the other ones which are not really mandatory, but why you should consider them.

Absolutely. Really, when not mandatory, but absolutely important things like disability insurance. Right. Is a big one. And I know that a lot of dentists will oftentimes get a policy straight out of school. Right. It may be a little bit limited in benefit, but certainly suits their needs at that time. Oftentimes we'll let that sit and just kind of let it ride without ever revisiting that and making sure that the coverage that they have and the benefit that they're scheduled to receive should they unfortunately come down with a disability of any kind.

It's certainly something that needs to be addressed more frequently, I think. And so we really try and help the dentist understand what their options are and what's most important to consider to make sure that you don't get in one of these horror story situations or really that your benefit that you're getting from your disability is keeping up with what you actually need. Because the last thing you need should you be in a disability type of a situation is to be stressing about money and how much are you going to actually get and what that's going to provide for you. So we want to make sure that the policies and the benefits that we set up for these dentists are adequate for what their needs are now, not maybe what they graduated.

Okay, good. And some of these disabilities that you're talking about are part of life, right?

Absolutely. Yeah. It can be really anything. Most people oftentimes will misconstrue disability with kind of like workers comp almost where they think, oh, it didn't happen at work, so does it really count? But the reality is yes, there are all kinds of different things, illnesses, doesn't matter where in the world things happen. It can. Anything that takes you out of commission and renders you unable to practice or produce, especially if you have the right type of policy and own occupation policy. Right. That means that that is a claimable situation and you can, you can use your disability policy in any of those type of situations, not just something that happens at work.

That's actually fantastic. I love the fact that you actually described that right there. Anything that puts you out of commission of producing and it could happen anywhere.

Which is the biggest fear. Right. Because especially if you are a single, single practice, you don't have any associates, it's just you that can be really stressful. And so making sure that you're protected and no matter what happens or where it happens, right. That you have that peace of mind is huge. It's huge, right, because there's a ton of pressure. There's a ton of pressure. And so we want to alleviate that pressure and let you do what you got into dentistry to do, which is practice, take care of people, add value to people's lives, right?

Yeah. And let's talk a little bit about that. In fact, look at the stats. The burnout rates quite high amongst dentists, Right. It's because of the enormous pressure that they feel at work, you know, with staffing, especially if they're entrepreneurial. Right. Like they own their own practice. And I feel like insurance, the non mandatory type, a lot of times can help alleviate some of that stress.

Right. And we were talking a little bit about that before the recording, so maybe you can tell our listeners.

Yeah. So things like group policies, health benefits are huge and is super important for retaining employees, Right. It is not something that's generally offered, especially in smaller practices, but it is something that absolutely sets you apart and it's a huge concern for employees, right? So to be able to provide that for them and provide them different options, right. Educate them on not just the benefit of having insurance, right. And being able to have that and get that, but different options, which in hsa, right. Why should a younger employee maybe look at an HSA option or what, all these different things there can be misconceptions or misunderstandings about. And so making sure that we're educating the dentist, the employees, on what the best course of action is for them and how you can really use these as tools, not just when you go to the doctor, but to protect yourself even into the future. So group benefits are a huge opportunity to add value to your employees.

And when it comes to retention or recruiting, of course, getting quality applicants and that kind of thing through the door. So other group policies, group disability, making sure that when they come in, you can offer that to them and, and let them know that should they again be out of commission or unable to produce, right. That you have their best interest at heart and you're taking care of that situation too. And then group liability, right? Making sure that your associates have the protection they need. And then even hygienists, right, that's one that's overlooked often. But hygienists have disability policies as well, right? And so to be able to protect them and say, hey, if something happens to you, you're no longer able to be a hygienist. We want to protect you. Right.

You're just as important as an associate. We understand the value that we add here and we want to make sure that you're protected, just like we're protecting our most important employees.

That's true. Yeah. And again, I always tell my clients that as a dental practice owner, you're not really selling goods, you're selling the services of your team members. And the quality of that service will depend on how well they're taken care of their output. The level of quality will depend on that. So group plan. I'm glad you actually brought that up. I think alleviating stress to that, because that's a constant worry for owners.

Right? Staffing, challenges and being competitive, especially if you're operating out of an urban area. Right. You have all so much competition. And then, of course, you have the big players. Right. DSOs and whatnot. So to stay competitive, you should consider offering benefit plans. And Ideally, asides from 401k insurance plans, right.

Health insurance, dental, vision, disability. And believe it or not, if you look at the stats, especially in 2025, the generation that's up and coming and looking for jobs, you're going to notice that it's very different from what it used to be 20 years ago, where the number one factor that would help them determine whether they want to stay with you was compensation. But now it's actually company culture, which basically means, do they care about me for me to care about them? And one way to show them that you care about your team members is by implementing these benefit plans. So if you have that and if you can make yourself competitive and that market where you're constantly worried about high turnovers, I think this can definitely help alleviate some stress. And I think, Nick, the reason why who's hammering on it is because of that. And I liked it. So do pay attention to that. Right? The group plans.

And then. Yes, continue, Nick.

Yeah, absolutely. And one thing that I just think is important to consider is, especially with regards to the culture that you're talking about, so much of culture that you see can just be lip service. It's just, hey, we treat our people like family. We're a big family here. It's a really popular trope that's out there, and everybody means well when they say that. But how do you put foot to pavement on that? How do you actually deliver on that other than being nice? Right, because there are a lot of nice employers. But that doesn't necessarily make you feel like family or taken care of. It's just a nice place to be.

Right. But if you can actually do things for your employees that show that, hey, we're protecting you. Right. And we understand that there are risks associated with your job and what you do and the ability to continue to do that, and even if that is inhibited, we still want to make sure that you're protected. Right. That is something that a family member would do or recommend or talk about. That's a worthy conversation to have. But just say, yeah, we're family.

Great company culture. Hey, I bring donuts on Fridays and the first Saturday of every month, we're going to go to topgolf or something. I don't know. But to actually do something that really makes a difference in people's lives and really protects them and brings them more peace of mind, that's when you're really acting like the family that you want to claim you are.

That's true. Yeah. And that's. That's a good point you just raised. I was going back to how, you know, some companies, they always say, oh, we have an open door policy. You can come in with your questions anytime. But then in reality, when they do have the questions, like, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy. You know, come back to me tomorrow, come back to me tomorrow.

So, as you said, lip service. But he's right, though, that these things do need to be paid attention to. And you have to be aware of what is it that your team members value and what are they looking for. And if you want to be their leader, someone they want to look up to and can truly believe that you are working in their best interest, of course you're a for profit company. You're also going to be thinking about profitability, but thinking about implementing some kind of benefit plan will do wonders for both your team members, as well as alleviate some of that stress of high turnover.

Yeah, absolutely. I would agree. And I would say if this is something you're considering and wanting to do, ask your employees. Like, ask them what matters to them. It's amazing when I get on these Facebook groups or whatever and they're like, I've got a great hygienist and I really want to honor them or want to make sure that we retain them. What can I do? And everybody's like, oh, give them a raise. Give them this, that, or the other. And I'm like, why don't you ask them and see what matters to them? Some people may not care about money, but they may want to be recognized in front of the whole team because that acclaim really builds them up and makes them feel good and secure in their job.

You never know what it is that they really, really want. And so ask them what benefits matter to them. Maybe they have. Everybody has a spouse that they're already getting group benefits from. Okay, well, let's talk about disability. Let's talk about these other things. There are all kinds of ways that you can add value to your employees. But ask them because you don't want to spend a whole bunch of money on something that isn't going to resonate.

It's true. And then as you were saying this, I was also thinking of. And I can't help it. Right. Because I'm a bottom line person. So I'm thinking of profitability as well. There's something that I have seen once and I figured, you know what, you would be the best person to, to talk more on it. So a lot of times when dentists go buy equipment, they don't realize this.

Somewhere in the fine print they say you have to provide copies of the liability insurance, otherwise they're going to automatically include some kind of liability insurance on their payment. So. And we notice it because they'll send us the invoice of what the monthly payment would be. But then three months later we see it going up by $50, $60, and we figured, okay, it probably didn't include the tax or the freight charges. But then once we dig deeper, we're like, no, no, no, the original one did include all that. What is this additional amount for? And we find out, oh, it's for insurance. And we're like, wait, don't you already have liability insurance that covers all of that? Oh, wait, yeah, I'm like, get in touch with that lender and clear it up.

Let's get that 50 bucks a month back. Yeah, because, and I'm glad you mentioned that we call that forced place insurance. When you don't prove insurance that your lender is going to make sure you have it in one way or another. And generally it's not cost effective and it is terrible coverage. Super limited in what they offer, what they will give you and it is not in your best interest. Right. It's there for the bank and it checks the box. But it's not the best thing for you as the equipment owner, the, the whatever the situation is.

So yeah, absolutely. Providing that that insurance, liability, property, whatever it is can be super important. And I know that that can be really frustrating and bogged down a lot of things. Like just thinking about transactions that actually require, before you can even move forward or complete it, to provide that insurance. Talking with folks like yourself that handle transitions and those kind of things. I'm sure you can remember plenty of moments where a deal is all of a sudden bogged down and maybe doesn't close on time or something like that because the insurance wasn't there, they forgot to do it or it's taking too long, they forgot to follow up on something. So making sure that you've got a hands on agent that is driving that process, which is, I'm very proud of what we do, but to really steer the ship on that and make sure that you are taken care of, that they're working with you to get the deal done for you as well. They are on your team.

And most of the time it seems like I hear that that's not at least the way it ends up happening. And insurance is just something that will fall by the wayside. Communication is horrible. You won't hear any updates from anything for weeks and you're just kind of left, you know, in the wind, right. And not really knowing what's going on. And so that's where we, we really try and set ourselves apart. I've been in insurance for seven years now. Eight years.

Whoa, eight. You know, really have always prided myself on building that personal relationship, giving that personal touch, right. Wanting to make sure that I know your birthday, I'm sending you Tiff's treats or whatever. I know that you're, I know what you're into, right. And I want to be part of your life, part of your practice and grow with you and hopefully provide resources, connections or whatever to make your life easier, right? Because that's, at the end of the day, what I want to do is we talked about pressure earlier as a risk manager, where pressure rises, risk rises. And so it's my job to alleviate that pressure. And so if I can bring tools, resources, connections, you know, opportunities to retain employees, whatever it is, that's what I'm focused on doing so that you can practice.

So you're essentially saying part of your job is to alleviate their stress because that reduces risk.

That is exactly right.

That's amazing.

So, yeah, where pressure rises, risk rises. Because you know, when you're in a stressful situation, you're not functioning all the way, right? Because your brain is always over here. But when you're working on someone's mouth and you're pulling a tooth, you need your brain to be all the way there. And so if I can do something to make sure. That you keep your brain right here. Right. And you're focused on the task at hand and not worried about what's going on behind the scenes, then that's me really helping you perform better, reduce your risk, avoid liability claims or whatever type of situation it is. That's really my job and that's the way I help people reduce risk.

Right. Is really looking at where are you feeling the pressure? Where are you feeling the pinch and how can I alleviate that for you?

That's amazing, Nick. All right. I think that would be a good stopping point. What? Where the listeners have enough information to know how valuable certain non mandatory insurance could be and how it could actually help alleviate some of their stress and how someone like you, really, Nick, like, who cares about people, can steer them in the right direction where they can focus on the clinical aspect of it without, you know, feeling the pressure of burnout or while having the capacity to maintain balance amongst family and work. Right. So. So if somebody wants to reach out to you, you know, this is where you drop your contact information.

Yeah, absolutely. So you can find me at. My email is n hinshaw n h I n s h a w@windstarins.com and then you can also call me or text me at 512-627-4059. And again, that's WinStar Insurance Group. We're at Austin, Texas Area Specialty Insurance. Right. But we have a really robust dental program that absolutely touches on every single piece of looking at that pressure and relieving that pressure. Right.

And so we can help you with all the group policies mentioned. We can help you with all your personal policies. Whatever it is, we're here for you. And the pricing is great, the coverages are great. It's really a phenomenal program.

Great. Awesome, Nick. All right, thank you again for being on our episode. Thanks for listening today. Be sure to subscribe to beyond by Wings on your favorite podcast platform. For more information, you can follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn or reach out to us on our website. You can also shoot us an email@infoandassociates.com Sat.