Medical practice breakups and physician departures are inevitable. Some are the result of professional or personal disputes, and others are simply the result of practical or economic realities or life events (disability, death, retirement, etc.). Whatever the circumstances, failing to carefully execute a plan for the breakup can quickly result…
Little Health Law Blog
February 20, 2014. Kevin Little speaks to physicians. Financial Ramifications for Physician Practices of ACA Deductibles. In Health Consulting & Educational Services National Tele-Class Series.
Kevin Little speaks to physicians. Financial Ramifications for Physician Practices of ACA Deductibles. In Health Consulting & Educational Services National Tele-Class Series.
Medical Practice Compliance 101
Patients tend to see physicians only as providers of care — meeting their medical needs. The reality is that a physician’s efforts to stay compliant with regulations and laws may consume as much or more time than actually rendering care. With consequences for regulatory violations ranging from financial to criminal,…
An Ounce of Prevention: Identify and Mitigate HIPAA Compliance Issues to Avoid Costly HIPAA Penalties
An unencrypted thumb drive cost a dermatology practice $150,000. On December 26, 2013, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) announced a settlement with Adult & Pediatric Dermatology, P.C. of Concord, Massachusetts (APD) of alleged violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). APD,…
The Affordable Care Act Will Enhance Direct Practice Medicine Opportunities
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), widely known as “Obamacare,” will create new opportunities for primary care doctors (and some specialists) who weigh starting or converting to a direct primary care model. At first blush direct care medicine practices, also known as “concierge,” “boutique” and “retainer-based” practices, which charge patients a…
Don’t Work for Free: Obtaining Timely Physician Reimbursement
Nobody likes to work for free. Physicians and other healthcare providers are frequently at risk of non-payment for valuable services to patients due to third-party payer mistakes and/or attempts to arbitrarily delay, reduce or avoid reimbursement. A common practice of payers is, for example, to deny reimbursement based on an…
Breaking Up is Hard to Do: Dividing Medical Practice Assets
Ending a professional relationship is not easy for anyone. But the demise of a healthcare business relationship among doctors often involves more risks, greater headaches, and more issues to tackle than non-healthcare businesses. Dividing up medical business assets is, for example, much more complex and involved than simply drawing a…
Letters of Intent: Framing the Sale/Purchase of a Medical Practice
The parties have talked in abstract terms and danced. There seems to be a deal in the making. Negotiating the particulars of a written purchase agreement for the sale/purchase of a medical practice – the real test to see if you have a deal — is time consuming and potentially…
Good Physician Recruitment Agreements
The amount of attention that physician recruitment receives from government eyes warrants recruitment agreements that are, ideally, airtight. So, what are key criteria for a physician recruitment agreement that is compliant and will work for both parties? There are many important elements of a good physician recruitment agreement, including the…
THE INEVITABLE CHOICE for many primary care doctors: Direct Primary Care, a/k/a Concierge Medicine
Many doctors feel the involvement of an insurance company or other third party payer in the practice of medicine is a source of headaches for their medical practice. Nothing on the horizon seems to indicate that red tape, administrative burdens, and an arbitrary manner by which some insurers and other…