Fee Splitting, Kickbacks, employees vs. independent contractors, partnerships

[noclaw]

---

Members don't see this ad.

What is the difference between partners skimming a little of the top of a junior doctor's professional fees and fee splitting/kickbacks? Does it matter if the junior doctor is an independent contractor, a W-2 employee, or on track to become a partner?

What about doing cases for a lot of these surgeons' friends who have a handshake agreement to staff surgicenters, the kind where the anesthesiologist who assigns the cases pays a set rate, then keeps the balance of the billing to himself. Is that a kickback? If so, why is it so prevalent?

 

[UscGhost]

Kickbacks primarily involve paying someone directly or via a portion of your collections for patient referrals to you.

Otherwise your boss can charge whatever management fee he wants and pay you whatever he wants provided you agreed to that. If you think it's unfair, you can always quit.

If you dislike the model, then you can go solo and develop that business yourself. But it can take years. If you work for someone else, you are paying a price to take a shortcut

 

[IlDestriero]

If you’re an employee working for a set fee, not doing the billing for your time as an independent contractor might, you get what you’re contracted to get and your employer keeps the profit (if any). That’s not a kickback.
If you want a share of the revenue, you can try to negotiate for that. Every practice is different.