Value Added by a Physician Agent and Attorney

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In this series of articles, we are outlining examples of how Lauth O’Neill’s physician contract review and agent services have added value to our physician clients. While every physician job search is unique and has its own unique outcome, all of the examples in this series are based on actual client experiences.

Value-Added Example #4: Creating favorable and achievable bonus compensation terms. Often times when a physician receives an employment offer, the contract will include a guaranteed salary amount which will be paid to the physician each year of the contract term. In certain specialties and in certain regions of the country, physicians may be very likely to collect payments for their employer that far exceed the minimum salary offered to the physician employee. While many employers do not first offer any bonus or incentive compensation to young physicians who are straight out of residency, it certainly may be an option to you if the legal terms are crafted carefully and so that the employer feels comfortable agreeing to them. If you have access to the MGMA physician compensation survey, you will be able to determine what your potential collections will be, on average, in your first years of training. With this information, it is possible for a physician contract review attorney to create a bonus payment structure that will allow you to achieve compensation beyond what your salary guarantee will pay you.

For more information on ways to increase your physician salary and overall physician compensation, please contact Leigh Ann O'Neill at 317-989-4833 or loneill@lauthoneill.com.

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How do you Gain from Lauth O'Neill Physician Agency?

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The answer is simple: We make our clients money, and we save our clients money. The physician job search process is certainly not a short or simple one. It takes months, and more typically, years to complete, and involves innumerable moving parts. The job search process requires extensive outreach efforts and marketing of a physician's credentials and qualifications. And once job offers are received, the physician employment contracts must be legally reviewed for costly and detrimental legal terms, and also negotiated to ensure the best offer is accepted. After all, the point of a physician job search is not to just find a job. The point of your physician job search is to find the best job for you- and the one that is most advantageous to you legally and financially.

In this series of articles, I will outline examples of ways Lauth O'Neill's professional services have added value to our physician clients. While every physician job search is unique and has its own unique outcome, all of the following are based on actual client experiences.

Lauth O'Neill Value-Added Example #1: A $75,000 increase in annual salary, in addition to a $50,000 signing bonus. How did we pull this off? We know how to gain leverage for our clients, and we know how to use it appropriately to negotiate better benefits.

Lauth O'Neill Value-Added Example #2: Amending insufficient medical malpractice coverage terms to avoid unquantifiable expense to our client. When a physician employment contract includes insufficient medical malpractice coverage, the consequence can be detrimental to the physician- not only expensive, but potentially career-ending. We understand the ins and outs of physician employment agreements, and know exactly what to look for to ensure that our clients are not stuck with unfavorable and harmful legal terms.

Check back here often or contact Leigh Ann directly for additional ways Lauth O'Neill Physician Agency provides value to its clients. Contact Leigh Ann at loneill@lauthoneill.com or 317-989-4833.

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Physicians, Pro Athletes, & Musicians Alike- All Benefit From an Agent

I founded Lauth O'Neill Physician Agency because my professional and personal experiences taught me there is a need for physician agents.  Not only do physicians benefit from having someone in their corner, looking out for their interests, but they also need a "go to" person who can take on many of the tedious tasks that come in searching for a new job.

In my experience as a health care attorney, and combined with being married to a physician, I have naturally crossed paths with many physicians.  Many of them are at the beginning of their careers, and once they receive a job offer, they often ask me if it is necessary to have a lawyer look at the employment agreement.  My answer is always a resounding "YES!" And often times, I perform the legal analysis myself.  I have worked on both sides of physician employment.  And after serving hospitals and other group practices as my clients, I am acutely aware of what employers do to make a physician employment contract extremely favorable to themselves.  This, of course, often means the contract is unfavorable to the physician in certain ways.  Not to mention, they almost never offer compensation and benefits at the levels trained physicians can expect based on national benchmark data. So yes, the need for physicians to have their employment offers reviewed by a lawyer has always been very clear to me.

What I had not experienced until recently was the immense amount of time and effort that goes into finding and securing a physician's ideal employment arrangement.  In assisting my husband in his recent job search, I gained an intimate understanding of numerous steps that go into a successful physician job search.  First, locating the opportunities that fit your professional desires, then communicating with the potential employers to let them know you're interested and qualified, and interviewing multiple times with the same folks- this is only the beginning of the process.  Once an offer is made, then the hours spent on this task really start to climb.  Physicians not only need a legal review of each offer completed, but they must also endure what seems to be endless back-and-forth with the potential employers to ensure they receive the compensation, benefits, and terms they have earned.

In talking with my husband's colleagues about the trials and tribulations of their job search processes, the rhetorical question has often been posed: "Can't I just pay someone to do this for me?"  I only had to hear that question once before I recognized the need for physician agents.

As a physician agent, it is my goal to do all that is necessary to make my clients' job search not only successful, but as little of a burden to them as possible.  Therefore, I provide our Premier Opportunity service so that physicians can simply tell me what sort of job they are looking for, and in what region, and I will go to work finding their options.  Seeing the physician's job search process through to the end, the Premier Opportunity service includes every crucial step that allows physicians to find and shape their ideal employment arrangement.  I am excited to make each next clients' success my priority.