Multi-Provider Dermatology Practice Partners with a National Platform

The Practice

Our client built a multi-provider dermatology practice in the Northeast into one of the region’s most respected practices, offering a full spectrum of care with medical, surgical, and aesthetic dermatology services across several offices. The practice is known for academic-caliber clinical expertise paired with attentive, family-centered care, treating patients of every age and earning a loyal following throughout its community. 

By the time the owner began considering a partnership, the practice had grown to a team of seven physicians plus advanced-practice clinicians and licensed aestheticians, with particular strengths in skin cancer detection and Mohs surgery, pediatric dermatology, and cosmetic skin care.

The Challenge

Like many successful specialty-practice owners, our client faced a familiar set of questions: 

• How do you find a partner with the scale and resources to support continued growth without compromising the culture?
• How do you protect a long-tenured team through a transition?
• How do you continue seeing a full schedule of patients while balancing meeting prospective buyers?

The owner wanted a process that would surface the right partner whose clinical values and approach to physician autonomy aligned with the practice’s own.

The TUSK Approach

When the doctor approached TUSK, our goal was to first understand why they chose now as the right time to sell and educate them on the market. The business had grown too large for a single operator to manage payroll, HR, operations, and much more that was involved in the day to day. We knew that the right partner was going to alleviate the stress of operations and allow the doctor to monetize her life’s work. That’s where we jumped in and represented the doctor. TUSK’s role was to run a disciplined, end-to-end process: preparing the practice for market, positioning its clinical and cultural strengths, identifying and vetting potential partners, and managing negotiations and diligence through to close.

Throughout, the emphasis was on protecting what mattered most to the owner: the team, the patients, and the practice’s standard of care while ensuring the owner was positioned to evaluate partners on the terms that mattered, not just price. TUSK managed the confidential outreach and competitive dynamics so the owner could stay focused on running the practice. 

Bringing the Associate Providers Along 

Every deal has some hair on it. This practice had associate providers, and their buy-in was necessary to get the deal to move forward. The partnership could change what an associate’s future inside a practice looks like: compensation structure, equity opportunity, clinical autonomy, and reporting relationships. If the associates were not genuinely on board, the value of the partnership would have eroded after close for everyone, including the founder. So, we slowed down. 

We dedicated significantly more time than a standard process allots to walking each associate through the structure and the economics of what was being offered, answering questions directly, and making sure they understood the value of the partnership they were being brought into rather than simply consenting to it. That work extended the timeline. It also meant the practice went to close with a provider team that was genuinely aligned.

The Outcome

TUSK brought 14 different groups to the table with 4 strong groups placing letters of intent for the business. The practice partnered with one of the national dermatology platforms institutional private equity backing, giving the practice access to operational support, technology, and resources at national scale, while allowing its physicians to remain focused on clinical excellence and patient care. The owner’s team and patients carry forward under a partner whose values align with the practice’s own. 

For the owner, the result was the one that mattered: the right partner, found through a thoughtful process, with the practice and its people set up to thrive.

Why It Worked

This outcome reflects the pattern behind TUSK’s practice transactions: deep preparation, a competitive but confidential process, and relentless focus on the seller’s priorities — culture, team, and continuity of care — alongside economics. For dermatology owners weighing a partnership, the lesson is that the right advisor turns a daunting, one-time decision into a structured process with a partner who fits.

Interested in what a sale process could look like for your practice? Contact TUSK Practice Sales to learn more here: https://tuskpracticesales.com/contact-us/