Return on investment is an excellent mechanism for evaluating large practice purchasing decisions. Whether you are purchasing a new practice, opening an office, building a new facility, recruiting an associate or adding technology, the issue that always should be evaluated is whether the investment will create a positive return for the practice and, if so, in what period. While most dental investments actually provide a positive return on investment within 12 months, larger investments, such as purchasing a practice or opening new offices, may require several years to gain a positive return. They still may be good decisions. At the very least, return-on-investment considerations allow dentists to evaluate options from a business-plan perspective, rather than simply making uninformed decisions.
