Should administration be a part of the physician practice merger committee?

Sometimes the question is raised: “Should the administrators or office managers serve on the merger committee or merger team?”  My experience shows that it is not advisable to place them on either team, although they will play critical roles throughout the process.  Merging groups tend to find better solutions when using an objective outside facilitator to assist in this difficult decision making process.  Obviously, these key management personnel will have significant input into the entire planning process.    They will attend and even help plan certain meetings and make recommendations to the committee and the merger team. It will be vital to keep them informed and included in the entire process.  Their approval of the merger plan needs to be gained at every phase of the process.  However, it is not advisable for them to be permanent members of either the committee or the merger team.  There will be times that the merger team and merger committee will need to address issues which will be hard for the respective administrators to be objective about.