In connection with healthcare M&A deals there’s a lot of talk about value.
Note that I didn’t say “fair market value,” which generally doesn’t have any real linkage to the market, isn’t of any real value other than to cover one’s ass or convince you to settle for less, and is only “fair” if you’ve devoted your life to bureaucratic pursuits: that is, to destroying real value.
In the real world, your practice is worth only what a buyer, if one exists, will pay for your practice at the time you want to sell it. If no buyer is interested, then the practice’s value is simply academic.
If a potential buyer can pull the relationships that underlie your practice out from under you, then there’s no reason for it to become an actual buyer.
Value is something that you play a large role in creating. And, if you’re smart, simultaneously expanding and protecting.
