You can state who will own your practice, how shares will be allocated if there are multiple owners and at what price to sell shares. A buy-sell agreement allows you to make provisions that govern what will happen when you decide to leave your practice. There are several legal arrangements you can make to plan for succession, and one of the most popular is creating a buy-sell agreement. Once you have decided your successor, you need to ensure your private practice succession plan is legally protected. As an aside, if you decide to select a family member as your successor, be it a relative or child, make sure they want to run your medical practice and have a passion for the business side of private practice. Choosing the wrong successor can lead these patients and physicians to seek care elsewhere. Many of your patients and referring physicians may come to your practice because of their relationship with you. You can select an individual physician, a group of physicians, hospital, another practice, or a private equity-backed management company (“MSO”).The intent, of course, is to have someone who will continue to care for your patients and also maintain good relationships with referring physicians and the community as a whole. The first step to medical practice succession planning is deciding who will inherit your business. Here are four tips on getting started: 1. There are several options available if you are a private practice owner looking for advice on how to establish a succession plan. Private practice owners who want to secure the future of their medical practice need a solid succession plan in place to ensure a smooth transition from ownership to retirement.
An increasing number of physician owners are expected to retire within the next decade, which will create an extremely competitive market for medical practices looking to sell to new owners. This widespread lack of succession planning can lead to major obstacles for both private practice owners and the continuity of care for patients. Unfortunately, many physicians have not contemplated succession planning or do not have a comprehensive succession plan in place. Succession planning is essential for private practice owners, especially since ownership transition can be necessary at a moment’s notice due to unforeseen events such as illness, death or retirement.