Common Disputes in Employed Physician Contracts April 10, 2013 Physician Resource contract disputes, contract review, physician contract, physician employment agreement 0 Many times, contract disputes arise because of misunderstandings about what hospitals and health systems expect of physicians. A good contract will define a doctor's role and how he or she is to be paid. But some contracts are not well-written, leading to misunderstandings and miscommunications, which end up pitting physicians against their employers. Here are some common contract disputes: Productivity compensation. It used to be that physicians were paid base salaries, but now it's more commonly base plus bonus. Many disputes arise due to interpretations of relative value unit formulas. Termination agreement. Some physicians misinterpret when they can terminate their contracts. Contracts may appear to say that doctors must give hospitals notice within a certain time frame. But depending on the way it's written, a contract might mean the doctor has to give notice within a certain time frame before the anniversary of the start of the employment contract. Geographic coverage. Some contracts define the geographic areas physicians are required to work in, which are spelled out as specified distances from hospitals. But the contracts might not define the word “hospital.” It may mean any clinic associated with a hospital, so some doctors must travel greater distances than expected to get to their practices. Noncompete clauses. This part of a contract allows a physician to practice medicine outside a certain distance from a hospital after he or she leaves. Some contracts don't allow doctors to practice medicine within a specified distance of any medical practice affiliated with a hospital. That may mean the geographic distance is far larger than physicians assumed when they signed their contracts. SFMS Member Resources Assessing and reviewing your contracts is essential to getting the most out of any contract proposal, whether it involves employment agreements, managed care contracts, shareholder agreements or hospital-based contracts. Because the "devil is in the details," ambiguously worded contracts may not contain the provisions meant to protect you and your medical practice from detrimental deals. SFMS members can access a number of resources and services to assist in simplifying the at-times-daunting contract review. One such resource is CMA's contract analysis service through which SFMS members can receive written reviews of specific physician contracts. Members receive a 20% discount on attorney's fees of the law firm that has contracted to do these reviews. The analysis fee depends upon the type of contract to be reviewed. Included in the price are an initial appointment (either by phone or in person) prior to the analysis and an additional appointment after the physician has received the analysis, if the physician so desires. Click here for additional information and rates. Comments are closed.
