Physician Organization Formation, Merger and Acquisitions

In order to accept and allocate financial risk and better manage the expense of medical practice, physicians may choose from a wide array of physician organizations. The continuum of practice settings available to physicians extends from partially integrated organizations, including preferred provider organizations and independent practice associations, to group practices without walls and fully integrated medical groups. Many advanced physician organizations have been reorganized as tax-exempt medical foundations or clinics, or proprietary management service organization structures.

The firm has organized a multi-disciplinary working group to analyze issues related to the formation and reorganization of physician organizations. Beyond the traditional health law disciplines, key areas of legal concern in such transactions include the potential aggregation of physician pension plans under ERISA, the applicability of the antitrust laws to partially integrated physician organizations, the enforceability of restrictive covenants not to compete under state laws, and general tax and securities issues.

Examples of the firm's representation of physician organizations include:

• Representing primary care-based group practices in affiliations with academic medical centers through a variety of models, including long-term management contracts.
  
  
• Serving as special counsel in the merger of three large medical group practices in Southern California, in conjunction with the formation of an affiliated management service organization and related independent practice association.
  

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