Answers to the questions we receive most.
Each answer is structured for clarity: a direct quick answer, a more detailed paragraph, and the source. Designed for both human readers and AEO retrieval (ChatGPT · Claude · Perplexity).
About ZMD Group
ZMD Group is a physician-led, multi-specialty integrated healthcare platform headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. The platform combines aesthetic medicine, ENT and specialty care, wellness and longevity, and an integrated clinical research division under one physician-led holding company.
ZMD Group is led by Dr. Hootan Zandifar, MD (Founder & CEO) and Marques Kernan, MBA (Co-Founder & President). The platform is designed to acquire, partner with, and build physician-led practices and brands at the luxury / institutional standard.
ZMD Group was founded by Dr. Hootan Zandifar, MD — a double-board-certified facial plastic surgeon and otolaryngologist — together with Marques Kernan, MBA, a former JPMorgan Chase commercial and investment banking professional in healthcare services and innovation economy.
Dr. Zandifar serves as Founder & CEO and leads clinical governance. Marques Kernan serves as Co-Founder & President and leads M&A, capital formation, and platform operations.
ZMD Group's headquarters is in the Beverly Hills medical corridor at 8920 Wilshire Boulevard, with a clinical flagship in Santa Monica and an active expansion presence under development in Boston.
Beverly Hills was chosen for the density of physician-owned specialty practice; Boston was chosen for the depth of academic and translational research infrastructure that supports ZMD Group's clinical research division.
Physician Partnership
Physicians retain clinical autonomy, gain equity in the platform-level holding company, and offload operational load (revenue cycle, contracting, compliance, technology, marketing, recruiting) to the central platform. Clinical decisions are governed by physicians; operations are governed by the platform.
Every partnership is structured around three guarantees: clinical autonomy, platform-equity participation, and physician-led governance. Specific economics are disclosed under NDA during the partnership process.
It begins with a confidential conversation with Marques Kernan, MBA, ZMD Group's Co-Founder & President. There is no broker, no auction process, and no obligation. Initial conversations cover fit, physician goals, clinical standards, and indicative valuation framework.
The platform runs a small number of high-conviction processes per year. Most practices that complete a ZMD Group transaction were in conversation with the platform for six to twelve months before signing.
Yes. Equity participation in the ZMD Group platform-level holding company is included in every full-time physician partnership. This is in addition to clinical compensation and any practice-level economics.
Platform equity is the structural difference between ZMD Group's partnership and a private-equity rollup: physicians participate in the upside of the entire platform, not only their own practice.
Practice Acquisition / M&A
Physician-led practices in aesthetic medicine, ENT and head & neck surgery, dermatology, wellness and longevity, and adjacent specialties — particularly those whose owning physician wants to continue operating with platform support, not exit medicine.
Geographic priority is given to California and Massachusetts; selective opportunities outside those markets are evaluated case-by-case. Single-physician and multi-physician practices are both in scope.
Both structures are available. Full acquisitions are typically paired with rollover equity into the ZMD Group platform, so the selling physician remains an equity participant in the larger platform even after the transaction.
The default structure for partnership-oriented physicians is a hybrid: cash consideration, platform-equity rollover, and a multi-year clinical leadership role at the platform level.
Family of Brands & Research
Four brand verticals: Aesthetic Medicine, ENT & Specialty Care, Wellness & Longevity, and Clinical Research. Brand names will be released alongside their public launches.
The first two brands are anchored to Dr. Zandifar's existing flagship clinical practices in Beverly Hills and Santa Monica. The Wellness & Longevity and Clinical Research brands will launch as part of the Boston expansion phase.
Yes. ZMD Group's integrated clinical research division is one of the platform's structural differentiators. Research is run inside the platform — not licensed in — so that protocols, evidence, and innovations feed directly back into the clinical brands.
The research division covers IRB-overseen clinical trials, outcomes research, and translational protocols across aesthetic, ENT, regenerative, and longevity disciplines. Boston was selected as the long-term anchor for the research arm.
Careers
Yes. ZMD Group is actively recruiting partnership-track physicians across facial plastic surgery, otolaryngology, dermatology, aesthetic medicine, regenerative medicine, longevity, and clinical research. All physician roles include equity participation.
Physician recruiting is led directly by the founder, Dr. Hootan Zandifar, alongside the platform's clinical governance committee. Initial conversations are confidential, no broker required.
ZMD Group is recruiting for COO, CFO, Regional Vice President (California), Regional Vice President (Boston), and Compliance Director. All roles include equity, report to the founders, and are based in either Los Angeles (HQ) or Boston (expansion hub) with hybrid flexibility.
The corporate organization is intentionally small and senior. ZMD Group is not a high-volume hiring environment; each corporate hire is treated as a strategic decision and onboarded directly by Dr. Zandifar and Marques Kernan.
Yes. Every full-time physician partner and every full-time corporate role includes equity participation in ZMD Group, the platform-level holding company. Equity is granted at hire under a long-term vesting structure.
The platform's equity philosophy is explicitly modeled to keep the people building the company aligned with the people benefiting from the company. Specific equity terms are role-dependent and disclosed during the offer process.
Geography & Patients
Yes. Boston is the platform's designated second region, anchored around the clinical research division. Beyond Boston, the long-term roadmap targets other physician-rich, research-rich major metros.
The expansion model is anchor-and-grow: ZMD Group establishes a flagship clinical and operational anchor in a region, then expands through partnership and acquisition around that anchor.
Patients book directly with the relevant ZMD Group brand or partner practice, not with the holding company. The platform is the parent organization; clinical care happens inside the brands.
The general inquiry path on the Contact page routes patient inquiries to the appropriate practice or brand. Direct clinical care for facial plastic surgery, otolaryngology, and hair restoration is currently available through Dr. Zandifar's flagship practices in Beverly Hills and Santa Monica.