Brainstorm topic: Medical procedures and services

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May 29, 2020

by a searcher from Harvard University - Harvard Business School in New York, NY, USA

What medical procedures and services would make good acquisitions? I'm particularly interested in clinics/services that offer procedures that do not require a physician. Psychiatric clinics and patient monitoring services come to mind. Thoughts?

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Reply by an investor
from Columbia University in Dallas, TX, USA
How about a tech-enabled varicose-vein removal focused business? For many interventional cardiologists/radiologists, plastic surgeons, or other surgeons, this is a relatively simple procedure that they can qualify to do easily. There's not as much cachet in it, and few would do it full-time. I've heard full-time vein work described as "becoming a dentist" -- doing high-volume work perceived as less technically demanding: but there's good money in it. I knew one doctor who did this as a side gig a couple of times a month-- renting equipment and a suite that he left empty the other 25+ days a month.. It was more lucrative than his regular practice on a per hour basis, and his practice group permitted the side gig, but they didn't want to bring "elective" or "plastic" surgery into their higher-brow/life-saving ambit. If you can work-around non-competes and red tape, you could operate a clinic/surgical suite with a slate of a part-time practitioners, functioning something like Uber-drivers. Come do 3-4 extra procedures, when you need a few extra bucks. Or, possibly, consider the variation of an Uber-platform that matches well qualified, insured practitioners with clinics for moon-lighting like that. Lots of regulatory, licensing, and non-compete issues to tiptoe around, but the fundamentals of that business -- location, pricing, credit check, payment processing, and advertising are compelling, especially since you could just do elective procedures and sidestep insurance. Like Uber, solving for fraud/abuse/quality control and getting the right insurance are challenges. But seems like you could easily buy and help transform a vein-stripping office.
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Reply by a searcher
from New York Chiropractic College in Baltimore, MD, USA
I owned a company which did EMGs within the offices of other providers. Similar companies offered the neuromonitoring Ike mentioned above and is something to watch out for when ins cos change their policies governing reimbursement so making sure a variety of procedure codes are being utilized is one way to minimize your risk. While working in some of these offices I was exposed to how wide a scope PAs can have in various different states. I saw PAs and CRNPs doing a variety of pain management related procedures like injections with and without C-arm, ultrasound. Relatively low overhead for some of that equipment with good reimbursement, quality of the training and degree of oversight is a key part of getting these provider extenders up and running. A physician is needed for that although the CRNPs do have greater autonomy than PAs (at least in the mid-atlantic states I'm familiar with).

I have a lot of experience in the chiropractic/physical therapy space. One of the strategies commonly used is to focus on auto insurance and worker's comp cases (this varies state to state). In this model you can have one chiropractor or physical therapist onsite with several CAs (chiropractic assistants), PTAs (physical therapy assistants) or PT techs working under their supervision and rendering much of the patient care. In some states physical therapists are limited to only a certain number of patients per hour or per day whereas chiropractors don't have that same limitation.

Not high reimbursement but like Casey Allen mentioned above, it's a low tech, highly profitable model with really simple billing.
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