For any business, regardless of its industry, follow and play by the general rules of business and trade. Just like any other business, the ideas of partnerships, mergers and transitions aren’t foreign to medical practice businesses.
Many individual doctors and organisations undergo practice transitions on a regular basis and it has many phases to it. These transitions can be in the wake of business opportunities, change of practice, delivering better service etc. Whatever, be the underlying condition and type of medical practice, from a legal perspective practice transitions, are quite intricate and involves numerous regulatory compliances. If you have any plans to undertake practice transitions, here how you can make it seamless for yourself and your patients.
- Include patients and staff into the equation
The patients are the most important part of any medical practice and it is the responsibility of the doctor to provide quality medical care to its patients. Transitions, be it selling a practice or merging with other professionals, it involves the transfer of patients, staff, and equipment. To make the transitions smooth, you should build trust among your patients and discuss with them openly about the transition.
For critical patients, you must be more careful and see through their transition diligently. - Doctor-patient relationship transition and termination
Once a physician starts attending a patient, a doctor-patient relationship is established, making it the doctor’s obligation to provide ongoing care until the relationship is terminated by both parties. If a doctor is handling over the patients to other physicians, they must aid the transition, facilitate the handover of medical records and important medical information. - Working out the agreements
Practice transitions involve a lot of documentation and drafting agreements. All involved parties must enter into legal agreements, listing down the terms for transitions. There are various types of transition agreements – employees, patients, financials, assets etc. Working with a legal professional can help streamline these agreements and enable you to draft and robust agreements. Legal services like Pacific Health Law Group that specialises in practice transition litigations can make the process more economical, streamlined and compliant to regulations, thus protecting all parties from errors and risks. - Handling expansions and mergers
In cases, when doctors plan on expanding their practice in different locations, they must plan their expansions with caution. Since, it can be challenging to cater to the patients at multiple locations, one needs a substitute to provide medical services. However, since it would be your name at the door, you are at risk for any nuances. Experienced attorneys can help you with the legal issues to mitigate those risk without inhibiting the expansion.
Providing medical services is a profession of great responsibility as the professionals are dealing with a person’s health and quality of life. Hence, the stalks are high and mistakes can’t be made. Healthcare business attorneys at Pacific Health Law Group understand the intricacies of the industry and can help cater to the regulatory and legal aspects of the healthcare practice.
