Dermatology Practice Owner Checklists

1. Monthly owner dashboard

• Reconcile net collections to the general ledger and bank deposits
• Compare payer and service mix with the prior period
• Review contribution by location after stated allocations
• Check receivables aging by payer and responsible follow-up team
• Review denial categories, appeal status and unresolved balances
• Compare scheduled capacity with cancellations and unfilled sessions
• Review vacancies, along with overtime and temporary staffing by location
• Confirm provider availability and planned schedule changes
• Update the cash forecast and known capital commitments
• Assign a named owner and due date for each material variance

Review record: Keep the reporting period, report version, preparer, along with reviewer and explanation for any reclassification. Carry unresolved items

forward with a due date so that month-end discussion is tied to evidence.

2. Valuation preparation

• State the valuation purpose, intended users and effective date
• Reconcile financial statements to tax filings and ledger detail
• Separate owner wages, production pay and distributions
• Support proposed adjustments with invoices and written explanations
• Map provider contribution using consistent periods and definitions
• Describe payer and service mix without patient-level information
• Document lease terms, equipment ownership and replacement needs
• Identify debt, cash, working capital and related-party balances
• Prepare forecasts with explicit volume, along with staffing and cost assumptions
• Engage a qualified valuation professional with a defined scope

Review record: Preserve the source schedule behind each important input.

List disputed assumptions separately and ask the valuation professional how they affect the conclusion, instead of silently changing the base case.

3. Sale readiness

• Record owner liquidity, timing, along with role and continuity objectives
• Name the people authorized to approve a transaction decision
• Review adviser scope, fees, along with conflicts and termination provisions
• Set confidentiality rules for buyer contact and document access
• Prepare an index of financial, along with contract and location records
• Identify change-of-control, along with assignment and consent provisions
• Map provider and workforce dependencies with responsible leads
• Assign diligence response owners and an approval route
• Track buyer questions, sources, along with reviewers and released answers
• Coordinate staff communication timing with transaction counsel

Review record: Maintain an owner decision log that separates confirmed

facts from assumptions. Revisit objectives before granting exclusivity or accepting a timetable that could distract the practice from daily operations.

4. PE partner review

• Identify buyer entities, sponsor fund and post-close ownership chain
• Reconcile enterprise value to cash proceeds and equity value
• Define the amount, along with class and pricing basis of rollover securities
• Obtain a fully diluted capitalization table and waterfall examples
• Review MSO services, fees, along with allocations and termination rights
• Mark governance, reserved matters and local approval authority
• Review employment terms separately from equity documents
• Check incentive vesting, hurdles, along with dilution and repurchase conditions
• Understand debt, cash controls, capital calls and future acquisitions
• Obtain independent healthcare legal, along with tax and financial review

Review record: Use a term matrix to identify binding language, open

questions and verbal statements that need confirmation. Model downside cases and record which party controls every performance measure or payment trigger.

5. Associate buy-in

• Discuss successor interest, leadership experience and support needs
• Separate employee pay from ownership returns and purchase price
• Agree on valuation scope, date, along with inputs and dispute procedure
• Compare lump-sum and staged purchase structures
• Model down payment, lender debt, seller financing and transaction costs
• Check debt service against lower collections and higher cost scenarios
• Define voting rights, reserved matters and access to financial records
• Align employment, along with operating and buy-sell documents
• Plan payer, vendor, along with lease and business responsibility handoffs
• Review death, disability, along with departure and financing-failure outcomes

Review record: Record the successor's responsibilities at each stage and

how progress will be assessed. Include an agreed fallback if the associate decides not to proceed or the parties cannot agree on final terms.

6. Payer contract review

• Inventory signed contracts, along with amendments and applicable entities
• Record renewal, along with notice and termination dates in a shared calendar
• Map rates by service category and location using consistent units
• Confirm provider participation status through the proper business lead
• List authorization, along with referral and claim submission requirements
• Review timely filing, along with appeal and audit provisions with counsel
• Track recoupment notices, disputed balances and response deadlines
• Compare allowed amounts with actual collections and adjustments
• Measure payer concentration and model a contract change scenario
• Ask counsel to review proposed amendments before acceptance

Review record: Note the contract version and source for every rate entry.

Escalate missing amendments and ambiguous entity names before relying on a summary for budgeting, financing or transaction discussions.

7. Revenue cycle review

• Map charge capture, coding handoff, claim submission and posting roles
• Define first-pass acceptance and apply one reporting definition
• Rank denial reasons by dollars, along with count and responsible work queue
• Measure days in receivables with a consistent calculation method
• Review unapplied cash and old credit balances by age category
• Check business workflow for authorization queue backlogs
• Sample claim support records under approved access procedures
• Reconcile deposits, along with remittances and postings for selected periods
• Review vendor performance against contract service commitments
• Assign improvement owners and a date to measure the result

Review record: Report aggregate workflow measures, not patient details, in

general owner materials. Document what changed in the process so that a later comparison does not mistake a definition change for better performance.

8. Staffing capacity review

• List funded positions, along with vacancies and temporary coverage by site
• Map business duties and backup coverage across locations
• Compare overtime and agency use with approved staffing plans
• Measure recruiting time from approval to accepted offer
• Track onboarding and role training milestones
• Identify single-person dependencies in billing and administration
• Review turnover by role and record exit themes in aggregate
• Compare wage assumptions with clearly identified local sources
• Check manager span, escalation paths and approval limits
• Build a staffing scenario for planned growth or provider departure

Review record: Separate funded headcount from open positions and planned

roles. Attach assumptions for wage, along with benefits and ramp time so a budget review can distinguish a hiring delay from a change in business demand.

9. AI pilot readiness

• Select a bounded administrative workflow and named business sponsor
• State prohibited clinical, along with diagnostic and patient decision tasks
• Inventory data categories and remove unnecessary sensitive inputs
• Review vendor, account, along with retention and use-of-data terms
• Ask qualified advisers to assess privacy and BAA requirements
• Use approved test data and restrict access to designated reviewers
• Record baseline labor time, error rate and exception handling
• Define human review responsibilities and escalation contacts
• Write a pause procedure for inaccurate output or a security concern
• Review results and approvals before expanding the pilot

Review record: Keep the prompt or configuration version, test dates, along with reviewer and business outcome. Do not treat a vendor statement as a substitute

for reviewing the actual product, account settings and data flow.

10. Website content approval

• Confirm practice name, along with address and business contact information
• Verify clinician names, along with credentials and approved biography text
• Review descriptions of services with designated business approvers
• Check insurance participation statements against current records
• Test appointment, phone, along with email and location links
• Review privacy notice, accessibility details and cookie language
• Remove unsupported guarantees, unapproved testimonials and stale claims
• Confirm written permission for photographs and other licensed materials
• Name the person authorized to publish edits
• Set review dates after staffing, location or ownership changes

Review record: Save the approved copy and publication date. Keep a list of

pages awaiting confirmation so that uncertain participation or service statements are not presented as verified facts.

11. Diligence data room

• Create a permission-controlled index with a transaction administrator
• Use consistent entity names, reporting periods and file naming
• Separate drafts, executed records and documents awaiting signature
• Reconcile financial schedules to the underlying ledger reports
• Include current contracts, along with amendments and consent status
• Prepare workforce summaries without unnecessary personal details
• Inventory systems, vendors, along with equipment and location obligations
• Maintain access logs and a record of file replacements
• Track questions, factual reviewers and approved responses
• Remove access promptly when a participant leaves the process

Review record: Have each document owner confirm completeness and version.

Do not upload patient records to a general room; follow the controlled process approved by qualified privacy and transaction advisers.

12. Quarterly succession review

• Reconfirm owner goals, likely timing and preferred future role
• Review successor leadership assignments and completed handoffs
• Update the list of tasks that depend on the current owner
• Check buy-sell, entity, along with estate and insurance documents for consistency
• Refresh financial inputs used in the succession analysis
• Review financing capacity and practice cash commitments
• Assess provider retention and location continuity dependencies
• Confirm business communication and record access responsibilities
• Update adviser, along with lender and emergency business contact details
• Record decisions, unresolved questions and the next review date

Review record: Compare planned and completed transfer milestones. If

valuation assumptions, ownership intentions or successor availability have changed, assign an owner to update the plan before relying on old terms.

Related resources

• Owner Resource Library
• Practice valuation calculator
• Owner guides

Owner operating checklists

Use these 12 lists as meeting agendas and evidence requests. Assign 1 person and 1 due date to each open item. Store records in the practice's approved systems, with access limited to people who need them. These checklists address business operations and do not provide clinical instructions.

Monthly revenue-cycle review

• Reconcile charges and adjustments to the accounting ledger. Match cash entries and refunds; document timing differences for deposits.
• Use written formulas for days from encounter close to claim submission. Track clean-claim rate and denial rate; review aging and net collections.
• Compare results by payer and location. Add provider or service-line detail where volume supports a meaningful comparison.
• Review the largest denial categories and recurring causes; identify whether each requires a corrected claim, appeal, contract question, or workflow fix.
• Confirm appeal and timely filing deadlines have a named owner and escalation path.
• Compare current fee schedule loads with executed agreements and effective dates; document any updates and validation.
• Review credit balances, refunds, unapplied cash, and unusual contractual adjustments.
• Record decisions, data limitations, assigned actions, and review dates.

Quarterly staffing and capacity review

• Compare approved and filled positions with vacancies and temporary coverage by site and role.
• Use consistent definitions to review recruiting time, offer acceptance, and onboarding completion. Also review schedule capacity, overtime, and turnover.
• Check that each role has a current job description, supervisor, backup coverage, and training owner.
• Review payroll and labor allocation by location and service line; document allocation assumptions.
• Identify key-person dependencies in finance and billing. Check scheduling dependencies and succession coverage for practice leadership.
• Compare workload and capacity data with staff feedback; avoid drawing conclusions from a single ratio.
• Assign retention, recruitment, or process actions with a cost owner and follow-up date.

Annual payer and contract inventory

• List legal entities, locations, payer products, participation status, contract owners, and effective dates.
• Retrieve executed agreements, amendments, fee schedules, delegated-service terms, and relevant payer policies.
• Confirm provider additions and terminations were processed and acknowledged.
• Record renewal and notice dates. Add amendment and termination dates to calendar reminders.
• Compare high-volume allowed amounts and payment terms against actual remittances.
• Document unresolved contract discrepancies and escalation contacts.
• Preserve the prior version of contract and fee schedule data to explain historical trends.

Vendor and technology diligence

• Inventory vendors, services, data handled, contract owner, renewal date, and termination notice period.
• Confirm service levels, support contacts, subcontractors, data export, access removal, and transition assistance are written down.
• Review subscription and implementation costs with interface requirements and internal staff time.
• Identify integrations for scheduling and EHR, along with billing and pathology. Check payroll, accounting, and reporting where relevant.
• Document business continuity, backup, downtime, security review, and incident escalation responsibilities with qualified advisers.
• Request references and verify claims relevant to the practice's size and workflow.
• Record a named internal owner for the relationship and a periodic performance review.

Transaction readiness, refreshed quarterly

• Reconcile financial statements, tax records, payroll, bank activity, and owner compensation explanations.
• Maintain entity chart, ownership records, leases, payer contracts, provider agreements, vendor agreements, and material notices.
• Explain locations, service lines, capacity constraints, provider dependencies, and unusual revenue or expense changes.
• Track open disputes, refunds, and audits. Record claims and contingent liabilities with adviser oversight.
• Separate verified facts from estimates and forecasts; retain support for each material statement.
• Update data-room access, request log, and disclosure history.
• Record what has changed since the prior review and the person responsible for each follow-up.