The ‘90s was a wild ride for the physician practice management (PPM) industry. I know this from personal experience. I rode the PPM consolidation wave of the ‘90s up to the top – and I saw it crash based on a number of factors.

One reason being that physicians resented that PPMs were not delivering value or on their promise to “repair/restore” the income that physicians sold to PPMs. There was also a devaluation of the PPM equity that physicians received as a large part of their sale price, as well as a general reluctance from office-based physicians to truly be part of a large organization, as opposed to “ruling” their own kingdoms. The PPMs were also burning through cash to support their substantial corporate overhead, which did not help the equation (there was no such thing as a “platform” to start off the PPM).

Fast-forward to 2018, where shifting markets demand a new approach to investments and a new set of priorities. Below are four strategic imperatives for success in today’s increasingly-competitive, ever-changing PPM marketplace:

• Achieving physician alignment: One of the biggest issues in the late ‘90s was the “us versus them” mentality that existed between physicians and physician practice management companies, both in terms of how deals were structured and the economics of the deal itself. From a structural perspective, deals must be designed to ensure physicians are incentivized, committed and that their interests are aligned.Whether this is accomplished through [...]
  
  Continue Reading