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Master of Science, Healthcare Administration. Certified Healthcare Business Consultant. Certified Business Appraiser. Certified Valuation Analyst.

Friday, July 22, 2011

Dental Practice Valuations

Dental practice valuations can be a challenging task with many complexities. A professional valuation company can charge thousands of dollars to determine the fair market value of a practice. Before spending that money, it is important to do your homework and choose an appropriate valuation expert, and to properly understand the benefits and limitations of the valuation report.

Unfortunately, there is no standardized universally accepted formula or “rule of thumb” that a valuation company may use to establish the value of a dental practice. There are many objective factors that should be considered to determine the value, and there are as many subjective factors unique to the dental industry (and to each specialty within the dental industry) that are just as important.

In reality, a valuation of a dental practice is closer to providing a subjective opinion rather than using complex formulas or “industry standards”. Be sure to work with someone that understands the dental industry to develop a reasonable and useful dental practice valuation. This valuation should be discussed in further detail with your financial advisors to prepare for the transition process.

Naturally, the valuation will incorporate much of the financial data to analyze the “numbers” of the dental practice. Perhaps more helpful, will be analysis of the key factors of profitability and growth that are unique to the specific practice being evaluated. Each dental specialty has its own attributes that must be considered, such as different standards for reimbursements, payor mix, percentage of patients by referrals, etc.


Charles Kim is a dental practice broker at Transition Consultants, a practice merger and acquisition firm. Mr. Kim provides transaction advisory and dental practice valuation services to dentists and dental groups nationwide. He can be contacted at 800-416-2055 (x224).

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