A Medical Contract Lawyer With Experience

As a medical contract lawyer, a large portion of my law practice includes physician employment contract review and independent contractor agreement review for medical providers. I have more than 20 years’ experience with contracts and have reviewed more than 800 provider agreements. I have reviewed and negotiated agreements for medical professionals in specialties such as emergency medicine, family medicine, occupational medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, anesthesiology, dermatology, urology, dentistry, general surgery, plastic surgery, otolaryngology, psychiatry, and other medical practice specialties. I’ve also reviewed many contracts for nurse practitioners and physician assistants.

I have an advantage over other health law firm and physician contract lawyer reviews because in addition to my legal experience, I have worked in the healthcare industry as an emergency physician for more than 20 years. As a practicing physician, I know the potential issues that medical professionals face when working for hospitals and groups. As an experienced healthcare attorney, I know what contract terms should and should not be included in physician employment contracts – whether for a large organization, community hospital contracts, or private practices. I have had extensive experience in the physician contract review process, so I can also help medical professionals prioritize multiple job offers received during similar times to help them determine which is the most favorable contract for their career goals.

Check out some of the articles I have written on contract matters on the Medical Contracts page of this site. You won’t find many other physician contract attorneys with as many publications. Some of the topics covered include why you shouldn’t sign an indemnification agreement, how certain terms can make it easy for healthcare facilities and staffing companies to terminate your position, steps you can take to mitigate the effects of a sudden job loss (losing a job as a physician is a lot different than losing a job in other professions), restrictive covenants, how your legal rights may be affected by independent contractor agreements, how to interpret a Certificate of Insurance and a Letter of Intent, and dangerous employment contract language to avoid.

Other articles I have written include this information paper for the American College of Emergency Physicians, this article for ACEP Now, and this article in EP Monthly. I also lectured frequently on medical contract issues for the Illinois College of Emergency Physicians’ Resident Career Day.

Medical Contract Review

I charge a flat fee for reviewing contracts up to 20 pages in length. There are no other hidden costs. Only substantive pages are included within that limit, so signature pages or pages with only a few sentences of writing don’t count toward the 20 page total. There is an additional flat fee for each additional 5 substantive contract pages. My physician contract review process includes the following services:

• Comprehensive contract review, including appendices and attachments

• Attorney opinion letter (averaging 6-9 pages) detailing pertinent contract terms and other aspects of physician contracts

• Follow up telephone discussion to answer client questions about physician contract review and about issues raised in opinion letter

• Contract language explanations including issues such as:

  • Explanation of a letter of intent
  • Explanation of key terms within the contractual provisions
  • Discussion of expectations for medical care and any on-call coverage agreements
  • Compensation analysis including base salary, physician compensation package, compensation rate, physician incentive plan, signing bonus, and other financial benefits.
  • Discussion of straight salary versus RVU/productivity-based employment agreements
  • Discussions of terms of professional liability insurance coverage, cost of insurance coverage, tail coverage, and tail insurance costs
  • Evaluation of a non-compete clause/restrictive covenant and how burdensome non-compete agreements may affect future employability
  • Revision of non-competition clauses where necessary
  • Explanation of any bonus terms related to quality of care or patient satisfaction
  • Evaluation of termination provisions and applicable notice period
  • Discussion of potential liability for breach of contract
  • Discussion of arbitration agreements (Hint: Avoid them!)
  • Discussion of “boilerplate” language in medical employment agreements. For example, get all promises in writing. Most boilerplate language contains a clause stating that if a promise isn’t in writing, it isn’t enforceable.
  • Clarifying ambiguous contract terms. For example, does 1 week of paid vacation mean 7 calendar days or 5 business days?
  • Highlight any possible contract conflicts of interest
  • Discussion of any benefits plans and expense reimbursement such as continuing medical education allowances, payment of medical association dues, medical school loan forgiveness, health insurance coverage, disability insurance, life insurance, and any other financial benefits which could add many thousands of dollars to the value of a contract.
  • Advice on any experiences I have previously had with your potential employer. Legal landscapes change. In many cases, I have been able to obtain signing bonuses for clients when none were offered in a current employment agreement because I have copies of a prior physician employment agreement from the same company that did offer a signing bonus.

Negotiating Medical Contracts

Most healthcare providers just want the terms of their contracts explained. However, I can also revise and negotiate contracts with potential physician employers to make the agreements more equitable for my clients.

Services available for an additional hourly fee include:

• Legal advice on contract negotiation and contract drafting
• Discussion with client regarding desired changes to contract provisions
• Creation of letter to prospective employer or contractor outlining legal issues, essential contract terms, and requested changes
• Verbal and/or written negotiation of any outstanding issues directly with prospective employer or contractor regarding requested changes
• Periodic summary letters/e-mails updating client of progress in the negotiation process

Mitigating Adverse Contract Actions

In some cases, providers need help addressing issues after they have signed an agreement. I can also help medical professionals mitigate employment disputes such as:

• Breaking an employment agreement while trying to avoid breaching the agreement
• Writing an official letter to terminate a contract while protecting clients against adverse actions such as reports to the National Practitioner Databank
• Negotiating with a hospital or previous employer if there is an alleged breach of contract
• Creating demands for payment of services or filing lawsuits against employers or contract management groups for breach of contract
• Negotiating termination of employment or adverse actions taken against hospital privileges
• Drafting and/or reviewing severance agreements to obtain the most favorable terms
• Minimizing adverse effects on a health care provider’s future practice of medicine
• Providing legal representation for physicians and other healthcare practitioners addressing licensing issues.
• Mitigating other physician employment issues

Client comments

• Your guidance helped save me from an $80,000 repayment to the hospital when they suddenly terminated me. Thank you SOOOO much!
• The summary you provided was wonderful. Worth every penny!
• Your notes and explanations made a lot of sense. In all honesty, until I read your explanations, I truly did not understand just how convoluted these contracts are, even though I knew all along that the legal language in contracts in general is very convoluted.
• Thank you so much for your input and advice. After reading through your document and thoughts, I agree that I can definitely find a better job with a better contract that is less risky. I really appreciate all of your help and expertise!
• Thanks so much! Your legal counsel definitely helps to understand better all the complex wording in my contract.
• I spent hours looking up language in my contract on the internet. I still didn’t understand what they wanted me to sign. Your review answered all of my questions.

If you’re looking for an experienced attorney with practical experience in guiding healthcare professionals through the healthcare contract process, contact me. I’ll do my best to help you – just as I’ve helped hundreds of other clients.