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Frequently Asked
Questions we are asked before a first call.
What the work covers, how it differs from financial diligence, and how an engagement runs.
01
What does Aluria Advisory do?
Aluria Advisory is a boutique behavioral health M&A and operational advisory firm. We run clinical, operational, and reimbursement diligence before close, and integration and value creation work after it, for private equity firms, family offices, and behavioral health operators. Behavioral health deals rarely fail on the numbers. They fail on clinical integration, provider retention, and operations after close.
02
What is clinical integration risk?
Clinical integration risk is the risk financial diligence does not price: whether the clinicians who produced last year's earnings stay, whether their workflows survive a new owner's systems, and whether the operating model can absorb the platform it is being folded into. It is the most common reason a behavioral health thesis underperforms the model in the first year after close.
03
How is this different from financial due diligence?
Financial diligence and quality of earnings work establish whether reported earnings are real. Aluria does not perform quality of earnings. We provide the operational overlay that sits on top of it: clinical workflow, provider retention exposure, payer and reimbursement risk, and operational readiness, delivered as a findings memo formatted to drop into an IC memo.
04
Who do you work with?
Private equity firms and family offices evaluating or holding behavioral health assets, and behavioral health platform leadership teams. We work with a small number of clients at any given time. The work is too consequential to scale through volume.
05
How does an engagement run?
Confidential intake and scope within 48 hours; document and data review with site and leadership interviews over one to two weeks; a findings memo covering clinical integration risk, provider retention exposure, reimbursement and payer risk, and operational readiness; and an optional post-close 100-day plan. Every engagement begins with a written scope and clear deliverables.
06
What engagement models are available?
Project-based diligence or integration, retainer-based ongoing advisory, and board and strategic advisor roles. Every engagement is led personally by Edisa Shirley. Where scope requires, Aluria brings in senior specialists in revenue cycle, compliance, and finance, under Aluria's direction.
07
Which parts of behavioral health do you cover?
Outpatient psychiatry and therapy platforms, including hybrid and virtual care; interventional psychiatry, including TMS and Spravato/esketamine; and behavioral health in post-acute and hospital-affiliated settings.
08
What are Edisa Shirley's qualifications?
Edisa Shirley, PhD, LMHC, is Founder and Managing Partner of Aluria Advisory. She holds a PhD in Industrial-Organizational Psychology, an M.S. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, and licensure as a Mental Health Counselor in Florida. She has led more than 100 post-acquisition integrations across a platform that scaled to 300+ centers in 37 states, held 98% provider retention through two ownership changes, and was the integration lead through a private equity recapitalization and a strategic exit. She has held full P&L ownership of a multi-state outpatient portfolio and serves as a board director and strategic advisor to private equity, family office, and healthcare venture investors. More about the founder.
09
You hold a role at a healthcare technology company. Is that a conflict?
Edisa serves as an executive at a healthcare technology company. Engagements involving competing or adjacent vendors are disclosed in advance and declined where a conflict exists. That role is also why our technology evaluation is grounded in the billing, workflow, and operating data of hundreds of behavioral health practices.
10
How quickly do you respond to inquiries?
We typically respond within one business day. Inquiries are held in strict confidence. No engagement details are disclosed without written consent.
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Every engagement begins with a confidential conversation and a written scope. We typically respond within one business day.
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