Soooo...
You've got a friend, classmate, or personal doctor reference that is seeking to "share" practice space but maintain two or more legally independent practices under a common roof?
This may look flexible, inexpensive, and/or easy but you really need to invest the time to think through the back end scenarios - e.g. accommodating and funding the future growth of the constituent practices, shared staffing matters, technology and equipment issues, and, ultimately, the future sale of one or more of the practices.
While there are always exceptions to any rule, most (many?) of these scenarios actually do not work out well for one reason or another on the backside.
Challenges can include, but are not limited to:
* Significant age/generational differences between the dentists
* The relative productivity between the practices - i.e. don't split up fixed costs (e.g. lease expense) based on relative productivity otherwise the more successful practice will participate disproportionately. Base any pro rated costs on related square footage or ops used.
* The technology and capital investment desires among the dentists - e.g. one doc is pro CAD/CAM and the other could care less or is anti-.
* Significant service and/or payor mix differences between the practices - e.g. mixed PPO/FFS vs. pure FFS vs. some blend of Medicaid or bread and butter vs. high tech (implants, CAD/CAM, etc.)
* Being held hostage by one or more doctor co-tenants in certain scenarios - i.e. make sure your contractual arrangements do not limit your ability to achieve liquidity in the practice you've built
Said differently, what can look really attractive now can turn out to be ruinous upon transition, relocation, dissolution, etc.
If you're going to explore a shared space situation you should make sure your practice philosophies are congruent and that the contractual arrangements between the doctor co-tenants are detailed and clear.
If you've not been down this path before (and, really, even if you have) hire a professional (CPA, attorney, etc.) to review such scenarios before committing to them.
Best wishes on a great summer,
Sean