It’s Never Too Early to Plan for Succession
One of the greatest assets in any community is the collection of physician practices where neighbors and families receive their care. And some of the longest and deepest relationships between physicians and their community exist at independent practices.
Often, these practices have been operated for decades by clinician-owners and staff whom their patients have come to think of as family as much as medical professionals. When these practices close due to retirement of the physician-owner, patients are not only forced to establish their care with a new provider—if they can find one accepting new patients—the community is losing something as well: The community-based and hometown feel of the independent physician practice, operated by a team that has a stake in the health of the local area as neighbors and friends.
A practical way to help prevent such loss is succession planning for independent physician practices. Succession planning is an increasingly urgent issue we see all the time at Alo. Most independent practices do not have a succession plan for how to keep their legacies thriving for future generations.
Instead, we encounter owners who are about ready to let their practices simply close, believing there are no other options. Once that decision is made, and especially after it is communicated to patients, it is extremely difficult to reverse.
This is why we’ve leaned into connecting with independent owners and developing specific strategies and support for physicians who are contemplating or nearing retirement. Since 2022, we’ve partnered with over a half-dozen physicians to transition their practice—locations, patients and staff—to our platform. Not only has this ensured continuity of access and operations for the patients and communities who have relied on these practices for decades, we have actually extended the careers of these physicians as they delay their retirement plans.
By removing the burdens of operating the practice day to day, we’ve allowed the providers to focus on patient care—their first love—and returned some of the joy of medicine to their practice. Full disclosure: This isn’t an easy transition from owner to being part of a bigger network. But we are sensitive to this fact and provide flexibility to preserve the culture and atmosphere of the practice.
Being proactive is key for physicians at this stage of their careers. Start thinking about this now, whether it’s bringing on a partner to succeed you as the new owner or talking with potential business partners who can help to build the succession bridge.
We recognize it can be a challenge to make time for this type of planning amid the crush of keeping an independent practice running well. We would be happy to walk you through the analysis and support Alo can provide as you make this decision to preserve the vital community asset that is the independent medical practice—and the precious patient relationships they maintain.
