Physician Challenges

• What form should our partnership take?-Partnership, LLC, PA etc. each group of doctors is different.  The form the group takes is dependent upon each individual physicians’ needs, age and type of practice.  We will help them determine what is best for their group.
• How will dissolution issues be resolved?-All physician groups dissolve in some way and at some point.  This may be retirement, death, disability or break up due to incompatibility.  These eventualities must all be provided for initially.  This is the time when you are most likely to arrive at an agreement on these issues.
• How do we equalize our original practice contributions?  Each physician partner brings value from his or her practice to the group.  These must be equalized going forward.  We will help them do this.
• How will the group fund the disability, death or retirement buyout of a partner?  Will insurance be necessary?  Will it be funded this out of current cash flow?  The answer is different for each group of physicians.
• How will the practice rearrange its insurance set up?  Workers compensation, medical malpractice, officers and directors, and office liability are some of the issues that need to be addressed.
• How will we handle human resource issues?  This is usually the biggest problem for practices merging.  How can we equalize employee salaries/benefits from two different corporations?  We need to be OSHA and HIPPA compliant.  Do we offer a pension plan? Do we offer medical insurance to our employees?  What will be our vacation policy/sick leave policy?  What will be the job descriptions for each employee?  We have found that melding two employee groups are the hardest part of mergers.  Whose manager will be the main manager?  We will help you figure this out by an analysis of your corporations.
• How do we merge physicians’ schedules? Some physicians have home issues that need to be considered.  We have experience dealing with every type of physician.  We will help our clients decide if evening or early morning hours are best for their patients, as well as for themselves.  We will help our physicians work smarter and be more productive.
• Will the new practice need financing? The financial set up of your new group is essential.  Will you need bank financing?  Do you need a line of credit?  Should you buy or lease your equipment? These are very expensive and critical decisions that we can help you with.
• How will we deal with managed care companies?  In most areas of the country the decision as to which systems to participate with is as important as any other decision that may be made in your practice.  We will analyze your region, your referral base and where your patients come from.  We will then recommend which systems to participate in and which to avoid.
• How will we deal with billing and collections? All physicians’ offices have trouble with this.  Should you keep this in-house or should you outsource?  Our analysis of your practice can tell which is best for you.
• Which electronic medical records company is best for us?   This is not a maybe this is a must.  All new groups should be paperless.  If you do not do it yourself the government will mandate it shortly.  We will help you navigate through this sea of trouble.
• How can we cut our cost of supplies?  This is an ever-growing cost factor for most practices.  There are a number of commercial physician aggregate groups that you can align with to give you substantial discounts.
• How can we cut our cost for technology? IT/telephone systems-this is the lifeblood of your practice.  There are numerous ways to cut down your no-show rate and even enhance patients wishing to come to your practice.
• What must our physical plant to look like? Do you need a new practice location or are you going to move together into an existing location?  This is a fundamental question for a practice.  We can help you identify locations, and utilize existing specialists in medical building construction for a turnkey operation.  If you're staying put in your present location then renovation will probably be necessary.
• How can we add revenue producing ancillary services? Probably one of the greatest revenue generators for physicians.  Is your practice ready to incorporate a pharmacy, MRI, CAT scan, bone densitometry, laboratory, physical therapy, pulmonary function testing etc. All of these are value added revenue enhancers.  In some practices this can earn a physician as much as his/her primary salary

We know this is a long list of problems to think about.  That's why our years of experience in dealing with these matters can help you.