Just a quick note… I recently had a website client email me to tell me that she’s closing her clinic so she won’t need a website anymore.
I woke up in the middle of the night with a realization. I blew it. Here’s why:
If you have a clinic, it’s actually worth money to someone other than yourself. If you move, you can sell or even GIVE your patients to another acupuncturist. Especially one just starting out. Some established acupuncturists would want to help your patients a few days a week.
Most medical, chiropractic and dental practice sales are often based on a certain price per patient file. Current patients are worth far more than inactive patients. Sometimes the inactive patients are thrown in for free. Other times it’s based on earnings/cash flow.
If you’re thinking about moving or closing your clinic, PLEASE share or sell your patients to another acupuncturist. You’ll be doing the new acupuncturist a favor, your patients a favor, and even yourself a favor! I’ll help you do this for free, just contact me.
4 responses so far ↓
1 Erik House // Apr 23, 2009 at 9:57 am
Wonderful post. Its important to remember that even if you need to close your clinic that until you do your cilentel will be looking for you for guidence on where to go next.
2 Burton Kent // Apr 23, 2009 at 11:10 am
I’m already receiving questions about this.
1. HIPPA refers to electronic transmission of patient records. Many, many documentations and writeups of HIPPA imply that it’s patient records, period. It’s not. Only electronic records that are transmitted are covered.
HIPPA was designed primarily to protect people from abuse by big insurance companies and healthcare providers.
I was surprised to discover that most acupuncturists do NOT need to worry about HIPPA. I’m pretty sure that handing over the files is legal, but I’m not a lawyer. Find out for sure yourself. Your specific state may have privacy laws that affect this.
2. How I would help - I would be happy to help publicize your clinic sale and help you find a buyer.
3. How to value a clinic? There are many, many ways to structure a deal. My accountant is a certified business valuator (or some other fancy label like that). She says there’s at least 4 different ways to value any business.
One thing to think about is if the existing acupuncturist sticks around to help with the transition. More patients will be willing to see a new acupuncturist when this happens.
3 Dan | Practice Growth // Apr 23, 2009 at 3:12 pm
We bought a practice early on from another practitioner, and I can’t recommend it enough. It was painless, relatively inexpensive, and we got 100% return on our purchase within a year.
You’re right, Burton - many practitioners don’t think of selling. In our case, we heard the practitioner wanted to move to another town, so we simply asked.
It really was easy. Don’t be afraid to consider selling or buying a practice. It’s great for everyone concerned, including patients!
4 Bonnie // Apr 25, 2009 at 12:12 pm
If you are considering buying like Dan did, it’s worth it to invest in someone who can give you an idea of a fair value. Selling an acupuncture practice was something that went around our acupuncture community in several instances but I know that in at least one case the value was no where near what the practitioner put it at (probably was only worth half the value they claimed because they artificially inflated the numbers of “active” versus “inactive” patients).
However, even without patient records, you still have special furniture (particularly massage tables) that new practitioners might be willing to purchase for a discount because they are a “specialty” item and they get expensive. Additionally if you also sell herbs and supplements, this is inventory that can be resold to someone just starting out. For the product end, the person may not even need be in the same field if they use the product line you like.
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