Sell my medical practice
Healthcare has been one of the busiest corners of the deal market for years, and it isn't slowing down. If you've built a real practice with loyal patients and steady collections, there are buyers competing for it. Here's what your practice is likely worth, who's buying, what moves the price, and how to run a sale that actually gets you a fair number.
What medical and dental practices sell for
Most practices get valued the same way other businesses do: a measure of profit times a multiple. The wrinkle in healthcare is the profit figure. Because the owner is usually also the highest-paid clinician, buyers normalize earnings by subtracting a fair-market replacement salary for the working physician or dentist before they apply a multiple. What's left is the EBITDA a buyer is actually purchasing. Get that number wrong and the whole valuation drifts.
As an indicative range, medical and dental practices tend to trade around 4.0–7.0x EBITDA in the lower middle market. That spread is wide on purpose. Two practices with the same collections can sell for very different prices, and the things that separate them are provider depth, payer mix, and how much of the practice walks out the door if the owner does. A multi-provider group that runs without you lands toward the top; a single-provider practice built entirely around the owner lands toward the bottom.
| Practice profile | Indicative multiple | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Single-provider, owner-dependent, narrow payer mix | ~4.0x | EBITDA |
| Two to three providers, mixed payers, some ancillary revenue | ~5.0–6.0x | EBITDA |
| Multi-provider group, favorable payer mix, runs without owner | ~6.0–7.0x | EBITDA |
Indicative lower-middle-market ranges, not a valuation. See our EBITDA & SDE multiples by industry report for the full breakdown, or run your numbers through the valuation calculator.
Who's buying medical and dental practices right now
The demand side is what makes healthcare interesting. Several kinds of buyers are active, and they don't all value your practice the same way.
- PE-backed MSOs and DSOs. Private-equity-backed management service organizations (on the medical side) and dental service organizations have spent years rolling up practices into regional and national platforms. They buy a strong anchor practice in a market, then add others around it. Because they're buying scale and steady collections, they'll often pay the most, especially when you fit a platform's footprint and specialty.
- Hospital and health systems. Systems acquire physician groups to lock in referrals, expand a service line, or strengthen coverage in a market. They tend to value patient volume, payer relationships, and a provider team they can retain.
- Group practices. Larger independent group practices buy to add providers, locations, or a new specialty. They know the clinical side cold, so diligence can move quickly.
- Individual physicians and dentists. For smaller practices, you'll also see motivated individual buyers, often a clinician making a first ownership move or buying into a partnership. They usually pay less than the consolidators but can be a good fit if you care who takes over patient care.
The practical takeaway: don't sell to the first group that calls. An MSO, a hospital system, and an individual physician will value the same practice very differently, and the only way to find out who values yours most is to put it in front of several of them at once.
What drives a practice's multiple
Where you land in that 4.0–7.0x range comes down to a handful of things buyers underwrite carefully.
- Payer mix. A diversified mix with a healthy share of commercial and self-pay revenue is more durable than a practice leaning hard on a single payer or on reimbursement rates that could be cut. Concentration risk in payers gets discounted the same way customer concentration does anywhere else.
- Provider retention. If associate physicians or dentists plan to stay through and after a transition, a buyer is purchasing ongoing production. If the producers might leave with the owner, much of the value leaves too. Employment and non-compete arrangements that survive the sale matter a lot here.
- Ancillary revenue. In-house imaging, lab, a surgery center stake, hygiene programs, or other ancillary services add diversified, often higher-margin revenue that buyers like and pay for.
- Location and patient base. A strong location with a loyal, growing patient base and good demographics is easier to underwrite and easier to grow. A declining catchment area is harder to value.
- Compliance and clean records. Documented billing and coding practices, current credentialing, organized HIPAA and OSHA compliance, and clean financials hold their value through diligence. Gaps here slow deals down or kill them outright.
- Owner independence. If the practice runs with a real management team and a provider bench, a buyer is purchasing a business. If scheduling, key referrals, and most production route through you, they're buying a job, and they'll price it that way.
You can move several of these before you ever go to market. That's the whole idea behind building value before you sell. A year or two of adding a provider, diversifying payers, and getting your role out of the critical path can shift you a full turn of EBITDA.
The MSO and DSO trend, briefly
It's worth understanding the model driving so many of today's offers. MSOs and DSOs typically buy the business side of a practice (the management, administration, and assets) while the clinical entity stays owned by licensed clinicians, because many states restrict who can own a medical or dental practice. That structure is how private capital participates in healthcare without running afoul of ownership rules. For you as a seller it usually means a real upfront payment plus, in many deals, some rolled equity in the platform and an expectation that you keep practicing for a defined period. The details vary widely, which is exactly why the structure deserves close attention.
The selling process and timeline
Selling a practice isn't one event. It's a process that, done right, takes most owners somewhere between six and twelve months, and often a bit longer than a comparable business outside healthcare. The extra time is regulatory: payer contracts and credentialing don't transfer instantly, and state rules shape how a deal can even be structured. Here's the shape of it:
- Get a real valuation. Start with an honest number based on your actual financials, a fair replacement salary, and current comps, not a rule of thumb or a number a colleague got.
- Prepare. Clean up the books, organize payer contracts, credentialing, and compliance records, and document how the practice runs so it doesn't live in your head. Fix anything obviously dragging the multiple down.
- Go to market. A healthcare-focused advisor packages the practice, reaches out to qualified buyers confidentially, and runs a process so you're comparing offers rather than taking the only one.
- Negotiate and sign a letter of intent. You pick a buyer, agree on price and structure (including any rolled equity or earn-out), and move into exclusivity.
- Diligence, credentialing, and close. The buyer verifies everything while regulatory and credentialing steps run in parallel. Organized records make this stretch faster. Then you close and get paid.
The single biggest thing that speeds all of this up is preparation. Practices with organized contracts, current credentialing, and clean financials move through diligence faster and lose fewer deals along the way.
You don't need to pay a big retainer to find out
A lot of owners assume hiring an M&A advisor means writing a fat retainer check before anyone's even valued the practice. That's the old model, and it's not your only option. Plenty of capable healthcare-focused advisory firms work on a success basis. They get paid when your deal closes, not before. That structure keeps everyone pointed at the same goal: closing your sale at a good price.
The hard part has always been figuring out which firms are any good, which ones actually close medical and dental deals, and which ones will take you on at your size without a big upfront fee. That's the gap we built ProCloser to fill.
How ProCloser matches practice owners to vetted advisors
Tell us about your practice: specialty, size, number of providers, payer mix, roughly where your earnings land. We match you with vetted M&A advisory firms that close deals in medical and dental, including no-retainer, success-only options. You get an introduction and a free, confidential indicative valuation as part of the process. From there you decide who, if anyone, to work with.
It's free to sellers and it's confidential. No obligation, no retainer to find out what your practice could be worth and who'd want it.
One important note: healthcare deals carry rules that other businesses don't. Corporate practice of medicine restrictions, payer contract terms, and deal structure vary by state and specialty, so engage qualified healthcare counsel early. Nothing here is legal advice. A good advisor and a healthcare attorney working together will keep your deal clean.
New to all of this? Start with the broader guide to selling your business, then come back and get matched when you're ready.
Medical & dental seller FAQ
What is my medical practice worth?
Take your normalized annual profit (EBITDA after subtracting a fair-market replacement salary for the working owner) and apply a multiple. As an indicative range, medical and dental practices tend to trade around 4.0–7.0x EBITDA. A multi-provider group with a favorable payer mix and low owner dependence sits toward the top; a single-provider, owner-dependent practice sits toward the bottom. Run your numbers through the valuation calculator, then get it reviewed for a defensible figure.
What multiple do medical and dental practices sell for?
As an indicative range, roughly 4.0–7.0x EBITDA in the lower middle market. Multiple providers who plan to stay, a diversified payer mix, ancillary revenue, a strong location, and clean compliance push you toward the high end. Single-provider dependence, heavy reliance on one payer, and compliance gaps pull you toward the low end.
Who buys medical and dental practices?
The most active buyers are PE-backed MSOs and DSOs consolidating practices, hospital and health systems acquiring physician groups, and larger group practices adding providers or locations. Individual physicians and dentists also buy smaller practices. Each values your practice differently, which is why running a competitive process matters.
How do I sell my dental practice?
Get a realistic valuation, clean up your financials, organize payer contracts, credentialing, and compliance records, then run a confidential process with multiple qualified buyers. A healthcare-focused advisor handles the marketing, outreach, negotiation, and diligence, and helps navigate the regulatory steps. Get matched with a vetted firm, including no-retainer options.
How long does it take to sell a medical practice?
Plan on roughly six to twelve months from decision to closing, and often a bit longer than a non-healthcare business. The added time comes from regulatory and credentialing steps: payer contract assignments, re-credentialing, licensing, and state corporate practice of medicine rules. Organized records and clean financials move things along.
See what your practice is worth.
We'll match you with a vetted M&A advisor who closes medical and dental deals, and give you a free, confidential indicative valuation. Free to sellers. No retainer to find out.
Tania leads ProCloser's network of vetted M&A advisory firms and works with business owners every week on valuation, fit, and getting matched to the right advisor to sell. Get matched free.