Does “Goodwill” mean more than having returning patients?

Goodwill is made up of many components, including the tendency of patients to return to the same place of business for a given service, and the patterns of physicians, optometrists, opticians and patients to keep referring to the same practice.

This expectation of prospective business has market value. It also will benefit an associate physician buying into the practice. He or she won’t have to develop a brand new patient base. Goodwill also is defined as the “going concern value.” This is the worth of having an ophthalmology practice that’s fully operable, with a trained workforce, properly configured computer hardware and software systems, and properly configured office space. To an associate buying into the practice, or to another purchasing physician, these systems represent savings in time and money and are benefits of buying into the practice versus starting up a new one.