ABOUT US
Étalon Healthcare Valuations - Before valuing medical practices, we built one.
Dr. Esther Barnes spent years as a practicing podiatric surgeon — building a practice, growing it, managing it, and eventually completing a successful transition in 2021. That experience is not a line on a résumé. It is the reason the analysis looks the way it does.
Étalon Healthcare exists because most valuation firms approach a medical practice the way a financial analyst approaches any cash-flowing asset. Dr. Barnes approaches Healthcare Valuations the way a physician approaches a chart — looking first at what the clinical picture actually shows, and then at whether the documented record reflects it accurately.
Founder
Esther Barnes, DPM, MBA
Physician, Founder, Valuation Analyst, and Financial Advisor
Dr. Barnes is a board-certified foot and ankle surgeon with advanced training in business, finance, and valuation. She holds an MBA from University of Montana and is currently in candidacy for both the Certified Valuation Analyst® (NACVA) and Certified Financial Planner™ designations.
Before founding Étalon, she built and operated a podiatric medicine & surgery practice in Montana, developing a stable physician-owned specialty practice and completing a successful sale in 2021.
That firsthand ownership experience informs every valuation engagement: the revenue dynamics, the staffing dependencies, the referral relationships, the transition mechanics that drive value in ways a balance sheet does not fully capture. It is this clinical insight that shapes Étalon's approach to valuation: analysis informed not only by financial methodology, but by an understanding of what a medical practice represents to the physician who built it — years of clinical commitment, patient trust, operational decisions, and personal investment.
Today, Étalon Healthcare works with physicians, attorneys, accountants, and healthcare organizations to deliver independent valuation work designed to support important decisions across the ownership lifecycle.
Why Étalon?
Clinical Insight.
Grounded in firsthand physician ownership experience and a practical understanding of what healthcare practices represent beyond the balance sheet.
Financial Precision
Every conclusion is specific, defensible, and supported by evidence. CVA-Candidate training under NACVA professional standards — income, market, and asset approaches applied with the regulatory fluency healthcare valuations require.
Independence.
No institutional affiliations. No referral arrangements. Conclusions reflect the evidence, not a predetermined outcome. Independence is the operating condition, not a marketing claim.