Buying a Dental Practice: Beyond the Financials

JoAnne Tanner, MBA, wrote an excellent article in Dental Economics about buying a dental practice. Beyond the financial statements and purchase agreement language, what else should you look for? The article reveals what successful buyer also look for. Here are key items:

• Patient Flow. How many hygiene patients are actively seen? Are they consistently scheduled? Are patients timely treated or is care overdue? Does the practice actively use its recall systems or perio protocols?

  
  

• Treatment Details. Are treatments diagnosed and tracked? Are follow-throughs timely or not done at all?

  
  

• Insurance Participation. Is the practice billings heavily discounted due to PPO plans, write-offs, plan participations, or reimbursement levels? Has the seller optimized the practice's billing system and coding accuracy? Are coding errors minimized?

  
  

• Practice Culture. Is the staff well-trained? Do they work well together? Is there any unnatural tension between teams or departments? Are there signs of worker burnout or technology frustration? How do provider teams view patients, in general? Or, working with payers?

  
  

• Dental Technology. Does the practice use digital X-rays, intraoral cameras, CBCT imaging, or digital scanners? Will the buyer need to make significant technology investments to get the practice at par with industry technology standards?

  
  

• Vision of the Future. Does the staff understand and accept buyer's vision for the practice? Has the buyer had an in-depth and open discussion about the future of the practice with staff persons?

Read the complete article here.