Fall 2014 issue of Horizons

Overall, it takes time to transition patients and knowledge to the physicians taking over, so there should be a semi-retirement period for the transition to take place. This period can serve as a “bridge” that allows the next generation of physicians to get up to speed with patients, referral sources, and systems. Selling or Transitioning Your Practice Planning for retirement can be an exciting but stressful time for a physician. During the exit process, physicians will often be faced with a variety of options and will need to make some difficult decisions. By planning ahead of time, the transition process to retirement becomes much smoother. Numerous considerations should be made when making the decision on how to sell or otherwise transition your practice. For instance, key factors may include the economy, physician supply and demand, the value of fixed assets and intangibles (including goodwill), and the overall appeal of your practice. Physicians should consider being purchased by a hospital or merging with another practice as a key component of their succession plan. Sometimes these are the better alternatives. When beginning the journey of succession planning, physicians and physician practices should work with advisors who are practical and understand how medical practices operate. This does not have to be a difficult process, but it does need to be thorough.

obviously, also be engaged to facilitate implementation of the plan.

There are many components to succession planning for a physician practice and many crucial decisions that need to be considered. Some items that need to be addressed are: ∙ Determine the number of physicians the practice will need. To answer this, consider how many physicians will be retiring and the expected timeline for retirement. Also, consider how many physicians are projected to be needed by the practice taking both practice-specific factors (desire to grow vs. stay same size) as well as macro factors (how big is the growth opportunity for that specialty) into consideration. On average, it takes over a year to recruit a physician depending on the specialty and location, so a plan should be in place for the recruitment of physicians. This plan should state the milestones or metrics that, when met, signal the need for an additional physician. By having this plan in place and starting your recruitment efforts early, you are more likely to realize a smooth transition and greater consistency in care. ∙ Create an on-boarding strategy for new physicians. When a new physician comes into a practice and an existing physician leaves a practice, the importance of a smooth transition for both patients and colleagues cannot be overlooked. ∙ Draw up a contingency plan. You must have a plan in place for dealing with the sudden, unexpected loss of a physician. It may be beneficial to have formal training or mentoring already in place to assist in the transition. This plan should include many elements such as a strategy for distributing patient case loads until a replacement is retained. ∙ Develop and implement a recruitment plan.

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