Physician practice options - Independent vs Hospital- Foundation Affiliation

Physicians have more practice options than ever: stay solo, merge into a larger single-specialty or multi-specialty group or ACO, or join a foundation, university affiliation or hospital outpatient clinic. This physician practice options workshop gives a balanced look at the choices and the issues to weigh before deciding.

You'll consider whether solo or small group practice is still viable and how smart management and marketing help it thrive, plus the pros and cons of mergers and single vs multi-specialty groups.

For affiliation offers, you'll learn when to consider one and how to assess it, including goodwill and tangible asset value, contract guarantees, governance, base salary and wRVU compensation, life as an employee, leaving, patient advocacy and malpractice risk.

• Compare current compensation with wRVU formula offers on an equal basis
• Assess practice models from solo practice to hospital or university affiliation
• Negotiate the sale of a practice to a hospital
• Value goodwill, tangible assets and contract guarantees in an offer
• Negotiate contract terms that avoid malpractice conflicts of interest

• Whether solo or small group practice is viable, and how to thrive through management and marketing
• Mergers: should you merge with others?
• Single-specialty vs multi-specialty groups: pros and cons
• Joining a foundation, university affiliation or hospital outpatient clinic model
• When to consider an offer and how to assess it
• How goodwill and tangible assets such as equipment are valued
• How many years the contract should be guaranteed
• University affiliation models: private practice with university contract rates
• Governance and decision-making
• Compensation models, including base salary and dollars per wRVU
• Life as an employee and what happens if you want to leave
• Patient advocacy restrictions and malpractice risks

Choosing a practice model is one of the biggest decisions a physician makes, and offers can be hard to compare. The session is led by an experienced practice management consultant who has advised physicians on mergers, acquisitions and compensation, and the workshop has been presented for the California Medical Association's Western Leadership Academy.

It suits physicians, clinics, hospital executives and medical practice administrators.

Physicians, Clinics, hospital executives, Medical practice administrators

Debra Phairas, MBA, is President of Practice & Liability Consultants, LLC a nationally recognized firm specializing in practice management and malpractice prevention. Her background includes medical clinic administration and loss prevention management for NORCAL Mutual, a physician malpractice insurance carrier in Northern California. Her BS is from Michigan State University and her graduate work at Golden Gate University, San Francisco MBA Health Services Administration program. Her consulting experience includes over 1,800 practices of all sizes and specialties. Typical engagements include: practice start-ups, practice assessments, mergers, financial analysis, revenue enhancement, overhead reduction, personnel management, over 380 practice valuations, expert witness, partnership issues and recruitment support for hospitals and physician groups.  She has presented seminars and lectures nationwide for state and local medical/dental associations, management organizations and specialty societies.