CLOSING A PRACTICE CHECK LIST

• Notify all suppliers, in advance, of your closing date so that a final statement can be rendered and paid by the date of closing.
• Prepare final payroll tax forms.
• Write malpractice, equipment and public liability insurance companies to notify them of your closing date. When you cancel or change any of the policies, be sure to ask for a premium refund of policies canceled.
• Change the address of your Narcotics License within ten (10) days of your move or closure. Inventory drugs, medical supplies, and usable office supplies in order to have a complete knowledge of what is available for sale or storage.
• Notify the telephone company and all utility companies of the date you wish service discontinued. Be sure to give them the new address where you wish to be billed if service does continue for a time.
• Discontinue magazine subscriptions and ask for a rebate of any unused subscription time, or notify the printers of your new address, if you desire they be forwarded, approximately thirty days (30) days in advance of your closing.
• Leave a forwarding address with your local post office and county and state medical societies.
• Cancel memberships in organizations to which you belong, including hospital staff memberships. If you are a member of your county medical society, you can request EMERITUS status and maintain your membership free of charge.
• Close business and personal checking accounts after you have ceased collection attempts.
• Make arrangements for continued billing of patients who have a balance with you for three (3) months following the closing of your office. After three (3) months, submit balances of all unpaid accounts to a local collection agency or attorney for collection.
• Notify all patients you have seen who are under current treatment of the closing of your office approximately thirty (30) days in advance of your closing. These announcements can accompany statements of past due or current account balances.

Your announcement might read as follows:

__________________________________________, M.D. announces the closing of his/her office effective ___________________. If your new physician desires medical information, it will be furnished upon request.

A less formal announcement might be as follows:

I wish to announce the closing of my office, effective ____________________. If your new physician desires, I shall be happy to furnish him/her under your authorization with copies of your medical records. I appreciate the opportunity you have given me these past years to be of service to you.

_______________________________, M.D.

One of these announcements could also be inserted under a professional advertisement or announcement section in your local newspaper to notify other patients who are no longer under current treatment with you about the closing of your office. This might be inserted in the paper one week prior to your office closing.

• Send personal letters of appreciation and thank you to local physicians and referring physicians, where appropriate, as well as to individuals who have, by word or deed, assisted in your practice.
• If you are interested in selling your practice, you can advertise the sale in your local medical societies publication (call for rates, 301-921-4300), or you can contact: Med Chi (state medical society) 1-800-492-1056. AMA 1-800-AMA-3211. See a current issue of MedChi Physician for realtors to help you sell or lease your office.
• If you are interested in selling any medical equipment, you can also advertise this sale in your local medical societies publication (call for rates, 301-921-4300).
• Storage of all your medical records/files in the event that a patients needs copies. If you sell your practice or turn it over to a colleague and the records stay as part of the sale; or you will be storing the records at your home or in a storage locker, it is important to leave a forwarding address or phone number with your county and state medical societies. This will enable them to refer all calls regarding medical records that you have or had, to the appropriate place and/or number.
• If you are interested in keeping your license for volunteer reasons, or other reasons, contact the Board of Physician Quality Assurance at 1-800-492-6836 and ask for their license requirements for a physician who just closed their office.
• Volunteer opportunities are available through a volunteer bank at the Montgomery County Medical Society. If interested, contact 301-921-4300 and ask to speak with Dorothy Wangner, staff liaison for the Emeritus/Retired Physicians Committee.