How do I sell my medical billing business?

A buyer of a billing service takes on its clients and the people who know their work. Both are easy to lose in a poorly handled sale. Preparation therefore starts early and quietly, and it is mostly about making the business understandable to someone who has never sat at your desk.

Read your client agreements

Go through each agreement with a lawyer and note the notice period, any limit on assigning the contract, and what happens if the clinic wants out. Some agreements need a client’s consent before they can move to a new owner. Knowing this before you list lets you plan the conversations, rather than discovering a problem in the middle of a negotiation.

Make the work transferable

Write a procedures manual that covers how claims are prepared, checked, sent and followed up, and keep an up-to-date list of software accounts and who holds access. If a biller left tomorrow, someone else should be able to carry on. Buyers feel far more at ease when the work does not live in the owner’s head.

Telling physicians and keeping staff

Decide with your advisers when and how to tell physician clients. Many owners wait until a buyer is serious, then introduce the buyer in person. Staff matter just as much. Think about how to keep your key billers through the handover, and offer a transition period in which you stay on to introduce the new owner.

Who might buy

Likely buyers include another billing service, a clinic group, and a bookkeeping or accounting firm that wants to serve physicians. Ask your lawyer what privacy rules apply to patient records. Do not hand over any client or patient information until the lawyer says how.