Florida representation of healthcare providers on business, regulatory, and practice matters — from med spa compliance to physician contract disputes to Board of Medicine defense.
Healthcare in Florida is a business, a profession, and a regulated industry all at once, and legal problems rarely stay in only one of those lanes. A partnership dispute between physicians almost always involves the commercial contract, the corporate structure, and the professional licensure implications. A med spa "medical director" question is at once a Florida Health Care Clinic Act issue, a physician-employment issue, and a corporate-practice-of-medicine issue. Black Law P.A. represents Florida healthcare providers across that full spectrum of business, regulatory, and litigation work.
Our engagements include:
We serve physicians, physician groups, med spas, ambulatory surgery centers, home health agencies, hospice providers, behavioral health practices, DME suppliers, clinical laboratories, and hospitals of every size. We also work with med spa owners, investors, and management companies on the structural questions that arise when non-physician capital enters a medical practice.
For Medicare-specific audits, overpayment defense, and the five-level Medicare appeals process, see our separate Medicare Audits practice.
Yes. In 2019 the Florida Legislature enacted § 542.336, Fla. Stat., which invalidates certain restrictive covenants against physicians who work in specialties served by only one entity within a county. For everyone else in healthcare, the general framework of § 542.335 applies, but courts scrutinize the "legitimate business interest" analysis more carefully when patient-relationship interests and continuity-of-care concerns are in play. Any healthcare non-compete matter should be evaluated under both statutes and against current Florida appellate authority.
The Health Care Clinic Act, codified at §§ 400.990–400.995, Fla. Stat., and implemented through Rule 59A-33.008, F.A.C., regulates most entities that hold themselves out as providing healthcare services and that are wholly or partly owned by non-licensed persons. Many med spas fall within its scope, which triggers licensure, medical director, and operating requirements. A number of common med spa business structures assume the exemption applies when it does not. If you have questions about how the Act applies to your facility, the analysis is fact-specific and worth doing early.
At a minimum: a clear description of the medical director's supervisory and clinical responsibilities that satisfies the applicable Florida statutes (§ 458.348 for MDs, § 459.025 for DOs); documented time commitments consistent with the scope of supervision; compensation set at fair market value and not tied to the volume or value of referrals; delegation-of-authority provisions consistent with what non-physician staff can lawfully perform; and clear termination and transition-of-care provisions. A common failure mode is a "name-only" arrangement in which the medical director's actual role is nominal — an arrangement that carries real regulatory risk and, in some cases, personal exposure for the physician.
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