LifeStance is eyeing a return to mergers and acquisitions in 2025 and planning to build up its clinician base, its executives said.
Speaking at a June 10 investor conference, CEO Dave Bourdon said the company had put M&A on hold for the past two years while itfocused on standardizing and streamlining operations across its more than 500 centers.
LifeStance will re-prioritize M&A as it seeks to enter new markets, Mr. Bourdon said.
“We are now feeling good at geographic expansion again,” he said.
Here are three things to know about LifeStance’s strategy:
- LifeStance is balancing hiring new clinicians and filling existing clinicians’ calendars with appointments, CFO Ryan McGroarty said. The company plans to grow its clinician base by around 10-12% every year to meet its growth targets, the executives said.
“We’ve made the decision to focus some extra attention on our existing clinicians calendars,” Mr. Bourdon said. “As we get those to a more appropriate level, then we will get back to a normal growth level when it comes to the number of clinicians.” - LifeStance has struggled to improve its clinician retention rates, Mr. Bourdon said.
The company is rolling out new cash-based bonuses and filling clinicians’ calendars, initiatives Mr. Bourdon said are aimed at boosting retention.
“It’s a little bit frustrating for us. We’ve been making improvements to the value prop, with the clinicians, and we haven’t seen it play through yet in improved retention. We still believe that we will see that in the coming years.” - The company is currently “incredibly inefficient” in its use of technology and is investing in new technology, Mr. Bourdon said. The company is also in the early stages of the “discovery process” of upgrading its EHR systems, Mr. McGroarty said.
