Closing a Practice Ethically: What every clinician needs to know

Closing a Practice Ethically: What every clinician needs to know

A while back, I ran across a book with the title, “I’m Dead, Now What?” Interesting title so I picked it up. While leafing through the pages, I realized this was a book to help us plan and organize our end-of-life matters. Pages for who gets what items, where assets are held, how to log on to credit card accounts, funeral planning, and so many other elements were considered in this book. Having been diagnosed with cancer (again), I bought it. I started writing in it, thinking that it would be a good idea as a single parent to have some thoughts down on paper. The peace of mind is hard to quantify. (Oh, and just for the record, I’m cancer free now!)

This book also got me thinking about my businesses. I didn’t have a plan in place for what would happen to them. Hmmm…probably a good idea. It was harder to find cohesive reference material. I would find pieces here and there.

Enter stage left an email from a colleague. The email shared how another colleague had died unexpectedly over the weekend. An underlying health condition had taken the life of a counselor with a thriving practice. With no professional will, the family was adrift. In talking with one of her daughters, we began to formulate a plan.

The first priority was contacting current clients about their upcoming appointments. Thankfully, other counselors in her community had reached out to offer their services to her clients. We now had a list of referrals the family could provide.

Immediate needs assuaged, we then reviewed additional steps – changing the after-hours call structure, updating the voicemail, creating an automatic forwarding for her email, securing client records (most of which, thankfully, were electronic), and discussing items in the physical office and what to do with them. We prioritized decisions and actions. We discussed final billing to insurance, final payments from clients, notifying insurance carriers and malpractice insurance carriers, licensing boards, former client correspondence, stopping automatic payments for services such as the electronic health record, records retention, records transfers. It. Was. A lot.

All while they were grieving the loss of their mom.

One daughter described the work during her grief, conveying “It was just too much! I couldn’t think. I couldn’t focus. Thank God you were there to help us!”

At LAST, we take care of the details of closing your practice ethically to allow your family, friends, and colleagues to focus on honoring you in their grief.

Disclaimer: This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to serve as legal advice.

© 2026, Dr. Susan Meyerle, Legacy Archive Solutions Team