Medical Mavin

[theanswer03]

Has anyone had any experience with the Medical Mavin Independent Doctor System? I'm not talking about the part that allows you to buy or sell a practice, but the IDS system?

Thanks

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[PADPM]

I will be as diplomatic as possible and tell you that I believe there are other options that I would explore first.

 

[theanswer03]

I will be as diplomatic as possible and tell you that I believe there are other options that I would explore first.

What are your specific reasons for saying that? You can PM me if you'd like to.

 

[cg2a93]

I have personal experience with Mavin when I was starting out. My advice to you is to be very careful with that company. I would hire a lawyer to look over any contract. My main point is not to dissuade you but for you to do your due diligence. Needless to say my experience with that company was less than favorable.

 

[PADPM]

What are your specific reasons for saying that? You can PM me if you'd like to.

Over the many years I've been in practice, I can once again repeat that there are MUCH better options and they are not a company I would personally recommend nor would I do business with them.

The example above is very typical.

 

[TheTruthAndMore]

Over the many years I've been in practice, I can once again repeat that there are MUCH better options and they are not a company I would personally recommend nor would I do business with them.

The example above is very typical.

I understand your recommendation, but since you gave no examples, I don't understand your reasoning.

So why?

 

[PADPM]

I understand your recommendation, but since you gave no examples, I don't understand your reasoning.

So why?

This is a public forum and I'm not about to start giving you specific examples (and I have no idea who you are) without Medical Mavin having the opportunity to defend their reputation.

I've been doing this a relatively long time. During that time I personally have been approached by them and did not like the way anything was handled. Yes, they approached ME and I was completely turned off by their tactics. Over the years I have been involved with many residents and many have sought the services of this company. I can not think of one situation that turned out well.

Once again, I'm not going to get into specifics and don't feel like asking my attorney if my comments are appropriate. You don't know me, so you can certainly ignore my comments and utilize their services. But when all is said and done remember what I said and others have said.

If you ever decide to use them you MUST hire a good attorney and an even better accountant. Do your due diligence. If things seem too good to be true they usually are......

 

[TheTruthAndMore]

Thanks.

 

[ghostryder]

Please note these comments are intended especially for DPMs who have recently completed their residencies as well as DPMs who are currently in-practice---all of whom may be seeking to purchase an existing Medical Practice.
Apparently (without naming-names) there are a number of Medical Practice Brokers/MPBs who may/have been and/or are currently advertising a variety of Medical Practices (including Podiatry Practices) which they represent for sale, online and/or otherwise.
As a general rule, their advertisements are written by individuals who are highly skilled at composing appealing rhetoric---regarding Brokers who, purport to ‘understand doctors’ needs and provide professional valuations of practices’ they have for sale. Case in point, one MPB’s statement online: “Selling a [Medical] practice is a full-time job…” that ‘requires hourly counseling, packaging of information, analyzing [it’s] Medical Practices for sale and setting the prices, marketing, finding and screening potential buyers [medical licensure evaluations,] arranging for financing [billing/collections,] appraising medical equipment as part of the sale and communications regarding sales with attorneys, accountants,….real estate appraisers.’
The initial contact of MPBs with prospective buyers may often appear to be empathetic toward the needs of doctors, may include personal testimonials such as close family ties with practitioners who were experiencing great amounts of frustration and difficulty with acquiring, operating and maintaining financial stability of their medical practices. Whether so, typically MPBs [who] aren’t physicians themselves may turn-out to be sorely lacking when it comes to the quality of the required hourly counseling they may offer at very expensive costs.
If so, buyers may find that MPBs may turn out to be sorely lacking when it comes to the amount of actual expertise they would require to produce comprehensive analyses of their practices for-sale, package information. That is, without a thorough independent 3rd party audit of the practice for sale’s business records, apparently it is next-to impossible for buyers to know ahead of time whether they’re purchasing a healthy business---let alone, one with an proven track record of doing business in ‘good faith.’
The MPB’s role in evaluating potential buyers’ medical licensures is pretty-well cut and dried because doctors’ credentials are governed by stringent federal and state guidelines. Nevertheless, many MPBs are known to be doing business with auxiliary companies. Moreover, if/when MPBs broker a contract bill of sale between buyers and sellers, both parties may have-to go-on doing business with MPB’s auxiliary companies for the life of their contract.
MPBs may retain legal counsel to broker sales of Medical Practices at great costs representing both buyers and sellers who, potentially may cause a perceived conflict of interest.
Last yet not least, typically MPBs are not licensed real estate sales persons or real estate brokers. Although MPBs may retain the services of a real estate appraiser, by law they are not legally able to sell real estate without a license.

 

[ghostryder]

Post Script: I don’t know if anyone’s still reading this but I can image maybe most likely somebody-somewhere is.
Re. MPBs: Nobody can say whether using an MPB to broker you the practice of your dreams (or sell your practice) is the wrong thing to do. Like the fellow said DO YOUR DUE-DILIGENCE. Information is scarce, hard to find but it’s out there.
Two general business rules of thumb which can apply to any small business:
1 Have an independent (from your practice) 3rd party do your personal and business taxes. I might suggest somebody you know who knows you, has done you and/or your families’ taxes for years, somebody you really trust.
2 Never put your signature on file anywhere for somebody else to sign all your checks. Don’t know what the law is but really don’t think there’s any law saying you have-to.

 

[ghostryder]

Post Script-Script: It looks like most MPBs have practices for sale ranging from the low $100,000s to the mid-high $900,000s. It would appear if you do opt to use an MPB you can tack $$$$$$ onto the price tag if you’re the buyer. And then, going forward $$$$$$ only seems to get bigger and bigger---once you’re in there’s most likely no way out.

 

[KBorglum]

Any buyer of a practice should have independent legal counsel and independent appraisal. I've been a licensed and certified medical/healthcare appraiser and broker for 30 years, and I can certainly verify that quality varies widely. Even though I'm a licensed specialist broker, I still have all my clients represented by independent legal counsel, because we brokers are fairly limited in the scope of our practice, and often limited to fill-in-the-blank state forms that might be OK for selling a laundromat, but not a medical practice. Also, its human nature to over-value your own assets, like a practice, so most sellers over-value their practices, while values continue to decline post-PPACA/ObamaCare. On the other hand, some sellers think all practices are now worth nothing, which is also wrong. If you are buying a practice, I recommend you have the seller pay for an appraisal, and you reimburse them for half ONLY IF you buy. Otherwise the appraisal continues to have value for the seller, but has no value to you if you declined the acquisition. If there is already an appraisal, if its a quality one, IRS-Qualified, and USPAP-Compliant, your own appraiser should be able to read it and give you a verbal opinion on it within an hour or two.

Google my name below to get lots of related articles on practice valuation and brokerage I've written for many medical publications over the years.
Keith C. Borglum
Certified Healthcare Business Consultant
Certified Business Broker
Licensed Broker and Appraiser