Items to review when taking over a practice

  • Terms of agreement and notice of termination (obligation of retiring physician, date for transfer of patients, notification and cost, non-compete clause, interim agreement for locum coverage)
  • FHO/FHG agreement if applicable (expectations, frequency of meetings, how decisions are made, eg. majority, unanimous)
  • FHT agreement if applicable
  • Obligations of the individual physician and group (on-call, financial, administrative, nursing homes, hospital, CME, teaching, vacation, coverage, disability and death)
  • Office lease contract and payments
  • Employees: name, start date, employment contract, salary/pay, vacation and job description for each employee, discuss performance, office policies, severance issues
  • Assets and liabilities (complete inventory, capital agreements with MOH, other debts, shared expenses)
  • Revenue and Expenses (financial information, billing, list expenses and detail how expenses will be shared)
  • Issues pertaining to professional corporations if either one of you is incorporated
  • Charts and records (access to charts, storage of old records, clauses for professional negligence)
Tips to Start a New Practice