Featured Legal Questions

I recently was offered a contracted position for a mobile hormone replacement program. I was told that I will have a supervising physician MD/DO. However the company has stated because the MD/DO's is supervising the entire operation, a Naturopathic Doctor (ND) is allowed to manage me (the NP). Is this legal in the state of California? Can the ND override my medical/nursing decisions/orders?

A Naturopath cannot be a collaborating/supervising physician. He cannot manage you or tell you what to do. Only a MD or DO can tell you what to do. Also, you need to make sure that you have Standardized Procedures in place signed by the physician and administrator before you do one thing. If there is a problem with appropriate collaboration/supervision, you are the one that will be harmed, not the company, physician or naturopath.

I have been approached to work with a solo practice MD doing housecalls. I would bill under my own Medicare number and get direct reimbursement, less the medical biller fee. What protocols do I need in place, as he is my "supervising physician" and I will be seeing his panel of patients on a part time basis. I will not be a direct employee.

You will need your own set of protocols signed by him. I recommend doing process protocols. Rebecca Zettler has a book and template you can get on Amazon. DO NOT start seeing patients until the protocols are in place. You also need to have a contract with him setting out your responsibilities. You need to make sure that you have a malpractice/disciplinary insurance in place. If he says you are covered under him, you need to ask him to see the insurance policy as many times the NP is not covered. I recommend getting your own policy through the insurance company that CANP endorses, NSO.

I am working on starting a diabetes consulting business. Thus far I have found a collaborating physician, written my Standard Operation Procedures and am currently working on the Collaborative Agreement. Since California is not yet a state of NP independence I want to make sure I am doing everything correctly.

Will you be paying the physician for his services? If you are, then the physician must have a corporation and you pay the physician’s corporation for collaborating services. You cannot contract directly NP to MD. The corporate practice of medicine is governed by the Moscone-Keene Knox Act in California. Make sure the SPs are signed by you, the physician and administrator.

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