To be the best clinician you can be, it is critical that you have the business aspects of providing healthcare in order. In the ever-changing and competitive Australian medical and healthcare market, how does your business fitness fare?
Irrespective of whether you are seeking to start as a solo practitioner or buy into an existing practice (as part of establishing a group medical or health business), the legal and financial complexities of running a medical or health business are important to understand.
Medical (whether general or specialist) and allied health businesses are often small to medium enterprises that require well-executed strategic and operational management. Designing and developing a suitable and well-structured business is not only dependent on the healthcare provider’s unique vision of patient care, but also requires carefully navigating all the legal, financial, tax,  and regulatory risks involved.
Creating the most suitable and beneficial business structure at the outset allows you to maximise the financial success of your profitable venture. Generally, the types of structures available are:-
- sole trader;
- trust, including a hybrid trust, fixed unit trust or a discretionary trust;
- company; and
- partnership
These won’t all be suitable for owning, operating and developing your specific business.
When deciding on a location for your business’ premises, it is important to consider visibility. Key issues include the demographic profile of the area, supply and demand for your business’ type of medical and health care, economic and infrastructure development, and the co-location of other health service facilities. Choose a location within your referral network, and focus on establishing an easily accessible digital presence.
Optimise your business efficiency and deliver high quality patient-centric experiences by employing the right practice manager. Your practice manager will be the backbone of your business and investing in the right person will relieve a lot of the early (and some ongoing) pressures in setting up and running a health business. A strong practice manager is multidisciplinary, covering aspects of business leadership, project management, information technology, marketing, finance and HR.
Equally important is employing the right diverse staff with a mixture of skills, knowledge and competencies that will have a major influence on the quality of service provided to patients in your business. You will need to build the right team to achieve your business objectives. A cornerstone of these teams is developing relationships that lead to trust and understanding of various roles, skills and capabilities. Building a positive working culture centred around collaboration and accurate output will ensure you have a solid team on board to deliver quality patient care when it counts.
To ensure a smooth business transition occurs, the relevant commercial background information and documentation is required as part of negotiating a successful purchase or merger. To start with, this includes:-
- evidence of current Australian accreditation for the business;
- financial statements for the business demonstrating financial position and capability;
- business and land valuations;
- licence and leasing arrangements (including pathology); and
- employment agreements and service agreements.
To ensure the overall success of your venture, it is prudent that you first discuss your goals with professional advisers.
If you’re purchasing a Medical or Health Business contact our lawyers today on +61 3 9822 8588 or email HERE to find out how they can assist you.
