CONTRACT REVIEW & NEGOTIATION SERVICES

The Definitive Guide to Physician Contact Review (H1)

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Whether you have just finished your residency, currently interviewing, or you’re well into your career, most physicians will, at some point, have to sign a physician’s employment or partnership contract. And, like all employment agreements, they can be full of legal terms and caveats that you need to understand before you sign.

Unless you’re a doctor with a law degree or one who has extensive experience reviewing the specific kind of agreement you have to sign, it’s important to have a legal professional review the contract for you. They’ll make sure that the contract includes all of the necessary details and may even be able to negotiate better terms for you.

If you’ve just been presented with an employment contract, check out our definitive guide to physician contract review.

What is a Physician’s Employment Contract?

A physician’s contract is an employment contract between a doctor and the hospital group or practice they’ll be working for. It stipulates all of the terms of your employment, including what you’ll do, where you’ll do it, and how much you’ll be paid.

Contracts also include details about your weekly hours, call coverage, and benefits.

The contract should also say whether you’ll be an employee or an independent contractor. This is an important point of distinction, as employees are typically paid a salary with the potential to receive bonuses. Independent contractors may only be paid for the services they provide, without a guarantee of a set salary.

It is common for new physicians to make contract review mistakes, so it is always best to have a legal professional perform a contract review.

What Your Contract Should Include

Most physician contracts are in excess of twenty pages. And those pages are full of details that can be easy to miss or overlook unless you have experience reviewing similar documents on a daily basis.

Here are a few important aspects of a contract, which your lawyer should look for and inspect during a review:

1. Compensation and benefits

The document should clearly define your salary as well as incentive pay, income guarantees, and on-call pay. It should also include a complete list of all the benefits you will receive or they should provide this to you on supplemental documents.