What is a benefit corporation?
According to B Lab, a benefit corporation is :
"A legal tool to create a solid foundation for long term mission alignment and value creation. It protects company missions through capital raises and leadership changes, creates more flexibility when evaluating potential sale andliquidity options, and prepares businesses to lead a mission-driven life post-IPO.
Benefit Corporations: 1) have an expanded purpose beyond maximizing share value to explicitly include general and specific public benefit; 2) are required to consider/balance the impact of their decisions not only on shareholders but also on their stakeholders; and 3) are required to make available to the public, except in Delaware, an annual benefit report that assesses their overall social and environmental performance against a third-party standard. This report does not need to be certified or audited by a third party."
DifferentKind is incorporated as a public benefit corporation in order to help communities become healthier, tread lightly on the environment, and to create an equitable place to work.
As B the Change states, we want to be “doing business as a force of good”. As a software company championing the patient and the provider, we felt aligning our mission with our corporate status would be an example of the transparency we promote, helping to establish trust in a system where trust can be lacking. What a better time to introduce stakeholder capitalism and social impact into healthcare than in the middle of the SARS-COVID-19 pandemic?
There are actually very few PBCs or B-Corps that operate in the health space, and even fewer in the dental space (there are a handful, including Permanente Dental Associates and Rodeo Dental & Orthodontics). Several thought-provoking articles have been published recently with attention-grabbing headlines about the need for PBCs/B Corps in healthcare…
- From Health Affairs Blog, “Public Benefit Corporations: A Third Option For Health CareDelivery?” Mar 2021
- From Pharmaceutical Intelligence,“Can the Public Benefit Company Structure Save US Healthcare?” Aug 2021
- From B the Change, “Why More Healthcare Organizations Should Become B Corps” Jan 2020.
From day one, our goal has been to establish a company culture that helps our corporate leadership, investors, and staff to consider actions greater than just profit. At DifferentKind, we're changing the way people experience, evaluate and find their dental care. We’re doing it with a benefit corporation mindset from the onset. Join us to B-come the revolution that reshapes the oral health care system!
