A physician contract review checklist provides a consistent way for physicians to evaluate employment agreements and ensure important details aren’t overlooked.
The big things to look for are:
- The noncompete provision.
- The malpractice and tail coverage.
- The notice period you must provide when you want to leave.
- The definition of “cause” when they want to fire you for a reason.
- How much they must pay you if they fire you “without cause”.
- How much call you must take.
- The terms of ownership buy-in – if you are working for a practice rather than a health system.
- The liabilities of the practice – so you know what you are buying into. Look for unfunded pension liabilities and pending lawsuits.
- The competition in the marketplace facing you personally in a health system and any practice you join.
- The dynamics with nurses and support staff and administrators.
I could write more about each of these subjects, but I will put you to sleep and give you the mistaken view that by reading a summary you can analyze your own contract in the way a lawyer can. When you get your contract reviewed by me, David Nacht, these are typically some of the issues we will discuss.