Contracts

Physician Employment: Protection from Issues Posed by Co-Terminus Clinical Privileges Language

March 10, 2023 | Caitlin Lentz

rawpixel-703120-unsplash-e1678464455417 Our healthcare and business law firm often assists physicians and other providers in employment matters, from reviewing proposed contracts to litigating non-compete matters. We’ve written previous material on physician employment, including Keys to Negotiating a Good Contract and Physician Non-Compete Agreements. As mentioned in our previous post, our firm has recently been dealing with issues raised by co-terminus language, or language providing that a physician’s hospital clinical privileges automatically terminate when the employment contract is terminated. The previous post provided an overview of co-terminus language and potential issues raised by such language. This post focuses on possible ways a physician can protect herself or himself from those issues. If you have NPDB or employment questions or would like to discuss this blog post, you may contact our healthcare and business law firm at (404) 685-1662 (Atlanta) or (706) 722-7886 (Augusta), or by email, info@hamillittle.com. You may also learn more about our law firm by visiting www.hamillittle.com.

Although there may be many ways for a physician to protect themselves from the issues posed by co-terminus language (which issues we detailed in our previous blog post available here), below are a few ways we have dealt with in the past, some in the contract negotiation phase and others are actions to take after employment has ended. Note, these actions do not insulate a physician from issues, but rather add protections to try and reduce the chance that the physician is met with problems relating to clinical privileges. Continue reading ›

Physician Employment: Clinical Privileges, Co-Terminus Language, and NPDB Reporting

March 1, 2023 | Caitlin Lentz

understanding-physician-employment-contracts-e1677703586595 Our healthcare and business law firm often assists physicians and other providers in employment matters, from reviewing proposed contracts to litigating non-compete matters. Physician employment agreements are often between 15 to 30 pages long, but many important terms are imbedded in those pages. We’ve written previous material on physician employment, including Keys to Negotiating a Good Contract and Physician Non-Compete Agreements. Our firm has recently been dealing with issues raised by co-terminus language, or language providing that a physician’s hospital clinical privileges automatically terminate when the employment contract is terminated. Herein, I provide (1) an overview of the language and (2) potential issues raised by such language. The next blog post will focus on possible ways a physician can protect themselves from those issues. If you have NPDB or employment questions or would like to discuss this blog post, you may contact our healthcare and business law firm at (404) 685-1662 (Atlanta) or (706) 722-7886 (Augusta), or by email, info@hamillittle.com. You may also learn more about our law firm by visiting www.hamillittle.com.

Co-Terminus Language

Here is an example of co-terminus language:

Physician’s Medical Staff Membership and privileges shall terminate concurrently with the termination or expiration of this Agreement. Any provision of Company policies to the contrary notwithstanding, Physician and the Company agree that the Company has no duty to provide any notice, hearing or review in connection with the termination or suspension of Physician’s Medical Staff Membership and privileges hereunder.

The point of co-terminus language is so that the hospital does not have to follow their medical staff bylaws, which typically provide that privileges must either be voluntarily resigned or involuntarily removed. Continue reading ›

3 Physician Employment Agreement Terms to Review before Resigning

September 22, 2022 | Caitlin Lentz

contract-signature-e1663868054811 Our healthcare and business law firm works with many providers at all stages of employment, including physicians taking their first jobs after training, becoming partners at practices, and selling their practices and retiring. One consistently stressful time for all providers is resigning from a practice. Through our experience, we have learned many tips to assist providers in exiting employment as smoothly as possible. If you have questions regarding this blog post or need counsel navigating an employment exit, you may contact us at (404) 685-1662 (Atlanta) or (706) 722-7886 (Augusta), or by email, info@hamillittle.com. You may also learn more about our law firm by visiting www.hamillittle.com.

Our first step with clients is always to start the exit process by reviewing their employment contracts. Assuming the agreement is enforceable and binding, your employment agreement governs how you and your employer behave. Most clients want to leave professionally and effectively and so do not want to breach the contract on their way out. The following are terms we generally start with in reviewing employment contracts: Continue reading ›

2 Tactics for Negotiating Malpractice Insurance in Physician Employment Contracts

March 1, 2021 | Caitlin Lentz

Our last blog post outlined 3 Practical Questions for Providers to Consider Before Signing an Employment Agreement. In this post, we focus on a question that is at the forefront of our physician- medical_malpractice_legal_terms-300x169 client’s mind when evaluating employment opportunities: “Am I responsible for paying for tail insurance coverage?” As a healthcare and business law firm, we routinely assist physicians in negotiating terms of employment agreements. Through our experience, we have developed tactics for negotiating compromises to the structure of tail insurance coverage agreements, and, herein, we share those tactics.

What is Tail Insurance?

During a physician’s employment, the employer generally acquires and pays for malpractice insurance covering the physician. But what happens when a claim is brought against a physician after her or his employment ends but for actions taken during the employment? The answer depends on the type of liability insurance purchased.

3 Practical Questions for Providers to Consider Before Signing an Employment Agreement

February 17, 2021 | Caitlin Lentz

As a healthcare and business law firm, we routinely review and analyze employment agreements for physicians and other providers both when negotiating an agreement and after a dispute has 20150713_Contract_SS_144478477 arisen. Through our experience, we have developed tips and learned what is common, what is likely to cause disputes, and what is important in a practical sense for our provider clients. This post intends to outline three practical questions we believe important for our provider clients to consider when reviewing employment opportunities.

Question 1: Can I Complete all Contingencies Prior to my Start Date?

First things first, as a physician or other medical provider, you will necessarily be required to hold licenses, certifications, memberships, hospital privileges, provider numbers, etc. prior to providing services. Especially for providers just completing training, it is important the agreement allows you sufficient time to complete all contingencies before employment begins. If you are hesitant about your ability to complete the requirements before the start date written in the contract, there are changes to the contract you may be able to request, although there is no guarantee the employer will accept. First, you can request a later start date to give you sufficient time. Second, you can ensure there is language recognizing that the parties may agree on a later start date without terminating the agreement. Although the parties almost always have the option to modify contract terms, including language specifically referencing the ability to modify the start date is useful to set clear expectations. In our experience, clear expectations help avoid future disputes.

Contract Pitfall #1: Using an Incorrect Entity Name

February 9, 2021 | Caitlin Lentz

As a healthcare and business law firm, we have many business entity clients. It is common for business-minded individuals to operate multiple registered companies. When entering business contract-300x200 contracts, it is easy for the entity name to be mistyped, written in an abbreviated or well-known form, or somehow written incorrectly, especially for those individuals operating many similar entities. There is generally no substantial penalty for such an error, however, it can cause unnecessary trouble should a contract dispute arise, including placing the rights, duties, and liabilities under the contract on the individual who signed as the nonexistent entity. This post intends to alert our business readers of this easily avoidable pitfall and provide an overview of how Georgia courts handle such situations.

To start, the best practice is to sign business contracts using your businesses registered name. To verify the full and correct business name of your entity in Georgia, you can visit Georgia’s Secretary of State website.

If, however, the contract has been signed by an individual purportedly acting on behalf of a nonexistent entity, the general standard is: “[A]n undertaking by an individual in a fictitious name is the obligation of the individual.” Courtland Hotel, LLC v. Salzer, 767 S.E.2d 750, 752 (Ga. Ct. App. 2014). Put another way, if you sign as a fictitious entity, you undertake the responsibilities agreed to by the fictious entity.