Woodbury, NY (PRWEB) March 03, 2014
Hospitals are actively acquiring independent medical practices throughout New York State. While this may be a viable option for many practices, it is not the only option. Gettry Marcus, a leading New York City and Long Island CPA firm, lists the benefits of joining a physician-owned mega-group.
Lee Ferber, Partner at Gettry Marcus CPA, P.C. and Co-Chair of the firm’s Health Care Consulting Group, says, “With hospitals actively acquiring medical practices throughout New York State, independent medical practices are starting to realize that they can be stronger if they come together as one. This has led to a significant increase in physician-owned and led ‘mega-groups’. These large groups allow practices to maintain a high degree of independence and to be in a better position to participate in health care reform and the associated new payment models.”
Recently, there has been an increase in the number of independent medical practices that are joining together to form larger group practices, commonly referred to as “roll-ups”, “mega-groups” or “super-groups”. Mega-groups can either be the result of a consolidation of practices or the merger of several practices into a larger one. In the end, however, the result is a single larger group practice that bills and operates under one tax ID.
Size is driving the increase of physician-owned mega-groups in New York State. Size does matter in today’s world of health care. A larger practice will have a larger number of patients under their care, which translates to greater market share. Common advantages of physician owned mega-groups are as follows:
- Remaining independent of hospitals and established large, multi-specialty practices.
- Greater likelihood for success with managed care negotiations.
- Greater likelihood for success in meeting new quality care initiatives, such as pay for performance (P4P), bundled payment initiatives and value-based pricing.
- The ability to share financial risk, which is a requirement for participation in many new payment models.
- Reduced overhead and greater economies of scale.
- The ability to participate in ACOs.
- The ability to provide ancillary services, such as lab work, radiology and other diagnostic testing.
- Greater leverage in negotiating physician-hospital arrangements.
- For specialists, the ability to maintain existing referral sources.
- Greater access to capital, e.g., private equity, MSO development.
- Access to bank financing for EMR and other technology upgrades.
- Greater ability to retain and attract top doctors.
In the end, any potential mega-group formation has to be evaluated from both an operational and financial standpoint to determine the group’s feasibility. Those physicians charged with overseeing the evaluation should seek proper legal and financial counsel so that all relevant matters are properly addressed. A thorough evaluation, one that is transparent amongst all of the physicians who are considering joining the mega-group, will make the process and ultimate decision for each physician that much easier.
Gettry Marcus CPA, P.C., a top New York City and Long Island CPA firm with offices in Woodbury, Long Island and New York City. We provide accounting, tax, and consulting services to commercial businesses, high net worth individuals and various industries which include real estate and health care. We have one of the premier and most credentialed business valuation, litigation and forensic accounting groups in the New York Area. Our experience in diverse industries and a highly talented and experienced professional staff gives us the ability to share valuable insights into our clients’ businesses, to better understand their goals and problems and to help them attain the vision they have for their company.
Gettry Marcus is "Always Looking Deeper" to build value for our clients.
Media inquiries: Contact Fayellen Dietchweiler at 516-364-3390 ext. 225 or via email at Fdietchweiler (at) gettrymarcus (dot) com.
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