What to Know Before Completing a Medical Merger

Completing a medical merger is a complex venture with many benefits and just as many concerns. Before considering this action, there are many major considerations to be made and aspects of it you need to know. Without knowing even the basics of what to expect, there are risks of a bumpy transition throughout. While not an expert review, here are some touchpoints.

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Regulations and Compliance

When going through a merger, your smaller practice will be thoroughly scrutinized by a regulatory body. As such, it isn’t uncommon for smaller clinics to review and upgrade malpractice insurance to align with the demands and changes of larger hospital frameworks. There are many larger and complex systems at work throughout a merger, including antitrust implications, market penetration issues, and healthcare-specific regulations such as HIPAA.

Internal Different Cultures

There are indeed different cultures across a hospital or large clinic. These can be professional cliques or even belief-based. Whatever they are, this is a very real and concerning part of a merger. Cultures can clash, and when this happens, no one really wins. Friction can arise and cause major problems within departments if it isn’t addressed promptly. Leadership styles, communication, and patient care methods should be part of a plan to eradicate clashes.

Completing a Medical Merger with IT Integration

The National Institute of Health reports that 38% of doctors are employed by firms involved in a merger. When this happens, all IT systems must be compliant, upgraded, and working. There are medical cloud hosting services that make things easier today, and will help run things:

Electronic health records can be stored on secure cloud systems and internal servers.
Billing systems are vital, and clinics will benefit from medical billing software and apps.
Integrating scheduling software makes it easier for patients and medical departments.

Doctor and Staff Communication

Cooperation is a major part of a merger. Physicians and staff must get along and all be on the same page. The staff are the vanguard of patient care at a medical facility and deserve communication about changes and what is happening. Getting everyone involved early in the process can be vital when trying to reduce the number of employees who consider leaving and also smooths the transition somewhat, even if it is the odd meeting, newsletters, and blogs.

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Financial Deep Dives

Any merger in every sector requires due diligence, and the medical sector is no different. When a merger is happening, every aspect of finances will be scrutinized multiple times by experts. These are essential to understand the overall financial health of the clinic and any risks that can jeopardize the merger itself. This includes financial statements, but also reimbursement models, revenue cycles, and potential medical malpractice liabilities because of mismanaged care.

Summary

Regulations and compliance issues checks are common when completing a medical merger. However, even IT integration is a major part of the two practices coming together. Of course, due diligence also means that any clinic’s financials will also be scrutinized during a deep dive.

With inputs from agencies

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