What healthcare transactional work covers
Healthcare transactions are the deals that build, grow, combine, or sell a healthcare business, along with the corporate structure that holds it together. Jeffrey L. Cohen has focused his career on this transactional and corporate side of healthcare law.
Unlike a general business deal, a healthcare transaction has to clear regulatory questions at the same time, which is why it helps to work with an attorney who lives in both areas.
Transactions Jeffrey handles
Common matters include:
- Medical practice formation and startup
- Mergers, acquisitions, and practice sales
- Management services organization (MSO) structures
- Joint ventures and co-ownership arrangements
- Surgery center and imaging center deals
- Group practice consolidation and equity arrangements
- Asset and stock purchase agreements
- Buy-sell and ownership agreements
Why healthcare deals carry extra weight
A healthcare transaction has to respect rules a typical business deal does not. The structure of ownership, compensation, and referrals can run into the federal self-referral and anti-kickback laws and, in Florida, the Patient Self-Referral Act and the prohibition on fee splitting.
Getting the structure right at the deal stage prevents a problem that is far more expensive to fix later.
Regulatory due diligence
Before a deal closes, the arrangements being acquired need a hard look. Jeffrey reviews referral relationships, compensation terms, and compliance history so a buyer does not inherit exposure from the other side. This pairs closely with his regulatory compliance work.
Who this is for
Physicians, group practices, surgery and imaging centers, home health agencies, DME companies, and treatment facilities that are forming, buying, selling, or restructuring can reach Jeffrey to plan the deal the right way.
Common questions
Can a non-physician own a medical practice in Florida?
Ownership of a medical practice is limited by Florida law and the corporate practice of medicine principles. Many arrangements use a management services organization to separate business support from the practice of medicine. The right structure depends on the facts, so it is worth reviewing before you commit.
What is an MSO?
A management services organization, or MSO, provides administrative and business support to a medical practice while the practice itself remains owned and run by licensed providers. It is a common structure, but it has to be built carefully to respect self-referral, anti-kickback, and fee-splitting rules.
Do I need a lawyer to buy or sell a practice?
A practice sale involves price, assets, employees, liabilities, and regulatory exposure all at once. Having counsel review the deal and run regulatory due diligence helps you avoid inheriting a problem or leaving value on the table.