35
Volume3 Issue5
|
S
upporting
Y
our
P
ractice
It’s a seller’smarket for dental practices according toDr. BernieDolansky,
transition consultant, partner and sales representative at Tier Three
Brokerage, a firm specializing in the evaluation and sale of dental practices.
In most areas of Canada, having more buyers than sellers is driving an
increase indental practice values. But what factors are the best predictors
of dental practice value in today’smarket?We spokewithDr. Dolansky,
aCDA past-president in1992-93, togethisperspectives.
Themost valuable commodity
As evaluatorsof dental practices,wehave to lookat all the factors that any reasonablywell-
informedbuyerwouldwant to knowabout apractice. By far themost valuablepart of a
general dental practice in today’smarket is, quite simply,
itspatients
. Activepatients, defined
aspatientson regular recallwhohavebeen seen in the last 12–18months, areparticularly
valuable. Inmost partsof Canada,wehave toomanydentists andnot enoughpatients, and
that’swhat isdriving themarket.
Traditional viewsof practice evaluations are changing
For ageneral dental practice, cashflow is related to thepatient listsor charts. Upuntil about
four years ago,webasedour evaluationsof dental practicesonpast gross revenues—usually
anaverageof theprevious threeyears. But buyers todayaremore sophisticatedandare
interested in
futureprojectionsof cashflow
. Today, thepossible futurecashflow that can
bederived from thosevaluablepatients is themajor determinant of value for an informed
buyer.
The challengeof predicting revenue
Futurecashflow seems likea simpleconcept: it’s future revenueminus futurecosts. But how
doyoupredict future revenueper patient per year?Well, current revenuecanbeaverygood
BernieDolansky
Dr.Dolanskypractisedas
an endodontist forover
35years.Healso served
as president ofCDA,
theOntarioDental
Associationand the
DentistryCanadaFund.
This interviewhasbeencondensedandedited.
Theviewsexpressedarethoseoftheauthor
anddonotnecessarilyreflecttheopinions
orofficialpoliciesoftheCanadianDental
Association.
By far themost valuable part of a general dental practice in today’s
market is, quite simply, its patients.
Whatare themaindrivers that
makeadentalpracticevaluable?
