Physician Contract Lawyer

Our Lawyers Advise Physicians Regarding All Types of Contract Negotiations and Disputes

As a physician, you may encounter a variety of contracts in connection with your medical practice. Ensuring that these contracts protect you—rather than increasing your liability exposure—is of critical importance. Well-drafted and carefully negotiated contracts are essential to effective practice management, and practitioners need to make informed decisions based on the advice of an experienced physician contract attorney.

Our attorneys represent physicians in connection with all contract-related matters. This includes contract drafting and negotiation as well as contract dispute resolution. Whether you are forming a new partnership, considering an employment opportunity or hospital affiliation, pursuing any other business relationship, or facing a contract-related dispute, our healthcare lawyers can protect your interests, mitigate your liability exposure, and help position you to achieve your goals in the medical field.

Put our highly experienced team on your side

Dr. Nick Oberheiden

Founder

Attorney-at-Law

Lynette S. Byrd

Former DOJ Trial Attorney

Partner

Brian J. Kuester

Former U.S. Attorney

Hon. Kevin McCarthy

55th Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives (ret.)

Government Consultant

Mike Pompeo

Of Counsel

Former U.S. Secretary of State

John W. Sellers

Former Senior DOJ Trial Attorney

Linda Julin McNamara

Federal Appeals Attorney

Nicholas B. Johnson

Former Prosecutor

Roger Bach

Former Special Agent (DOJ)

Chris J. Quick

Former Special Agent (FBI & IRS-CI)

Michael S. Koslow

Former Supervisory Special Agent (DOD-OIG)

Ray Yuen

Former Supervisory Special Agent (FBI)

Attorneys for All Types of Physician Contracts

At Oberheiden P.C., we advise physicians regarding all types of contracts. Each physician contract lawyer at our firm has extensive experience with drafting and negotiations, and many of our attorneys have experience in contract-related litigation as well. Our lawyers regularly consult with and represent physicians in negotiations related to:

Partnership Agreements

Entering into a partnership requires careful planning in any scenario, but making informed decisions is especially important in the medical field. We draft and negotiate partnership agreements for multi-owner physician practices while taking into account the unique liability risks involved. If you are planning to go into business with another physician (or a group of physicians), it is imperative to ensure that you are protecting your professional and financial interests effectively. This means mitigating your liability risk while maintaining both adequate control and adequate flexibility.

Employment Contracts

As a physician, taking a job involves much more than simply accepting whatever offer you may have received. Physicians can—and should—negotiate several aspects of their employment contracts. This includes financial aspects such as compensation and benefits, but also more nuanced issues such as the ability to start an independent business (if desired) and your rights and obligations upon severance.

Clinical Affiliation Agreements

Clinical affiliation agreements are unique contracts that require careful review from the physician’s perspective. These agreements are typically drafted by the hospital’s lawyers—which means that they are drafted with the hospital’s legal and financial interests in mind. Our attorneys have significant experience negotiating clinical affiliation agreements, and we can use the insights gained from this experience to help you secure an affiliation on favorable terms.

Contracts Between Physicians and Related Entities

When engaging in business with related entities, physicians must be careful to maintain strict compliance with the Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark Law. These federal laws prohibit the use of federally-reimbursed funds (i.e., Medicare and Medicaid funds) to provide compensation for patient referrals, and the Stark Law applies specifically to so-called physician “self-referrals.” Our physician contract lawyers are intimately familiar with these laws’ prohibitions—and our lawyers are equally familiar with the safe harbors and exceptions under these laws that permit certain types of relationships (with adequate documentation).

Insurance Contracts

Securing (and maintaining) adequate insurance coverage is paramount for physicians in all specialties. We review our clients’ insurance contracts to help ensure that they are securing the coverage they need. We also negotiate contracts with health insurers that pay for patient services.

Marketing Agreements

In today’s world, marketing is becoming increasingly important for physicians across the board. But, when engaging marketing agencies and public relations (PR) firms, physicians must be careful to ensure that doing so does not expose them to unnecessary liability. Each physician contract attorney at Oberheiden P.C. is well-versed in the issues that tend to lead to trouble for physicians, and our attorneys rely on this knowledge to negotiate marketing agreements that include adequate protections, enforcement rights, and remedies for our clients.

Contracts with Vendors and Other Third-Party Providers

Our lawyers also draft and negotiate contracts with vendors and other third-party providers. This includes information technology (IT) and managed services providers, cybersecurity companies, real estate lessors, and durable medical equipment (DME) companies, among others. Here, too, we focus on ensuring that physicians have all of the protections they need so that they can operate and grow their practices with confidence.

Examples of Key Terms in Physician Contracts

When entering into any type of contractual relationship, it is critical to ensure that the terms of the relationship adequately reflect: (i) the terms of the deal, (ii) the liability risks involved, and (iii) the potential need for enforcement. No two contracts are exactly alike (nor should they be), and effective contract negotiation is a matter of understanding the risks presented and applying relevant contract law principles to the facts (and potentialities) at hand.

With this in mind, some examples of common key terms in physician contracts include:

• Indemnification – In the event of a third-party lawsuit (i.e., a patient medical malpractice claim), who is liable? In a partnership, for example, individual physicians should generally be protected against liability for each other’s deviations from the requisite standard of care.
• Compliance – Who is responsible for maintaining compliance? Can you pursue a claim against a cybersecurity vendor, for example, if the vendor gets hacked resulting in the release of patients’ protected health information?
• Termination – Which party (or parties) have a termination right, and when? If you terminate a partnership, employment relationship, or affiliation, what are your post-termination rights and obligations?
• Remedies – If you need to take immediate legal action to protect yourself or your patients, do you have the right to do so? While many contracts include mandatory mediation and arbitration provisions, it will often be necessary to carve out certain types of claims.
• Representations and Warranties – Do your contracts contain appropriate representations and warranties? For example, are your DME suppliers adequately standing behind their equipment? Do your partners represent that they are not subject to any pending claims or litigation that could reflect negatively on the partnership?

Again, these are just examples. All contracts include numerous key terms; and, as a physician, you need to ensure that each contract you enter into is appropriate for your business, practice, or professional career.

Contract Disputes Involving Physician Agreements

Along with representing physicians in transactional matters, our lawyers also handle disputes between physicians and other parties. When facing a contract dispute in connection with your medical practice, a proactive approach will generally result in the most cost-effective and least confrontational outcome. By addressing issues before they lead to litigation or alternative dispute resolution (ADR), physicians can remain focused on their practices and minimize the likelihood of needing to go to court.

When representing clients in disputes, our physician contract attorneys work to achieve mutually agreeable results whenever possible—provided that it is in our client’s best interests to do so. However, we do not hesitate to litigate when necessary; and, if you need to pursue litigation or defend against a breach-of-contract claim at trial, our lawyers have the knowledge and skills required to provide effective courtroom representation.

FAQs: What Do Physicians Need to Know About Their Contracts?

Speak with a Physician Contract Attorney at Oberheiden P.C.

If you would like to speak with a physician contract attorney at Oberheiden P.C., we invite you to contact us to arrange a complimentary initial consultation. Please call 888-680-1745 or send us a message online today.