Career and Life Planning Guidebook for Medical Residents

Restrictions on Outside Activities: Your contract may restrict your ability to work or receive income outside ofyour primaryemployment. If you have any plans for any moonlighting or additional employment, board positions, volunteer activities, etc., be sure that such are not prohibited by your agreement. Restrictions onWhere You Can Live: In some circumstances you may be required to live within a certain geographic area in order to take home call. You will need to make sure any such restrictions are reasonable for you and your family. Access to Medical Records: If a contract provision seeks to prohibit your access to patient records after your termination, you should negotiate for access as it may be necessary in the event of litigation. In any event, such records would be subject to subpoena or even voluntarily introduced as evidence by a patient depending on the litigation. Dispute Resolution Method: Choice of law provisions in multistate practice environments, mediation, or even binding arbitration are provisions you might see in an agreement. Processes like mediation and arbitration can be expensive and not necessarily conclusive and thus favor the party with more time and money. Accordingly, adjudicating disputes in court may be most favorable for physicians. Merger Clause: Also known as the “complete contract clause”, your agreement will state that it replaces and supersedes all prior agreements whether written or oral and will be the sole document which provides your rights and obligations of employment. Partnership Consideration: Equity ownership or partnership is always a goal when a physician joins a privately-owned group. The circumstances of equity or partnership consideration should be set forth in the agreement. Additionally, if there are related entities such as one which owns the building in which you take office visits, a surgery center, or imaging entity, the circumstances under which you could become an owner of such entities should be considered. Non-Solicitation Covenant: Employment agreement provisions will typically include a prohibition against soliciting employees for a certain period of time following your termination of employment. Another common prohibition will be against soliciting patients for a certain period of time. Most agreements will further define indirect soliciting or even providing services to patients with whom you had contact only through your prior employment regardless of whether you contact them or they independently seek your services. In most jurisdictions, employers are deemed to have a protectable interest in their patients. If your agreement prohibitsyou fromprovidingmedical care to the employer’s patients for a specified amount of time after termination, the courts generally find it enforceable. Non-Competition Covenant: A noncompetition covenant is a prohibition against you competing with your employer for a period of time after termination of employment employment. These covenants must be narrowly drafted to be enforceable because it is generally held to be against public policy for anyone to categorically be denied the ability to make a living doing what they are qualified to do. SECTION III: T MINUS ONE YEAR CAREER AND LIFE PLANNING GUIDEBOOK FOR MEDICAL RESIDENTS 320