Houston Medical Contract Lawyers

Medical Contract Attorneys Serving Clients Throughout Texas

Contracts are an essential component in the operation of a successful medical practice. Whether you are a medical professional seeking employment, currently own a practice, or are looking to establish a new health care practice in Texas, your contractual agreements must be clear, enforceable, and in compliance with complex regulations.

Call (713) 909-7323 to learn more about our medical contract services.

Our medical contract attorneys at Hendershot Cowart P.C. assist providers across Texas with contractual matters related to their unique practice. By leveraging over 100 years of collective experience, our legal team effectively guides clients through we can effectively guide clients through drafting, reviewing, and enforcing medical contracts with their best interests in mind.

Comprehensive Medical Contract Services

For over 30 years, physicians, physician groups, medical business, and other attorneys have placed their trust and confidence in our firm for their most vital and sensitive contract issues. Our breadth of experience, regulatory knowledge, and foresight enable us to handle matters involving:

• Medical director agreements
• Management services agreements
• Physician employment agreements
• Independent contractor agreements
• Relocation agreements
• Marketing agreements
• Call coverage agreements
• Compliance plans
• Employment agreements
• Management agreements
• Leases
• Billing agreements
• Space and equipment leases and purchases
• Many other types of agreements
• Organization documents such as shareholder agreements
• Human resources documents such as personnel manuals

We also structure medical director agreements in accordance to how regulators examine their intent and validity. Does an agreement help establish protocols and systems for verifying quality of care or patient satisfaction? Is it to ensure staff members are properly trained and supervised? Or have agreements been given to the top referring doctors at a facility with little value to show? We have experience working with hospitals, emergency rooms, ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs), diagnostic labs, freestanding emergency centers (FECs), independent diagnostic testing facilities, pharmacies, and other facilities.

Medical Director Agreements ­

Serving as a medical director gives physicians an opportunity to increase their earnings and use their managerial skills to advance an organization's goals. Because these agreements are subject to increased scrutiny, they must be carefully structured to reduce risks of investigations over fraud and abuse, including violations of the Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute. To meet state and federal standards, services listed in your medical director agreement must be necessary, properly documented, and compensated at fair market value set in advance.

Management Services Agreements

Physician groups and other medical entities use management services companies to handle various aspects of their business and allow physicians to focus on practicing medicine. In addition to properly structuring payment methods, agreements must clearly define a service provider’s obligations for managerial functions, including:

• Meeting the non-medical staffing needs of a practice
• Handling all accounting/bookkeeping/collection functions
• Providing medical equipment such as MRI and X-ray equipment
• Acquiring and leasing space
• Implementation of a compliance program
• Billing collection

Physician Employment Agreements

Your practice will be best served if all licensed doctors and medical professionals serving your patients are under an employment contract that clearly specifies the parameters of their services and scope of their employment. We create medical agreements that:

• Ensure non-compete agreements are properly structured.
• Ensure mutual indemnity when necessary. Employers often seek indemnity from employees against wrongful acts – but physicians may also need indemnity against wrongful acts of the employer, particularly if the employer is handling billing and collections.
• Provide for fair compensation. Compensation is far more complex than a base salary. Pay may be based on productivity, net patient collections, and other factors.
• Address intellectual property matters. Does intellectual property created by an employee belong to the employee or the employer?

Relocation Agreements

If the hospital service area has a need for a doctor of a certain specialty, the doctor may be offered the opportunity to establish a solo practice or group within that location. The hospital will guarantee a certain fee until the practice is up and running. We review and draft relocation agreements between doctor and hospital or doctor and medical group and hospital, if the doctor is joining an existing practice.

Call Coverage Agreements

Call coverage agreements can ensure physicians are fairly compensated for providing emergency coverage to hospitals and emergency rooms. We can help ensure your medical agreement is sound, compliant, and can withstand scrutiny in an investigation.

Space, Equipment Leases and Purchase Agreements

When starting a new practice or medical venture, you will need to secure space to operate your business. You will also need to purchase, lease, or rent medical and non-medical equipment. The agreements you make for space and equipment must be specifically tailored and must comply with various rules (including those for mobile and fixed equipment, full- and part-time leases, etc.).

Mobile Diagnostic Testing Agreements

Agreements related to mobile diagnostic testing

Non-Competes for Physicians and Other Professionals

When properly drafted and implemented, non-competition agreements can allow for enforcement when terms are breached. To ensure enforceability, non-competes must be a reasonable in geographic area, scope of activity, and time. In addition, Texas law provides specific requirements for physician non-competes in that they:

• May not deny the physician access to records
• May not deny physicians the ability to treat a patient who needs acute care
• Must provide the doctor with the ability to buy out of the agreement

We routinely represent both individual providers and health care entities in matters regarding non-competition agreements, including drafting, review, enforcement, and defense.

Trust Proven Houston Medical Contract Lawyers

Medical contracts serve as binding agreements that outline your needs and expectations, protect your interests, and provide recourse when things don’t go as planned.

Make sure you or your practice is protected with the help of a proven firm. Call (713) 909-7323 for an initial consultation with a healthcare legal advocate.