0:00

Hello, my name is Judd Harwood.

0:03

I'm a partner in the healthcare practice group

0:05

with Bradley a Bolt Cummings.

0:07

I work out of our Birmingham, Alabama office,

0:10

and I work with a team of 60 other healthcare professionals

0:15

who represent physicians, hospitals,

0:17

and other healthcare providers in accordance

0:20

with transactions and compliance matters across the country.

0:25

Today, I'll be speaking about the fundamentals

0:26

of physician employment agreements,

0:28

particularly for radiologist.

0:31

So as an initial matter, let's tackle the question of

0:34

what is an employment agreement?

0:36

An employment agreement is a written contract

0:38

between the employer

0:39

and the employee that establishes a number of key elements

0:43

of the relationship, including the physician's compensation,

0:47

his or her obligations to the employer,

0:50

and the obligations of the employer to the employee, uh,

0:54

as opposed to an at will employment relationship

0:58

and employment agreement sits down in writing all

1:00

of the substantial terms or material terms

1:02

of the employment relationship.

1:04

As a practical note, I wanna point out

1:06

that it's very important for the employee to establish

1:10

the key terms of the employment relationship

1:12

in writing with the employer.

1:13

It's best not to leave things to chance

1:16

and for oral conversations

1:18

to go without being reflected in the employment agreement.

1:21

For example, if the employee anticipates taking

1:25

vacation at a particular point in the year,

1:27

it's critically important for the employment agreement

1:29

to address that relationship issue so

1:32

that there's no misunderstanding in the future,

1:34

and so that the physician doesn't get scheduled to provide

1:38

services when he or she's on vacation.