In the last few decades, the trusted doctor-patient relationship, the cornerstone of most specialty practices, has been tested by the unparalleled upheaval and transformation in the business side of healthcare. As a result, specialty practices now face more changes than ever, forced to navigate complex economic pressures that challenge their ability to thrive while maintaining personalized, high-quality care.
Unfortunately, the current state of healthcare has whittled away independent practices and pushed us toward mass consolidation.
From rising administrative burdens to mounting operational expenses, specialty practices—particularly those that remain independent—face a wide range of challenges. For many, consolidation is increasingly becoming the only viable option to sustain their operations and keep their practices running.
4 out of 5 physicians who have sold their practice cited a need to negotiate higher payment
rates with payers and needing to manage administrative and regulatory burdens as the
main drivers of their decision.
The rapid evolution of healthcare is driving widespread, systemic change, reshaping the industry at every level. Unfortunately, this transformation has placed physician-owned specialty practices under immense pressure, threatening their independence from all sides. For many, these challenges are forcing a difficult decision—to walk away from the businesses they worked tirelessly to build.
PE pushes private practices within many regions into groups they control. These consolidated entities provide practices with more capital, allowing them to invest in new technologies and expand facilities. Their larger size also helps practices achieve economies of scale by giving them more negotiating power with payers. However, they also impact the availability and cost of care within these regions.
These groups attempt to streamline healthcare for patients but are plagued by the same combination of staffing cuts and inflated prices as PE firms. Unfortunately, in many cases, clinicians are forced to play by the health system’s rules—potentially modifying care for the sake of profits and metrics over patients.
Despite the challenges and prevailing pessimism, independent specialty medical practices still have opportunities to maintain successful private ownership structures. More than just a hope, these practices are a critical cornerstone of the American healthcare system, making their continued success a foundational necessity.
Even though it may seem nearly impossible, by taking the right steps to strengthen your practice, we can protect independent medicine.
The biggest challenge most specialty physicians face today isn’t caring for patients; it’s juggling all the admin and background work it takes to run a practice. There’s a lot to keep up with outside of being an actual doctor–from reimbursement to regulatory requirements, prior authorizations, and more. Most practices get stuck; they don’t have the resources to build a team of experts needed to run the practice, and they also can’t afford to simply ignore these challenges.
Most physicians want to focus on practicing medicine, but today’s healthcare requirements also require complex, ongoing business operations.
To overcome these challenges, practices must leverage optimized technology and work to stay ahead of future demands.
You've dedicated your life to becoming a successful physician. However, modern medicine has new demands. There are not enough hours in a day to manage the business side of a medical practice and successfully take care of all your patients. While the easiest solution would be to succumb to the pressures of consolidation to take the administrative stuff off your plate – it’s not your only option.
Instead, look for a partner who allows you to maintain your autonomy but can also provide support by helping you:
your practice. We work with specialty practices nationwide, giving us a unique bird-eye-view understanding of your specialty market. We know what strategies work best for certain types of practices and can customize them to fit your unique needs. We have the resources, expertise, data, and insights needed to handle all the administrative burdens you might face.
Most other partners and solutions favor the trends of profit and consolidation, but we’re focused on helping you stay independent. We can help you:
Our goal is to help you improve your operations and finances to strengthen your practice so you can focus on providing high-quality care.
We work with you to develop a custom strategy that makes you attractive to payers, providers, and patients and equips you with the tools and technology needed to make it all work.