Physician-Hospital Contracts

Summary

This practice note identifies and addresses the specific health law issues that arise in the context of physician/hospital contracts. Healthcare is a highly regulated field, a fact that is primarily attributable to two areas in which both state and federal governments perceive a legitimate community interest that requires legislative protection (i.e., licensing issues designed to maintain quality of care and reimbursement issues designed to both support healthcare and maintain fiscal integrity). Each physician/hospital contract tends to involve most of the following substantive legal areas: licensing, accreditation, certificates of need, credentialing, tax-exemption, federal reimbursement (Medicare, Medicaid, CHAMPUS, etc.), professional liability, fraud and abuse / anti-referral legislation, professional liability, corporate practice of medicine, antitrust, and employment law.