Contract Negotiation

Before you sign a contract, it is necessary for physicians to minimize the amount they may be required to repay for bonuses.

In the case of exiting a contract, be aware of the requirements to repay sign-on bonuses, residency stipends, relocation reimbursements, or student loan assistance.  There are often constraints built into the contract in order to incentivize the physician to remain at the same practice for a number of months or years.

Additionally, know when you typically receive salary and RVU or productivity bonuses so that you don’t miss out on receiving this compensation which you have earned before you exit.

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The following advice was provided to the question of whether a practice should use RVU’s as a basis for payment to a new doctor:

RVUs correlate to CPT Codes, which correlate to income.

RVUs are good for physiatry employees whose PM&R practice has low-reimbursing insurance carriers, like Medicaid. In this case, the lack of reimbursement will not unfairly penalize the physical medicine and rehabilitation employee who is working hard, but does not receive correspondingly high reimbursement. In other words, their RVUs will be high, but their reimbursement will [ . . . ]

Contract negotiation may not be easy.   Hopefully, this information will help you during the contract negotiation process.  What I plan to cover will be a little about basic negotiation information and then information pertinent to the items of a doctor contract that may be negotiable such as the compensation, responsibilities and benefits.

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Yes, most physiatry employers will negotiate.  That’s the obvious answer; everything is negotiable!  Some items you can negotiate are the start date, some aspects of the work schedule and fringe benefits.

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