Part 1: What California's “104 NP” Actually Means — and What It Doesn't Part 1 of a 3-part series on independent nurse practitioner practice in California. If you are a nurse practitioner in California, you have probably heard that 2026 is the year you can finally “go independent” — open yo...
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PART 5 · Planning Is a Relationship, Not a Document
PART 5 · Planning Is a Relationship, Not a Document Estate planning has a quiet failure mode that almost no one talks about. The documents are drafted, the binder is delivered, the bill is paid — and then nothing happens. The trust is never “funded.” The deed is never re-recorded into the trus...
PART 4 · Default vs. Designed: A Side-by-Side
PART 4 · Default vs. Designed: A Side-by-Side It is one thing to read about probate fees and statutory rules. It is another to see them next to the alternative for the same physician, the same assets, the same family. The table below is drawn from the typical California healthcare practice own...
PART 3 · Your Practice Is Different: The Healthcare Owner Trap
PART 3 · Your Practice Is Different: The Healthcare Owner Trap For most California estates, the asset that causes the most heartburn is the home. For a healthcare practice owner, it is almost always the practice. And the rules that govern what happens to your practice if you die without a plan...
A Lawsuit Against Yourself
PART 2 · Probate Is a Lawsuit Against Yourself at Your Families' Expense Probate effectively forces your family into court to litigate against your own estate. The phrase comes from estate-planning lawyers who watch families go through it. Probate is, mechanically, exactly what the name sugge...
Your Estate Plan Already Exists. California Wrote It.
Most physicians and healthcare practice owners we meet know they “should” do estate planning. They also tell us it is the one thing they keep moving to next quarter. Here is the line that usually changes the conversation: if you do not have an estate plan, you already have one. The State of Calif...
Certification, Attestation, and Ongoing Compliance: What You Can Credibly Tell Your Partners (Series Part 5 of 5)
HIPAA Compliance for Small Healthcare Organizations: A Practical Series Part 5 of 5 — Certification, Attestation, and Ongoing Compliance: What You Can Credibly Tell Your Partners Across the preceding four posts, we have walked through the threshold analysis, the Business Associate Agreement...
Administrative, Physical, and Technical Safeguard: Turning Regulation Into Operations (Series Part 4 of 5)
HIPAA Compliance for Small Healthcare Organizations: A Practical Series Part 4 of 5 — Administrative, Physical, and Technical Safeguards: Turning Regulation Into Operations The HIPAA Security Rule organizes its substantive requirements into three categories of safeguards: administrative (45...
HIPAA Security Risk Analyses: The #1 Compliance Failure OCR Looks For (Series Part 3 of 5)
HIPAA Compliance for Small Healthcare Organizations: A Practical Series Part 3 of 5 — The Security Risk Analysis: What OCR Asks for First If the Business Associate Agreement is the contractual foundation of HIPAA compliance, the Security Risk Analysis is the operational one. It is required ...
The Business Associate Agreement: The Foundational Document Most Organizations Sign Without Reading (Series Part 2 of 5)
HIPAA Compliance for Small Healthcare Organizations: A Practical Series Part 2 of 5 — The Business Associate Agreement: The Foundational Document Most Organizations Sign Without Reading In Part 1, we established the threshold question of whether HIPAA applies to your organization. If the an...
HIPAA Compliance for Small Healthcare Organizations: A Series on Building HIPAA Compliance from the Ground Up
Part 1 of 5 — Do You Actually Need to Be HIPAA Compliant? Asking the Right Threshold Question I regularly get calls that starts roughly the same way: "We need to become HIPAA compliant — what does that cost and how fast can we get it done?" The caller is usually a small medical practice owner, a...
Don’t Just Lock the Door: The Legal Checklist for Closing a California Healthcare Practice (BLOG SERIES 5 of 5)
When the Practice Closes: How to Wind Down a California Healthcare Practice Responsibly — and What Happens When You Don't Patient Notification, Records, Regulatory Obligations, and the True Cost of No Plan Not every healthcare practice ends in a sale or a partnership transition. Some prov...
Who Runs the Practice If You Can’t? MSOs, Continuity Agreements, and Legal Tools to Protect Your Healthcare Practice from Sudden Incapacity (BLOG SERIES 4 of 5)
Planning for the Unplanned: MSOs, Continuity Agreements, and Protecting Your Practice from Sudden Incapacity Legal Tools for the Events You Hope Will Never Happen — But Must Plan For Anyway Succession planning is most often discussed in the context of retirement. But the events that most ...
Passing the Torch from Within: How to Build an Internal Succession Plan with Partners, Associates and Buy-Sell Agreements (BLOG SERIES 3 of 5)
Building an Internal Succession: Bringing in a Partner or Associate to Take the Reins Buy-Sell Agreements, Shareholder Structures, and the Art of the Internal Transition For many California healthcare providers, the ideal succession is not a sale to a stranger. It is a transition to someo...
Selling Your Practice Without Selling Yourself Into Legal Trouble (BLOG SERIES 2 of 5)
Selling Your California Healthcare Practice: What the Law Permits, What It Doesn't, and What You Must Do Right A Guide to Asset Sales, Stock Sales, Valuation, and the Rules That Make California Unique For many California healthcare providers, the most straightforward succession plan is also ...
What Happens to Your Practice When You’re Done Practicing? (BLOG SERIES 1 of 5)
The Question Every California Healthcare Provider Is Avoiding — And Why It Could Cost Everything An Introduction to Practice Succession Planning in California This five-part blog series is for physicians, dentists, oral surgeons, chiropractors, therapists, optometrists, and every other licens...
Deferred Compensation and Retirement: What Healthcare Providers Should Know
Scaling back your practice? Learn how deferred compensation and buyout structures may be affected—and how to plan ahead.
The Hardest Part of Scaling Back for Retirement: Compensation and Fairness
What if I (or my Group Partner) Want to Work Part-time before Retirement? How Can Revenue Be Fairly Allocated? Reducing workload is one thing. Figuring out how compensation should change is another. And this stage is often where the most tension arises. Why Compensation Gets Complicated Wh...
How to Structure a Partial Retirement in a Group Practice
How do I Scale Back as a Provider in a Group Practice? Group practices add another layer of complexity when a provider wants to scale back. Unlike solo practices, your decisions affect: Partners Coverage schedules Compensation models Practice culture There's No One “...
Bringing in Another Provider: The Most Common (and Misunderstood) Exit Strategy
What if I just Bring in Another Provider? One of the most common ways healthcare providers begin to step back is by bringing in another doctor or provider to take over part of the workload. On paper, it's a great solution. In practice, it requires careful execution. Why This Strategy Works ...
Why "Just Cutting Back" in your Practice Rarely Works (And What to Do Instead)
Can you Really Just See Less Patients? Most healthcare providers assume that when they're ready to slow down, they can simply start seeing fewer patients. It sounds simple. But in reality, it rarely works the way you expect because simply refusing new patients can actually backfire—sometimes dr...
"Decoupling" Physician Buy-Ins: A Strategic Approach to IRS Compliance (Part 3 of Series)
Introduction to Decoupling One of the most important developments in structuring physician buy-ins is the concept of “decoupling”—separating the stock purchase from compensation adjustments. This approach directly addresses IRS concerns under Section 1060 and related doctrines. The Meaning o...
The “Inexact Method” in Physician Buy-Ins: A Safer Compensation Approach? (PART 2 of Series)
The "Inexact Method" is becoming more commonly used... As tax scrutiny of traditional buy-in arrangements increases, many practices are shifting toward what is often called the “inexact method.” Rather than assigning a precise purchase price to goodwill and receivables, this approach relies more...
Rethinking Medical Practice Buy-Ins: IRS Risks and Section 1060 Compliance (Part 1 of Series)
IRS Risks & Section 1060 Compliance Buy-in arrangements for new physician partners have long been a common vehicle for medical and dental practice transitions. These structures traditionally involve a modest stock purchase combined with reduced compensation over time. While historically accepted...
Before You Name Your Pharmacy in California, Read This
Naming Your California Pharmacy Corporation: Avoiding Compliance Pitfalls Pharmacy corporations in California operate within a regulatory framework that differs from many other allied healthcare professions. Pharmacists are regulated by the California State Board of Pharmacy under Business and...