Did you know there are good fears and bad fears? There are fears that hold you back and fears that keep you safe. And then there are also fears that can be mitigated and, a lot of times, erased if you just did a little digging and self-exploration.

I know a bit about all of these types of fears and have experienced them on many levels while being an attorney, founding Functional Lawyer, and starting a functional medicine practice with my wife. I  left a very secure job at a well-paying law firm in a big, fancy downtown high rise in order to found Functional Lawyer, and I'm aware of the fear that entrepreneurs encounter every day. It's a really scary world out there.

However, I have learned that there's good fear, and there's bad fear, and both can be relevant to you as functional medicine providers. Recently, in 2021, I spoke with a provider who had been leasing an office for two years. And because she was so afraid of putting herself out there due to legal risks...

Great news!

We are kicking off today's blog with great news! West Virginia has now been added to states who have expanded telemedicine to their own citizens and lowered the barriers for telemedicine's out-of-state practitioners.

This is part of a larger growing trend of states who are lowering barriers to telemedicine, and the best part about West Virginia's law is that there are not a lot of restrictions.

West Virginia becomes the latest state to enact some form of telemedicine registration for out-of-state practitioners to practice telemedicine in their state. This means that where the patient is located is where the telemedicine is deemed to occur. (If you don't have a license or a special purpose or registration like West Virginia has just adopted, then you're practicing medicine there illegally, and you can get fined criminally and civilly.)

Get Ready, Out-of-State Providers!

In this growing trend, we have seen many states now offering what some call "Special Purpose"...

What is Your Website's "Terms of Use" or "Terms and Conditions"?

At Functional Lawyer today, we're talking about your website. Your website is the first thing most people will see when they come across you on the Internet, so it's important that you use it to protect yourself. More specifically, we're talking about why you need a website Terms of Use / Terms of Service / Terms and Conditions. (These titles are used interchangeably.) Our discussion will cover five reasons why you need Terms and Conditions, and our conversation will essentially boil down to the importance of protecting yourself, what exactly should be in your Terms and Conditions, and how to set a Terms and Conditions on your website.

To start, what is a Terms of Use / Terms of Service / Terms and Conditions? (I usually call them "Terms and Conditions" and will use this phrasing for the rest of the discussion.) It's an agreement that a website user who goes to your website must agree to in order to access your website...

Professional Corporation Basics

Today at Functional Lawyer, we are talking about professional corporations, professional LLCs, and other professional entities. What are they? How are they different from regular corporations? Are there any specific naming rules that you have to follow?  I will be covering a variety of licensing questions, some protections for you against malpractice, and some taxation rules as well.

Firstly, a professional corporation is a corporation that is formed by licensed professionals whose company’s purpose is to provide the service that they're licensed to practice.  To put it simply, it is a group of licensed professionals forming a business.

What’s in a name?

One of the first things to consider is the naming conventions that are in play when forming a corporation. Most states’ rules vary a little bit here, but at the very least, you may be required to have the initials “PC” for a professional corporation,...

Want to Expand Your Practice Across State Lines?

You should already know that you can't practice medicine across state lines unless you are licensed where the patient is located. Doing so can subject you to civil and criminal liability and monetary fines for engaging in the unauthorized practice of medicine. 

But today I have great news for you the conscientious provider who wants to expand your practice safely: 

In 2019, the state of Florida passed a law allowing out-of-state providers to practice telemedicine in Florida. 

Florida number 3 when it comes to population size with over 21.7 million residents (read: 21.7 potential new patients for your practice).

All you have to do is register with the state of Florida through the department of health and follow a few basic rules that are pretty easy, and you can start seeing Florida patients. And most importantly, you're doing it all legally.

You will have a valid license to...

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...