What is an Attorney for Doctors?
An attorney for doctors, often referred to as a physician lawyer or physician attorney, is an expert in specific areas of law as they apply to the representation of doctors and other medical professionals. Standard legal areas such as employment law, whistleblowing, contract law, and criminal law require specialized experience when applied to physicians, medical licensing, and a doctor's medical practice. For example, a physician criminal lawyer must know criminal law as well as when a doctor must report a criminal arrest or conviction.
Specialized Skills for Attorneys for Doctors
There are four broad areas where attorneys for doctors require additional specialized skills:
Physician Criminal Defense: Medical practitioners have statutory reporting requirements when criminal charges are filed or upon conviction. Simple DUIs, domestic violence cases, and drug possession will trigger licensing and credentialing consequences.
Physician Whistleblower Law: Physicians owe a fiduciary duty to their clients. Conduct done to protect patients can result in retaliation. California has a statute that specifically protects medical staff whistleblowers, Health & Safety Code section 1278.5.
Medical License Defense Attorney: A medical license is vulnerable to medical board revocation, limitation, or conditions. Licensing applications, cross-state certifications, and disciplinary actions require a specialized physician lawyer to advise.
Physician Contract Attorney: Reviews contracts with medical groups, hospitals, and insurance providers. Negotiates both standard terms and adjusts boilerplate language to fit the specific needs of a physician.
Physician Practice Attorney: Reviews software, procedures, staffing, insurance reimbursement, and the day-to-day operation of a medical practice.
In the realm of litigation, physician lawyers represent doctors facing medical malpractice claims, with lawsuits commonly brought in the areas of birth injuries, failure to diagnose, failure to refer to a specialist and surgical errors. Whistleblower physician lawyers handle cases related to professional liability and assist doctors in False Claims Act (Qui Tam) actions.
When it comes to regulatory compliance, medical lawyers help doctors navigate complex regulations, including HIPAA, the Anti-Kickback Statute, Stark Law, the FCA (civil and criminal) Medicare, Medicaid, and DEA regulations.
In the area of business matters, lawyers assist doctors with business organization issues, contract drafting, and medical transactions. We also help with credentialing, reimbursement proceedings, regulatory enforcement, and the creation of organizations such as ACOs, MSOs, and COCOs.
A common area of law which requires specialization when applied to doctors are contract disputes, benefit claims, and provider disputes.
Lawyers support doctors with residency program issues, grievances, and peer review applications. They offer guidance on labor and employment law and provide advice and consulting regarding out-of-state licensing issues.
Peer review, National Practitioner Data Bank issues, licensing board matters, criminal arrests, charges and convictions are key areas where a high level of specialized knowledge is necessary for attorneys to properly represent physicians.
The Law Office of Daniel Horowitz represents the medical profession throughout California. We are focused on medical license defense, peer review protection, criminal defense for doctors and whistleblower cases.