PPM Archives - HEALTH & LIFE SCIENCES NEWS

Key Considerations for a Seamless Practice Acquisition

by Jerry J. Sokol | Oct 9, 2018 | Health M&A, PPM/ASC

For physician practice management (PPM) organizations going through an acquisition processes – whether by a physician group or a private equity firm – one idea should remain top-of-mind: integration must start before the closing.

The Harvard Business Review states that 70 to 90 percent of acquisitions fail because of integration issues, noting that “companies that focus on what they are going to get from an acquisition are less likely to succeed than those that focus on what they have to give it.”

Working toward a smooth transition for employees from day one will not only help boost morale, but also contribute to the value-add of your PPM. With that in mind, below are four key considerations to help implement an efficient and effective integration strategy, ensuring a seamless transition before, during and after the deal is done:

Put Your People First – As we explored during our annual PPM/ASC Symposium back in March, the first step and greatest challenge in practice integration is ensuring cultural compatibility. For practices with workers that have different working styles and expectations, merging could cause friction points and potential turnover for those dissatisfied with the new conditions. Ensuring systems are in place for immediate employee inclusion is critical. This can begin with something as simple as including them in all-staff communications and keeping them up to date of what’s happening at the company. Feedback systems where merging workforces can share their insights and recommendations can also [...]

Continue Reading

The Importance of Ongoing Physician Collaboration, Engagement and Integration in PPM Management

by Jerry J. Sokol | Aug 31, 2018 | Health M&A, PPM/ASC

In partnerships, the key to success lies in communication, understanding, and involvement. This certainly applies to PPMs, which learned in the 1990s that an “us versus them” mentality between physicians and the management companies can lead to economic turmoil.

To avoid a similar fate, those in charge of managing a PPM must understand the needs and desires of those leading the boots-on-the-ground patient operations. Working closely with physicians and establishing what they need is crucial to aligning incentives, which leads to happier employees and a better return on investment. It is incumbent upon the PPMs of today to learn from the mistakes of 20 years ago and foster healthy, receptive relationships with physicians. It is also important to truly integrate acquired practices, so that the physicians really feel part of a single integrated system and not part of an independent affiliate of the PPM.

All of this can be done using the following five strategies:

Ensure Integration: Immediately, post-closing, ensure that the PPM’s integration team takes real steps to integrate the acquired practice’s business into the PPM. Consolidate systems and processes, so that the practices and PPM are deeply intertwined and not loosely affiliated. Proper integration up front is key to ultimate success.

Enlist Input: As PPM owners understand, physician input is traditionally tied to physician ownership. However, this type of ownership is becoming rarer. In 2017, the proportion of patient care physicians with an ownership stake in their medical practice dropped [...]

Continue Reading

Three Environmental Factors Impacting the PPM Industry and Getting Deals Done

by Jerry J. Sokol | Jul 10, 2018 | Health Antitrust, Health M&A, Health Private Equity, PPM/ASC, Reimbursement

The PPM industry is by no means immune to the ebbs and flows of a traditional marketplace. Since the consolidation bubble burst in the 1990s, PPMs have gone from practically extinct to a once-again substantial component of the health care delivery system. But with greater influence comes more pressure to respond, and adapting to today’s complex operating environment requires those in the PPM industry to ensure they are building the foundational structure needed to help practices adapt to external factors and achieve long-term success.

Here are three defining aspects of today’s complex PPM environment, as well as several important considerations to help navigate environmental uncertainties and create a better patient experience.

Physician satisfaction and expectations are changing: As millennial doctors enter the workforce, they’re driving a sea change in terms of job expectations. With better work-life balance as a top priority, many young physicians are looking to be employees rather than employers, joining an existing practice instead of starting their own. Therefore, communicating what a PPM has to offer in terms of long-term incentives, rather than short-term profit margins, will be crucial to drawing in younger doctors and building a foundation that will last into the future.
Reimbursement strategies are evolving: Payer models and expectations continue to shift. Patients are being folded into a system that’s evolving from fee-for-service to value-based reimbursement models. As of now, the federal government is the biggest source of health care reimbursements in the country, but how legislative changes to reimbursement frameworks will impact [...]

Continue Reading

Looking Back at PPM/ASC 2018: What We Learned in Nashville

by Jerry J. Sokol | May 14, 2018 | Health M&A, Health Private Equity, PPM/ASC

The health care field is evolving at light speed, adapting to changing patient, physician and payer expectations. This is particularly evident in the physician practice management (PPM) and ambulatory surgery center (ASC) industries. We gathered recently in Nashville, Tennessee for the 2018 Physician Practice Management & ASC Symposium to explore and discuss these changes – from what’s improved in the PPM industry since the bubble-burst of the late 1990s to the challenges that lie ahead.

We had more than 500 attendees at the conference – from PPM/ASC executives, private equity professionals and investment bankers to provider-side representatives and fellow attorneys. With so many knowledgeable minds in one place, there was no shortage of learning opportunities around the critical business, transactional and regulatory issues facing the PPM/ASC industries today.

We saw one overarching theme surface during both sessions: running a PPM or ASC is more like running a co-op than a business. Therefore, in order to deliver meaningful value, there needs to be an honest and reciprocal relationship between management and physicians. In other words, there needs to be collaboration and input from all parties.

With that, here are our five key takeaways for bringing value to a PPM/ASC practice:

Understand today’s physicians, not those from the ‘90s: Today’s physicians are younger and leave medical school with more debt, but they also expect a more comprehensive work-life balance than Gen Xers did. As a result, they may be willing to work for large, established practices instead [...]

Continue Reading