How to prepare your physical therapy practice for acquisition

Much of the outpatient physical therapy market consists of privately managed practices. However, recent years have shown an increase in the market for mergers and acquisitions. Smaller private practices are increasingly being acquired by larger companies. These types of acquisitions can provide significant benefits for both parties. If you’re thinking about mergers and acquisitions for your practice, there are some important steps you need to take into consideration. As the market for mergers and acquisitions grows, it’d be wise to learn as much information as you can. This way, you can facilitate beneficial opportunities for the future of your practice.

The steps you need to take to prepare your physical therapy practice for mergers and acquisitions

1. Organize your operations and financials — When you’re getting ready for acquisition, one of the most important steps you need to take is to organize your operations and financials. This means preparing or collecting documents pertaining to the organizational structure of your practice. It also includes the policies you implement at your clinic. You should document your patient engagement and retainer strategies, marketing strategies, operational policies, your clinic’s budget, insurance contracts, key performance indicators, and your profits and losses. Organizing documentation and finances can be streamlined with the help of electronic medical records (EMR) systems that feature several types of built-in managerial features.

2. Know your vision for the future — Whatever your reasons for a merger or acquisition may be, you should think about what you want for the future of your clinic. Look for buyers who align with your vision or goals. Be certain that you’re ready to sell before you make the decision to do so.

3. Increase the worth of your asset — Your practice is your asset. Before you begin your merger and acquisition journey, you should look to increase the value of your asset. This means continuing to put effort into boosting your business’s value. Some ways you can do this include making sure your team consists of talented and dedicated care providers and integrating organizational software to streamline operations. It also includes boosting your reputation and increasing your potential for future growth.

4. Look for outside services — You may want to consider hiring the services of someone outside of your clinic to lead the process of preparing for a merger and acquisition. It can be taxing and time consuming to do it on your own. Not only that, but certain parts of the preparation process may be out of your range of expertise. You may want to hire a legal expert and/or a financial analyst, or even invest in an electronic medical records (EMR) system. Each of these can aid you during your preparation for acquisition.

5. Make cosmetic changes to your practice — You’ll want to appeal to potential buyers. One good way to do that is to make your clinic look more aesthetically attractive. You can do simple things to add some extra appeal to your clinic, like making sure it stays clean and well organized. 

How can an EMR system help you become better prepared for mergers and acquisitions?

While you’re busy making aesthetic changes to your practice or thinking about your vision for the future of your practice, you can be sure that your organizational process is taken care of. EMR systems can help your staff create and maintain documentation. It can streamline scheduling, insurance, policies, finances and so much more.

AgileEMR can help you prepare your physical therapy practice for mergers and acquisitions

AgileEMR is a health care practice management software solution. It’s designed for therapists and created by therapists. AgileEMR officially launched its software in 2013 to address the source of common problems that physical therapists and clinicians most often run into with run-of-the-mill clinical EMR systems: None of them were created with physical therapy at the forefront. We conferred with physical therapists and physiotherapy experts when developing our physical therapy-centered software. This was how we could confidently ensure that our software program can meet the demands of this unique health care field. Since its launch, AgileEMR has become used in more than 1 million patient cases by all kinds of providers in the outpatient physical therapy industry. We’re aware that EMR systems are propelling the future of outpatient physical therapy. To learn more, read our blog posts including 3 ways EMR systems are driving the future of physical therapy. To see our physical therapy and rehabilitation partners, click here.

If you’re a practice owner and you’re looking for more information on electronic medical records systems or the features of our EMR program, look no further. We’re confident that our program can simplify how your outpatient physical therapy and rehabilitation clinic can keep running efficiently. 

Contact our team today for more information or to schedule a demo to see how AgileEMR can help you streamline your practice’s operations.