Healthcare Practitioners’ Employment Contracts Seminar in October 2020

Next month, I am presenting a seminar on employment contracts for healthcare practitioners through lawline.com. Lawline uses online videos and seminars to offer CLE-bearing courses to attorneys, though non-attorneys are welcome to watch and download any course materials as well. My goal is to help my audience — especially healthcare practitioners — understand what to look for and how certain contract clauses will have an impact in the future.

COVID-19 Consent Forms For Patients

Many practitioners are beginning to institute consent forms for voluntary, non-emergency treatments in an effort to limit the liability of their practices. The forms may state language similar to the following: 

• Coronavirus is highly contagious and there are known risks of contracting the virus, including hospitalization and death;
• the patient confirms that they do not exhibit any symptoms, especially fever; 
• the patient has read over the office protocols and guidelines;
• the patient agrees and acknowledges that they are coming in for a non-emergency, voluntary form of treatment; and 
• knowing the potential risk involved, the patient still agrees to come into the office for the treatment , and they release the office from any liability with respect to the virus.

Guidelines for Re-Opening Healthcare Practices During COVID-19

Healthcare practitioners must ensure their patients and staff feel safe in the practice. What steps should be taken to offer a clean, sanitized, and compliant office? 

Generally, practices have already adopted protocols, such as inquiring about a patient’s covid status, including the onset of any symptoms within the last two weeks prior to their scheduled appointments, to aid in safety precautions. In this article, I would like to share some tips that are a little less well known:

Coronavirus: What Should Medical/Dental Practices Do?

At the time of this writing, New York has declared a state of emergency in response to the Covid-19 outbreak. There are some questions regarding what steps medical and dental practices can make moving forward during this period of unknown. Although New York has not implemented any new rules or laws regarding the virus, as of yet, there are certain best practices that offices should be aware of to proactively combat what we are currently facing as a nation.

A Reminder to Practitioners About Patients’ Financial Forms

In any practice, there are a number of forms that must be signed by patients. These may include the following: HIPAA privacy forms, consent for treatment, general office policies and a health/dental history form. Invariably, there will also be a financial policy form that provides the patient notice of what payments they will be responsible for as it relates to the rendered medical/dental services. 

Business Name Approval For Your Practice – What You Need to Know

When a practitioner is thinking of forming a new practice — or if they are purchasing a practice — forming a legal entity is often part of the process. In New York, their choices are a professional service corporation (PC) or a professional service limited liability company (PLLC). In order to form either type of entity, the practitioner must first apply to  the New York State Department of Education (DOE) to get approval of the practice name and verification of their license before they can file any of the documents with the New York State Department of State.

Commercial Leases and Buying a Practice

Many times when a practitioner purchases a practice, they are not just purchasing the goodwill and equipment — they may also be taking over the commercial lease. Staying in the same space is often advantageous because it makes it easier for patients to continue their treatment under the new management.

When a Physician Leaves a Practice, What Happens to Their Patients?

Generally, healthcare practices today employ several physicians to cover the needs of all of their patients — but what happens when one of them leaves the practice?

What is an Operating Agreement?

An operating agreement is a contract that outlines how a Professional Limited Liability Company (PLLC) will function from its inception. It can diffuse potential disputes between members if the agreement addresses certain areas of concern for the PLLC.  

For example, it may discuss the following areas:

Startup Costs Associated with Opening a Medical Practice

When practitioners are thinking about opening up their own practice, regardless of specialty or field, there are a couple of concepts for them to consider to make sure that it’s a viable option for them.