Q&A With Our Partners

Within the current healthcare environment, it is difficult for an independent practice to grow. Our vision was to bring together top-tier practices under one company umbrella. There are 2 necessities for this type of growth: cash and M&A expertise. We knew we needed a partner to help us achieve our goals.

QualDerm understood who we are and what we wanted to be. We wanted a partnership, not to give up complete control. We wanted to have decision making ability. We wanted a partner that was interested in our opinions and gave us the ability to lead our growth.

The whole company represents high-quality dermatology in a partnership model. It’s not just about selling out and making a buck. It’s about working together and addressing future challenges in a quality way. QualDerm’s management team is very strong and gave us a great deal of confidence that they would do what they said. And they have universally delivered.

There are a million things I don’t have to worry about now. QualDerm handles things like employee benefits, financial reporting, regulatory compliance, and staff issues. They also greatly improved our IT infrastructure. The QualDerm partnership helped our practice reach its higher potential.

The biggest reason was that I saw the future of medicine changing. Reimbursement was declining and competition was increasing in our area due to the purchase of my own referral base by private equity firms, a university and another healthcare organization. They were bringing in more dermatologists and Mohs surgeons. I felt even though we had the best name in area, we would likely get fewer referrals. Also, I wanted relief from the administrative burdens of running a practice.

We spoke with 2-3 PE firms that contacted us, we didn’t contact them. Their model was to basically take over. We wouldn’t maintain autonomy. The other models were not ones of quality, but ones of profit. QualDerm’s model is physician autonomy and quality over profit. The culture of quality and physician leadership was central to our decision to partner with QualDerm. We’re passionate about the care we provide and QualDerm’s commitment to patient-centric care perfectly aligned with our practice’s mission.

We wanted to make sure our employees were taken care of; that no one went backwards with compensation or benefits. The people on board have been pleased and happy. Staff satisfaction is a high priority with QualDerm.

As our practice grew, more and more time was required to manage the business operations. We wanted to invest our time caring for patients rather than dealing with practice management issues. We also wanted help expanding services and to better position our practice to navigate changes within the healthcare industry.

At Cumberland Skin Surgery and Dermatology, our patients come first. Affiliating with QualDerm allows us to focus on patient care while their team handles the details of practice management. I have confidence in QualDerm’s business leadership and appreciate that they leave the clinical decisions to me.

Partnering with QualDerm gives me the opportunity to collaborate with other like-minded dermatologists. It’s exciting to work together to build a broader network that increases patients’ access to quality dermatological care.

At first, we had no desire to partner. Then, I had conversations with two friends who had practices similar to ours. Both had recently chosen to partner with larger organizations and urged me to consider doing the same. This, coupled with the fact that the dermatology industry was rapidly changing, prompted me to investigate the various options. My partners and I didn’t make the decision to partner lightly and did much due diligence before unanimously agreeing to affiliate with QualDerm.

We wanted to keep control over our careers and our practices as the business aspects of dermatology continued to change. For years, we had envisioned building a strong network of reputable dermatologists across the state. QualDerm has had remarkable success helping its affiliated practices meet that goal.

Yes. QualDerm has provided all that was promised and even more. They have respect for us as healthcare providers and keep quality as the core focus of everything they do. Under QualDerm’s model, we are true partners, not just employed physicians. We retain our clinical autonomy as well as control over how much medicine we practice. QualDerm relies on physician leadership to help guide corporate policies and growth to ensure patients’ care comes first.

In the current medical environment, it is difficult for a small practice to negotiate with insurance providers. I wanted to grow the practice and needed assistance and guidance to do that. Plus, the timing was right with the valuation of practices.

QualDerm gave us a unique opportunity to grow the practice without changing the practice culture. I knew about QualDerm’s success in other markets and was impressed with the quality and accessibility of its leadership. They don’t come in and tell you what you’re doing wrong; they give guidance on how to make things better. We still put patients first and profits second. QualDerm gives me the best of both worlds. I can grow the practice and maintain equity while still being involved in the higher-level decision making.

As part of a larger organization, you have an advocate for your practice – whether for negotiating payor contracts or pushing back against government regulations.