Your financial prep guide for MGMA Private Practice Conference 2027
MGMA is yet to schedule the 2027 Private Practice Conference; the 2026 edition ran May 3-6 in St. Louis. This is the MGMA event built specifically for independent practices fighting consolidation pressure. Sorso is not an exhibitor, sponsor, or speaker at this event. This is an independent prep guide for owners committed to staying independent.
What this event is
MGMA — the Medical Group Management Association — runs Focus conferences that each spend two to three days on a single discipline. This one exists for independent practices: the owners who have decided not to sell to a hospital system or PE platform, or at least not yet.
The agenda historically covers the economics of staying independent — competing for patients and staff against consolidated groups, understanding what your practice is worth, and building the management structure that makes independence sustainable rather than exhausting.
If you own an independent practice and consolidation pressure is part of your reality, this is the most directly relevant room MGMA offers. The checklist below is worth doing even if you never attend.
Why this matters for your bottom line
Independent practices have to compete with hospital-owned and PE-backed groups that benefit from scale. Closing the operational efficiency gap is the difference between staying independent and being forced to sell.
Practice valuation matters even if you have no plans to sell. Knowing your EBITDA multiple drives every strategic decision: when to invest, when to add partners, when to walk from a payer.
Solo and small group owners often wear too many hats. The right operational hire (CFO, RCM lead, COO) can pay for itself many times over, but only if the role is structured around measurable outcomes.
Banking, financing, and tax structure decisions in private practice have outsized impact on take-home income. Owners who never revisit these often pay materially more than they need to.
What to look for
Independent practice survival sessions: case studies of practices that successfully resisted acquisition
Practice valuation workshops with current EBITDA multiples by specialty and region
Operational efficiency sessions for practices under $20M in revenue
Owner compensation and tax structure sessions covering S-corp, partnership, and LLC dynamics
Group purchasing organization (GPO) and supply chain leverage for small practices
Sessions on building a leadership team without losing owner control or culture
Financial prep checklist
Review these before you go.
Baseline your practice EBITDA and the current market multiple for your specialty
Estimate owner compensation as one number: W-2 salary, distributions, and benefits
Map overhead by category and name the three largest line items in dollars
Identify operational dependencies: which roles would create the biggest crisis if vacated tomorrow
Walk through your banking relationships, line of credit terms, and any equipment financing rates
Compare your operating margin and revenue per provider against MGMA data for independents in your specialty
From our CFO
Independent practice owners often confuse working in the practice with running the practice. The owners who stay independent over the long term are the ones who carve out structured time to manage the business, even when clinical demand is heavy. MGMA Private Practice is the right room to be in if independence matters to you. Show up with your EBITDA, your overhead breakdown, and a candid view of which operational hires would actually buy the practice room to grow.
Get a financial checkup before MGMA Private Practice Conference 2027
Take the 4-minute financial assessment. Know your numbers before you attend, so you can ask better questions and make better decisions.
Founder of Sorso and a CFA charterholder. Before Sorso, Stan spent 19 years in corporate finance at institutions including UniCredit and Société Générale — managing a $450M loan portfolio and making senior partner at a major mezzanine lender by 29 — then built a fractional CFO firm exclusively for outpatient healthcare clinics.