Healthcare attorneys spend 10-15 hours researching state-specific CPOM regulations, drafting compliant governance structures, and creating comprehensive MSAs. The process requires extensive legal research across multiple jurisdictions, verification of current enforcement trends, and careful drafting to avoid costly violations that can result in practice dissolution or criminal penalties.
Corporate Practice of Medicine compliance requires extensive legal research across multiple jurisdictions, detailed structural analysis, and comprehensive documentation that typically takes attorneys 15-20 hours to complete. State-by-state variations, complex MSA requirements, and evolving regulatory standards make manual drafting time-consuming, expensive, and prone to gaps that expose healthcare entities to severe penalties including license revocation and criminal prosecution.
CaseMark automates the creation of comprehensive CPOM compliance structures with state-specific legal analysis, compliant organizational frameworks, and detailed operational protocols. Our AI generates legally sound documentation in minutes, incorporating current statutes, case law, and regulatory guidance while ensuring proper MSA architecture and compliance mechanisms tailored to your entity's specific jurisdictions and business model.
This workflow is applicable across multiple practice areas and use cases
M&A transactions involving physician practices require CPOM compliance structures to ensure acquirers can legally manage practice operations without violating state prohibitions.
Private equity and strategic buyers acquiring healthcare practices must implement compliant MSO/MSA structures, making CPOM compliance documentation critical for deal structuring and due diligence.
PE firms investing in healthcare services need CPOM-compliant structures to protect their investments while maintaining regulatory compliance across multiple jurisdictions.
The workflow specifically targets private equity firms investing in healthcare, providing essential compliance frameworks for portfolio company structuring and ongoing governance.
Healthcare entities forming MSOs or physician practice management companies need CPOM-compliant corporate structures from inception to avoid regulatory violations.
Corporate formation attorneys structuring healthcare businesses must understand CPOM restrictions to properly separate clinical and non-clinical entities, making this workflow essential for compliant entity design.
Healthcare organizations require ongoing governance structures that maintain CPOM compliance through proper separation of clinical decision-making and business management functions.
Corporate governance attorneys advising healthcare clients need CPOM compliance frameworks to establish appropriate board structures, management agreements, and operational controls that satisfy regulatory requirements.
The Corporate Practice of Medicine (CPOM) doctrine prohibits business corporations from practicing medicine or employing physicians to provide medical services in most U.S. jurisdictions. This legal principle ensures that medical judgment remains independent from corporate profit motives and protects patient care quality. Violations can result in license revocation, contract voidability, civil fines, and even criminal prosecution, making compliance essential for any healthcare business entity.
An MSO structure separates business operations from medical practice by having a physician-owned entity retain control over all clinical decisions while the MSO provides administrative support services. The MSO handles non-clinical functions like billing, HR, marketing, and IT through a Management Services Agreement, but physicians maintain exclusive authority over patient care, treatment protocols, fee-setting, and physician hiring. This separation preserves physician independence while allowing efficient business operations.
Yes, CPOM enforcement varies significantly across states. Some states like California and Texas strictly prohibit corporate practice of medicine, others permit it with specific restrictions, and a few have no prohibition at all. Additionally, different healthcare sectors (telemedicine, dental, physical therapy) may face varying levels of scrutiny. Any compliance structure must address the specific requirements, exemptions, and enforcement patterns in each jurisdiction where the entity operates.
Common violations include the business entity exercising control over clinical decisions, setting physician fees, determining patient acceptance or treatment protocols, or creating financial incentives that compromise medical judgment. Other frequent issues involve inadequate documentation of physician independence, MSAs that give de facto control to non-physicians despite formal compliance, and governance structures that fail to preserve physician authority over medical matters. Proper documentation, clear contractual boundaries, and ongoing monitoring are essential to avoid these pitfalls.
CPOM compliance structures should be reviewed at least annually and whenever significant operational changes occur, such as expansion into new states, changes in service offerings, modifications to organizational structure, or updates to relevant laws and regulations. Regular audits of MSA compliance, decision-making documentation, and governance practices help identify potential issues before they result in regulatory action. Ongoing training and monitoring ensure that compliance remains effective as the organization evolves.