The holiday hiatus behind them, work started heating up again. Cindy and Jess sat at the worktable in Jess’s office with files of background information on Goodmoor Family Medicine scattered about. “What’s in this for Midwest Health?” Cindy asked. “With so many changes in the industry, I can understand why Goodmoor wants to take shelter in the loving arms of a large health system.” She paused and pointed at the group’s financials. “However, it doesn’t look like the group has any financial problems to speak of.”
“That’s a good question.” Jess took a quick study of the financial statement Cindy indicated. “I’d say the Midwest Health folks want to make sure they look inviting to the old, established practices now that they have the U in their family. They need the referrals to fill the beds, and those academic doctors don’t immediately change just because of a merger. Midwest Health needs to break down any existing “town and gown” barriers to referrals. I like your question, but turn it around: What does Goodmoor need? I want to make sure we get to all the questions so we can bring any issues to the surface.”
Jess pushed her chair back from the worktable and closed the file. Roy and Matthew were still working to get the overall data analysis completed so they could set priorities for their clinic-acquisition strategy, but Jess was restless and eager to start. Fortunately, Sam Hirsch had called the previous day with this promising opportunity. Since Goodmoor was interested in a relationship with Midwest Health, why not start here?
“I know it isn’t much notice,” Jess said to Cindy, “but can you join me for a meeting with Goodmoor later? I just found out that today is their monthly business meeting. I’d like to get this assessment going as quickly as we can. We could get started with introductions tonight.”
“Yes, of course,” Cindy answered. They made arrangements to meet at the clinic at six p.m., and then Cindy gathered her papers and left.
They arrived at Goodmoor a few minutes early and walked down the hall to the meeting room. A tall man with a lean build caught up to them. “Cindy, is that you?”
“Hey, Ian. How fun to bump into you. Is this where you work?”
“Yes, I’m an internist here.” He pointed to the embroidered name on the pocket of his white coat. “Are you our guests from the law firm?”
“Yes. Ian Brewster, meet Jess Lawson. We’re here for the meeting. I had no idea this is where you practice. Jess, Ian is a marathon runner I see all the time at meets. Are you running the half marathon for Habitat next month?”
“I am. Even if it’s miserable.” He grimaced.
“Jess, this reminds me, I was going to pitch you to join me, since you’re a runner too.” Cindy’s voice grew excited.
“The course should be beautiful by the parks,” Ian added. “Let’s hope it’s not too cold and icy.”
“That doesn’t sound very tempting, but I’ll think about it.” Jess laughed. Cindy seemed to come up with activities for her every week. “It’s to get you out and about,” Cindy always said. But Jess guessed it was really about encouraging her to meet a new man.
As they neared the meeting room, an older doctor, bald, with wire-rimmed glasses and a natural scowl, approached them. “Ms. Lawson?”
“Yes. Are you Dr. Personne?” She stretched out her hand for a handshake, but he didn’t take it. Maybe he didn’t see it, she thought. “Please call me Jess. Thanks for making room on the agenda tonight on such short notice. This is my legal associate Cindy Newton.” Jess tried to meet his eyes, but he kept shifting the angle of his body, making that difficult. She offered her hand again, and he took it this time. “As I mentioned on the phone, our purpose in being here tonight is just a meet-and-greet so that physicians in the practice know who we are and why we’ll be meeting with them. Does that still work?”
“Yes, yes, of course. Whatever gets this rolling,” Dr. Personne responded quickly, still not looking at her. “I’ll introduce you when everyone gets here, and then you can do what you need to do.”
Dr. Personne left them, and Adam Bright, a young internist, approached Jess and whispered, “So, have you met the charming Larry Personne before tonight?” When Jess shook her head, he raised his eyebrows and said, with a sarcastic grin, “Well, wasn’t that a treat?”
She was glad she had turned down Dr. Personne’s invitation to join them for dinner. Much better to stay near the door and chat with the latecomers than risk having spinach in her teeth when it was time to present.
The room filled up. Jess and Cindy pulled up a couple of chairs as Dr. Personne finished his dinner and stood to open the meeting. Before he could introduce the guests, Dr. Bright remarked, “Well, Larry, looks like you’ve finally succeeded in getting women into the room without having to recruit them to the practice!” Several physicians snickered. Others looked ill at ease.
Dr. Personne’s eyes cast daggers at Bright, but he made no response. “Gentlemen, let me introduce our guests. Jess Lawson and Cindy Newton are from the law firm that’s going to consider options for us with Midwest Health. They’re here tonight to describe how this will work. Jess?” He gestured for her to speak and quickly sat down. Jess wondered if the purpose of his very brief intro was to be expeditious or to distance himself from the project. He didn’t look like a warm-and-fuzzy leader.
Jess smiled. “Thanks for letting us come tonight. We know you have other business on the agenda, so I’ll just take a few minutes to describe what will be happening over the next several weeks. I’ll also answer any questions you may have.” She spoke slowly and looked at their faces to get a read.
She had their attention and continued, “At this time, Midwest Health and Goodmoor Family Medicine have each expressed interest in forming a closer business relationship. Our firm has been retained to determine the merits of an arrangement to both parties. We have deep experience in this work, and our process is tested. We’re here tonight just to be introduced, but we’ll interview each of you over the next few weeks. Another team, under our direction, will be conducting the business analysis and assessment of the practice as it now operates.” She saw a few physicians exchange sideways glances but didn’t hear any snide comments. “Are there any questions at this point?”
“How long will all of this take?” asked Ian, the runner.
“It should take six to eight weeks, depending on how quickly we can get on your calendars and complete our analysis.”
There was a pause. Then a doctor who had arrived late and was still in the buffet line asked, in a loud voice, “What happens to the interview findings?” The soft clinking of silverware on china stopped abruptly, and all eyes turned to the questioner, then to Jess.
“Glad you asked. The individual findings are blinded and aggregated. With Dr. Personne’s permission, we’ll share them with you as a group.” All eyes zoomed to Dr. Personne, who looked as if he had just awakened from a nap. He snuffled a bit but didn’t answer. That put an end to the questions. Jess noted that the unidentified doctor who had asked the million-dollar question was making his way to the table with his full plate, and that Dr. Bright was staring straight at him.
Next, Cindy spent five minutes describing possible relationships that their firm knew of with other groups and hospital systems. Jess then concluded with her most important point. “Due diligence is as important at this stage as being honest about the reasons the group might be seeking a new arrangement. For instance, I would guess from Dr. Bright’s statement earlier that you may be having difficulty recruiting women to the practice. There are clearly ways to respond to that challenge without a full-on merger with a hospital system. So we’ll look at all of that with you.”
Jess noticed a couple of raised eyebrows and glances across the table. The possible upset of any practice always caused some nervousness. She gauged this group’s anxiety level to be about average. It was time to leave. The tires had been kicked and found solid, she hoped.
“We’ll be moving ahead, then. Thank you so much for your time. We look forward to meeting with you one-on-one in the near future.”
On their way out of the room, Jess stopped and whispered to Larry Personne, “Do you want a quick debriefing in the hallway?”
“Not necessary.” Ouch.
As they left the room, Jess saw that the doctor who had stopped the group cold with his question was watching her closely. She had a feeling this project was going to be complicated.