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Termination Without Clause
Question:
My current corporate employer has utilized its "termination-without-cause" option in [their] contract, effective in ninety days. [The employer] also has, in the form of a release, offered a "walk-away-now" option if I forgo any paychecks during that ninety days (with those sums that should have been paid, used to reduce the contractual payback required by the difference in production revenues versus overhead plus the accrued deficit between credited revenues and base pay - a number yet to be produced by the corporation). The question is: is there an obligation on my part to insist that the corporation notify "my patients" that I am leaving as per the custom of giving them thirty days warning? My replacements are already here so the patients would not have any break in the theoretical continuity of care.
Response:
Notification of patients in the event a physician departs from a medical practice certainly varies across the spectrum. Many states' medical licensing boards require advance notice - some by written notices to patients currently attended to by the physician, some by a general notice accompanying invoices, even some by newspaper notices. However, the primary reason for the notifictaion is to provide patients who are currently being attended to by the physician the opportunity to have records transferred to the new office location. This is especially important in the case of psychiatric and related health issues. The continuity of care is critical. In this particular instance, if a replacement physician is already on-site, the chances of a break in the continuity of care is lessened greatly.
As a matter, of courtesy, the departing physician's patients should receive some form of notice. However, the state's medical licensing board's rules should be followed in all cases.
The preceding was prepared by John Powers, JD, an attorney with the healthcare practice of Husch & Eppenberger. It is prepared as a source of general information concerning recent health law developments and is not legal advice or an opinion. No action should be taken in reliance upon this information without obtaining the advice of a knowledgeable healthcare attorney.
Attorney John Powers has partnered with Cejka Search to address healthcare legal issues in our Legal Counsel feature on cejkasearch.com. His areas of expertise include hospital and medical practice issues, physician recruitment transactions, managed care counseling, development of MSOs, IPAs, and managed care delivery systems, antitrust counseling to healthcare clients, insurance matters, physician-hospital contracting, medical staff matters, and bioethical issues.
If you have a question or comment for Mr. Powers, please send a message to: info@cejkasearch.com