As a selling physician, getting multiple quotes is key to getting the best offer for your practice. Don’t wait for potential buyers to come to you; instead, contact a handful of viable buying prospects, including medical groups and group practices, to tell them about your plans to sell.
Start by reaching out to your competitors in the area to ask if they want to expand their practice. Local groups or hospitals are also a good resource; someone on the board may know a staff member interested in starting their own private practice.
2. Improve an area of your medical practice before selling
If you aren’t receiving any good offers, consider revamping certain aspects of your practice to boost its value. For example, you may want to redo the waiting room decor, invest in a new X-ray machine, or update your EHR software. Changes like this when selling medical practices can increase the value of your establishment and make it more appealing to a potential buyer.
3. Evaluate your sale options
If you own the building or facility you practice in as well as the practice itself, then you may have an opportunity to maximize your profits with two sales.
As a double owner, you have a couple of options. If you want to remain the owner of the building, you could sell your medical practice, then lease the space to the new owner. Depending on your mortgage payments and the current real estate market, this could let you earn passive income, or it could be a drain on your finances.
Another option is to sell both the practice and the facility. This is a good route to take if you don’t want to be responsible for monthly mortgage payments and facility upkeep. If the buyer of your practice doesn’t want to purchase the facility, you can always sell the space to a different buyer.
Discuss the possibilities with your real estate broker and accountant to ensure you’re making the right choice when it comes to selling medical practices.
4. Communicate with your staff and patients about the selling of the medical practice
Before you open up to your staff and patients, it’s important to talk to the buyer to ask whether or not they’ll keep the current staff and continue seeing your patients. Getting this information ahead of time before the sale of the medical practice goes through will help you better communicate with your team and patients.
Try to give your staff and patients as much notice as possible that you’ll be stepping down as owner and selling the medical practice. Be transparent about your departure date and reason for leaving, provide as many details as you can about the future of the practice, and take time to answer questions.
You may even want to stay on for a few months under a temporary employment contract. You can use this time to educate the new owner about your health care processes and procedures, help your patients transition, and train any new staff.
