Expertise · Before close
Patient Marketing Diligence
An evidence-based review of the patient-acquisition engine behind a healthcare target’s growth case, run alongside financial, commercial and technical diligence and built to inform the model, the price and the first 100 days.
The investment problem
The growth case is only as strong as the engine that produces new patients.
Many healthcare platform theses assume patient volume will grow: in existing locations, in new ones, and in practices added after close. Those assumptions rest on demand generation, intake and scheduling, clinical capacity and the measurement that ties them together.
In many processes, that engine is described by the target and accepted on its own reporting. Patient Marketing Diligence tests it: what each new patient actually costs, how much demand marketing creates rather than captures, whether the numbers reconcile to real appointments, and whether the system will survive the change of ownership.
What we evaluate
Seven dimensions, each with a defined question and evidence standard.
The first six dimensions test the engine; the seventh weighs the findings against the investment thesis.
Acquisition Economics
What does a new patient actually cost, and does that cost hold as spend scales?
Demand Composition
Is marketing creating new demand, or capturing patients who would have arrived anyway?
Measurement Integrity
Can the reported numbers be traced to real patients and real revenue?
Concentration & Exposure
What breaks if one channel, platform, location or referral source changes?
Scalability & Market Headroom
Is there room to grow volume at an acceptable cost in the markets the thesis depends on?
Operating Resilience
Will the engine keep working through ownership change, integration and turnover?
Growth Quality Synthesis
Taken together, is patient growth built into the business or bought for the sale?
How a review runs
Scoped to the deal calendar.
A pre-LOI screen uses what the CIM and data room provide; a confirmatory review works from source-system access.
Scope and request
Agree the questions that matter to the thesis and issue a focused data request: advertising accounts, analytics, call tracking, scheduling and practice-management extracts, vendor contracts.
Access and reconstruction
Work from read-only access to source systems where possible. Rebuild acquisition cost and volume by channel, location and month on consistent definitions.
Analysis and management session
Test each dimension against its evidence standard, then review open questions with the target’s team in a structured working session.
Findings and implications
Deliver rated findings, a flag register and the implications for the model and the integration plan, and walk the deal team through them.
When to engage
From the first look at a target to signing.
Pre-LOI screen
A fast read on whether the growth assumptions in the CIM are plausible from the data available, and a sharper confirmatory request list.
Confirmatory diligence
A full review across the seven dimensions, run alongside financial, commercial and technical diligence, while there is still time to adjust price or structure.
Platform or add-on decisions
When patient volume growth is a material assumption in the model and reported marketing performance has not been verified against patient records.
Outcomes
What the deal team takes into the investment decision.
Commercial
- A verified view of acquisition economics and demand
- Volume, ramp and cost assumptions marked as supported, stretched or unsupported
- A flag register separating deal-relevant risks from gaps that can be fixed after close
- Input to price, structure and SPA discussions
Operational
- First 100-day priorities to protect and build patient volume
- Account, data and ownership issues identified before close
- A baseline for integration planning and hold-period reporting
Questions
Common questions from deal teams and operators.
How is this different from commercial due diligence?
Commercial diligence asks whether the market is attractive and the target’s position defensible. Patient Marketing Diligence asks whether the specific mechanism the target uses to win patients works as reported, at what cost, and whether it will scale. The two are complementary.
What access do you need from the target?
Ideally read-only access to advertising accounts, analytics, call tracking and scheduling data, plus extracts of new-patient records from the practice-management system. Where access is limited, the review works from exports and records the limitation as part of the findings.
Can it be run before an LOI?
Yes, as a screen. A pre-LOI screen uses the CIM, management presentation and any data provided to test whether the growth assumptions are plausible and to shape the confirmatory request list.
Will you share the scoring model?
The dimensions and diligence questions are public. The scoring criteria, weightings and thresholds are applied within each engagement and are not published.
Related expertise
The rest of the investment lifecycle.
After acquisition
Post-Acquisition Growth Integration
Turning the assumptions in the investment case into working growth systems: an acquired practice’s demand, intake and measurement brought onto the platform without losing patient volume in the transition.
Explore Growth IntegrationHold period to exit
Portfolio Growth & Value Creation
Sustained growth performance across platforms and portfolio companies: patient growth measured consistently, funded where it returns, and reported in terms a board and a future buyer will recognize.
Explore Value Creation
Start a conversation
Reviewing a healthcare target?
Discuss the deal timeline and what a Patient Marketing Diligence review would cover.
