DDSManagement services agreement (MSA)
Management services agreement (MSA): A management services agreement (MSA) is the contract under which a DSO or MSO provides non-clinical services to a dentist-owned practice entity in exchange for a fee.
A management services agreement (MSA) is the contract under which a DSO or MSO provides non-clinical services to a dentist-owned practice entity in exchange for a fee.
MSAs are how DSOs operate where state law limits ownership of dental practices by non-dentists. They are private contracts and are rarely filed publicly, so public records can undercount DSO affiliation.
Part of the DDSIntel glossary. See how the figures are built in the methodology. Markdown version: /glossary/management-services-agreement.md.
Other terms
- Dental transition signals
- Dental transition intelligence
- Pre-market dental practices
- Dental exit window
- Dental retirement cohort
- Dental Transition Index (DTI)
- Consented signal
- Observed signal
- Transition readiness
- Active patient
- Add-on acquisition
- Adjusted EBITDA
- Administrative dissolution
- Asset purchase
- Associate buy-in
- Build-out permit
- Buy-side search
- Collections multiple
- Collections vs. production
- Compliance signal
- Consumer report (FCRA)
- Corporate practice of dentistry (CPOD)
- Corporate signal
- Data-as-of date
- De novo practice
- Dental consolidation
- Dental HPSA
- Dental partnership organization (DPO)
- Dental support organization (DSO)
- DPMS
- DSO-affiliated location
- Due diligence
- Earn-out
- EBITDA multiple
- Facilities signal
- Holdback
- Independent practice
- Letter of intent (LOI)
- Lifecycle signal
- Management services organization (MSO)
- New entity or license
- Non-compete (dental sale)
- NPI (Type 1 / Type 2)
- NPPES
- Observed ownership change
- Off-market practice
- OIG LEIE (exclusion list)
- Overhead ratio
- Payer mix
- Platform acquisition
- Practice goodwill
- Practice location
- Practice transition
- Practice valuation
- Practices per 10,000 residents
- Professionally active dentist
- Provider density
- Quality of earnings (QoE)
- Recapitalization
- Region
- Registered agent
- Regulatory signal
- Roll-up
- Rollover equity
- Saturday access
- SBA 7(a) practice loan
- Second-source confirmation
- Sell-side process
- Signal horizon
- Small-cell suppression
- State annual report
- Stock purchase
- Succession plan
- Walkaway sale
- Work-back (transition period)
- Working capital peg