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Practice Purchase – Avoiding the Pitfalls

admin — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 15:31:00 +0000

The prospective acquisition of any target business can be a daunting prospect, especially in the ever-changing dental sector. The arrival of the CQC to dentistry initially brought some confusion to practice sales and purchases and it has taken some time for the dust to settle. Knowing how to navigate a practice can be very valuable in promoting a smooth process

Identify your ideal
If you are unclear about what your ideal practice would be, you can waste much time (and potentially money) in investigating all kinds of practices that will never be ‘right’ for you. There are many variables with a practice purchase and establishing what will be most suitable for you from an early stage will certainly help. The most fundamental things to consider will be the location, turnover, budget, the type of work undertaken, number of surgeries and so on and so forth. If you can prepare a list in your mind, it will make the process much simpler from the outset.

Know your budget
Understanding your means can prevent you from having the heartache of pursuing the perfect practice, only to discover at the last hurdle that you are unable to purchase due to your financial situation. It is undeniably disheartening to find the practice of your dreams, put forward an offer which is acceptable to the vendor, lodge a deposit and then discover that the time and money you had invested in this acquisition was a complete waste. Knowing your realistic budget can help you to focus on practices that will be attainable, speeding up the process and preventing ethereal distractions.

Seek sound advice
When the professionals that you choose to assist you in the process don’t have relevant experience, it can substantially prolong progression. From dealing with the bank, to the accountant who reviews the figures for your target practice, to the solicitor you instruct for the legal process, ensuring that they have the sector specific knowledge to guide you through the process can make all difference as each have a bearing on the timescale involved. Of these three, it is perhaps of the greatest importance to select a solicitor with specialist dental knowledge as they are in the position to protect your interests into the future and the consequences if they do not do so can be far reaching.

Understand the process
Once you’ve found the perfect practice and you’ve got specialist professionals on board to help you, the process can still seem to drag on if you don’t know what to expect along the way. Having a basic understanding of the process can really help to expedite it. When approaching the bank, ensuring you provide all the relevant information not just about you and your finances, but also about the practice and having a business plan in place will help. Another example of how you can get organised is to get all of the information together that you will need for your registration with the CQC in advance of your contact with them.

Emotion vs. intellect
Striking a good balance between heart and head is useful when buying a practice. Letting your emotions rule completely can be dangerous if it causes you to be indifferent about issues that arise. Making use of your knowledge can truly help you to identify a sound investment opportunity and to evaluate the practice. However, it is very important not to forget that the sale of the practice can be extremely emotional for the vendor. This is the business that they have grown and nurtured over what may have been many years. When giving your feedback following a viewing or during negotiations with a prospective vendor, this is especially important to bear in mind. Finding a practice that ‘feels right’ is fantastic, but don’t allow yourself to be narrow-minded because of this when analysing the business in more depth.

http://www.mediestates.co.uk

GDC Launches Revalidation Consultation

admin — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 09:04:48 +0000

The General Dental Council (GDC) has opened its new 12 week consultation into revalidation. The aim of the revalidation is to provide a way of checking that dentists continue to meet GDC. The issue that the GDC’s Fitness to Practise proceedings has had in the past is that it is assumed dental professionals are continuing to meet its standards, unless the regulator receives information which suggests otherwise. The GDC have admitted that this is not good enough. The GDC plans to introduce revalidation for dentists in 2014: they have stated that the revalidation will simply build on the current requirements for continuing professional development and will provide an opportunity for those in difficulty to identify and tackle any problems before they become serious. A standards and evidence framework will set out the standards dentists must meet under the four domains of clinical, management and leadership, communication and professionalism. The framework will also set out the evidence which will be acceptable to demonstrate compliance with each standard. Dentists will gather this evidence over five years, and revalidate at the end of each cycle. The GDC are proposing a three-stage process at the end of each cycle: • Stage 1 – compliance check, which will apply to all dentists; • Stage 2 – remediation phase, which will provide an opportunity to dentists who do not pass Stage 1 to remedy deficiencies; • Stage 3 – in-depth assessment, which will apply to dentists who fail to demonstrate compliance at the end of the remediation phase. The proposals aim to avoid over-regulation by making as much use of existing and developing quality systems. The consultation takes into account the findings of an earlier consultation, research and pilots carried out in 2009. Chair of the GDC’s Revalidation Working Group and Council Member, Denis Toppin said: “We are keen to get feedback from a range of stakeholders including registrants, patients, organisations representing the interests of patients and providers of quality initiatives. We want to make sure we get it right for the dentists we regulate. As a practising GDP I want the GDC to keep the extra regulatory burden to a minimum whilst maximising patient protection. We need you to get involved and have your say on our proposals so that you can help us to get them right and have the confidence of the public and professionals alike.” Sourced by Dental Tribune

New Coalition Government To Review Its Dental Inheritance

admin — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 14:40:15 +0000

The new dentistry minister (the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health with responsibility for dentistry) has confirmed that the government will review the details of the NHS dental system which was inherited from the previous government. Mr Howe also confirmed that the government’s proposed reforms will be declared once they have talked to the profession and patient groups. His comments were said during the Queen’s Speech Debate in the House of Lords, in response to a speech by Lord Colwyn, a dental surgeon and Conservative Peer. Lord Colwyn spoke of dentistry as being at ‘another crossroads’. He said that the decisions made in this Parliament to transform the delivery of NHS dentistry will be “extremely important. We have been left with an unfinished reform following the 2009 Steele review. We must grasp this opportunity if we are to improve the oral health of the nation”. Lord Colwyn, who is also an officer of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Dentistry (to which the BDA is elected secretariat), said that the challenge of reforming dentistry—to deliver a better system both for patients and dentists— comes at a time when tough financial decisions are to be made across all Whitehall departments. He also welcomed the coalition government’s commitment in their programme for government.“The acknowledgement of dentistry in this document is very positive and much needed,” he said. He also alluded to the extra regulation that dentists will have to adhere to as both NHS and private practices will have to be registered with the Care Quality Commission by the end of March next year. Lord Colwyn called the challenges ‘threefold’. “First, the Government must complete the unfinished reforms, learning from the mistakes of the much criticised 2006 contract—in particular, avoiding the failure properly to pilot change. The contract was so disastrous that it initially saw access fall dramatically. Only in the past six months has access climbed back to the level it was at in 2006. I am delighted that the government have committed to pilot any changes. “Secondly, we must pursue consistently high-quality commissioning of primary dental care. Some PCTs perform well, but many have room for improvement. They must be properly supported in their work, particularly by ensuring that they employ or have access to dental practice advisers and dental public health expertise. “Thirdly, there must be a commitment o tackling oral health nequalities to close the unacceptable chasm which exists between those with good and poor oral health as highlighted in the British Dental Association’s general election manifesto, Smiles all round,” he said. He ended his speech saying: “the coalition has made it clear that dentistry is a priority. The task now is to work out the detail with the profession, to deliver real change for patients and dentists.” DT

Laser Tests to replace Dentists Drill?

admin — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 12:44:59 +0000

At the University of Sydney scientists have worked on laser tests to identify weaknesses in dental enamel, which may at some point in the near future make the dentists drill a thing of the past.

Currently, X-rays and metal probes are used to check cavities, but they fail to detect weaknesses in the enamel in time to repair the surface.

Lead researcher David Wang sought to determine whether the propagation of sound waves through the enamel could provide an early warning.

The study showed that short, low-energy pulses from a laser generate weak bursts of acoustic waves in the surface of the enamel.

In tests on an extracted tooth, Wang detected these vibrations by collecting infrared laser light reflected from the surface of the tooth.

He found that changes in mineralisation of the enamel, which signal the onset of decay, appear to cause characteristic changes in the pattern of acoustic waves.

Wang will now be working for a more compact system.

“The ultimate goal is to come up with a quick, efficient, cost-effective and non-destructive way to evaluate mineralisation,” New Scientist quoted him as saying.

Selection of Dental Drill Bits

Image courtesy of wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Drill_long.jpg