Today I'm talking about how to get a handle on and take charge of the financial cash flow of your business so that money, specifically cash flow of money, isn't a stress point or something that you avoid in your practice.

Now, I've seen this consistent concern from numerous doctors in my Functional Lawyer Membership and in general conversation with other doctors: cashflow is a stressful part of running a business. This is very common with small business owners, and I’ve seen it firsthand at Functional Lawyer and through my wife's functional medicine practice.

Today, I have a recommendation that will help you take charge of your cash flow so that you're not in a place where you're unsure if you can pay bills this month or worried that there's not going to be enough money at the end of the month for you to pay yourself.

The tool that I recommend, and this is a system that I've implemented at Functional Lawyer because it works so well at Origins...

All right. You're really excited you've made the decision that you want to open your own practice or your own business. You've kind of made that choice mentally and now you have to figure out a name. Uh oh. That holds a lot of people back because it takes them a long time to figure out the perfect name. And then when they do, they fall in love with the name and then they realized somebody else had it.

So today, we're going to talk about:

• naming your practice or your business so that you don't run into issues down the road;
• ways to make sure that the consumers, your patients or clients, can find you in the marketplace with some trademark concepts built-in;
• how to make sure that your name is unique or unique enough that you won't run into trademark issues; and
• making sure your name complies with your relevant licensing board rules in your state. 

So, all right, the first choice you have to make is what are you going to call it? Obviously, that is the choice of the hour,...

Hey everyone! Today, we're talking telemedicine and specifically telehealth consent or telemedicine consent. It's required in all 50 states in some form or another, and so you ought to be using it if you aren't already. And, as you'll see in this article, written telemedicine consent is the way to go to ensure you have your ducks in a row. 

Is it the same as Informed Consent? 

No, telemedicine consent or telehealth consent is different from informed consent more broadly because informed consent is really whether or not you are telemedicine or brick and mortar for that encounter is really just having a conversation with the patient, or letting them know what the plan to treatment is for that particular modality or for your office as a whole. 

When should you use it? 

Telemedicine consent should be used before you do telemedicine encounters. Now, every state has a requirement that you do telemedicine consent. Not every State tells you what ought to be in it, they...

Great news for business owners that received a PPP Loan under the Paycheck Protection Program and are seeking to have that loan forgiven. 

Earlier this month, the federal government enacted the Paycheck Protection Flexibility Act, which makes it easier for small-business owners to qualify for loan forgiveness.

The PPP loans are a part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES), and are meant to help business owners cover payroll costs, rent, and utilities. The CARES Act also provided a path to full forgiveness of the PPP loans under certain conditions.

The House introduced the Paycheck Protection Flexibility Act after receiving feedback from business owners who complained about spending requirements forcing businesses to use 75% of the loan on payroll. The Senate later passed it and the president signed it into law in early June 2020.

So here are six ways the law attempts to make using PPP loans...

Hello, and thank you for coming to Functional Lawyer. If you're here, odds are you are searching for a functional medicine lawyer to help you with your new or existing practice. First, let me say congratulations to you. You are moving healthcare in the right direction, whether you just learned about the power of functional medicine or you have been practicing long before we started using that term. You are on the forefront of a health revolution and you are starting or growing your own business.

But starting a business is sometimes a risky proposition.  Did you know that according to recent surveys, nearly 70% of functional medicine providers never consult an attorney? That is astoundingly high considering the fact that their license and business are at stake. It is (almost) shocking until we start to understand why. When asked, doctors stated they were either fearful of spiraling attorneys' fees or they could not find an attorney that understood their needs.

That is why I...

"Is my functional medicine practice legal?"

I hear that question every day from practitioners around the country. As an expert in functional medicine law, I am constantly getting questions that all come down to the same thing: "Am I going to get in trouble for this?"

The best way to ensure that what you are doing is not going to come back to haunt you later is to legally cover your ass-ets. And when I say assets, I don't mean your money or your business. Why not? What else is there? Yes, your money is an asset and if you get sued, there's a good chance you will have to part with some of it. Yes, you've poured (more) money, countless hours, lots of love, and plenty of frustration into your functional medicine practice. But if you lost it, it wouldn't be the end of the world. Why not? Because you would still have your medical license.

Whether that's a license for an MD, DO, DC, RD, RN, NP, or any other license, your license is the most valuable thing you own. More than your car, your...

A strong Informed Consent process is one of the best ways to ensure that you, the practitioner, avoid malpractice lawsuits. It is not commonly seen in conventional primary care practices, but it is a critical component of a good legal (and ethical) strategy for functional medicine providers.

What is Informed Consent?

As the name suggests, it is a process of fully informing the patient of the proposed treatment plan or specific modality so that the patient can consent to the treatment.  Functional and integrative or holistic providers, as outside of what is considered "mainstream" medicine, especially need to engage with the patient and start the informed consent discussion with every patient before starting treatment.

Why is it important?

First, in any industry, it is good business practice to make sure your client has clear expectations of the service or product they are paying for. No business wants unhappy clients. This is doubly true when malpractice...

Physicians and practitioners who don't want to enroll in the Medicare program (or who want to get out) may “opt-out” of Medicare. This means that neither they nor the patient (Medicare calls them the "beneficiary") submits the bill to Medicare for services rendered.

Why would they opt out?

Providers opt out of Medicare for a variety of reasons. Most opt out because they do not want to be subject to Medicare limits on what they can charge for their services. Others opt out because they don't want the administrative headache of keeping track of covered and non-covered services. Practically speaking, an opted-out single-provider practice is treated like a cash-based practice that operates outside of the insurance networks.

The Affidavit

If you choose to opt-out, you must submit an affidavit to Medicare expressing your decision to opt-out of the program.

Opt out periods last for two years and generally cannot be terminated early. The...

What's the difference between an independent contractor and an employee?

Scott Rattigan discusses the differences between independent contractors and employees, why you would choose one over the other, and how to avoid paying the IRS years of back taxes.

You can download employment agreements and independent contractor agreements for your functional medicine, integrative medicine, and holistic medicine practice needs at functionallawyer.com.

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