0:00

So one of the first things that you will see addressed in

0:03

the employment agreement are the specific employee duties,

0:07

and this includes whether

0:09

or not the employment relationship is a full-time

0:11

or a part-time commitment.

0:14

If it's a part-time commitment, it's critically important

0:16

for the employee to establish what this specifically means.

0:20

Does this mean that the physician will only be working

0:23

specific days or specific weekends,

0:26

or the hours of specific coverage that all needs

0:29

to be addressed in the employment agreement so

0:31

that there's no misunderstanding about the time period

0:34

that the physician will be covering?

0:36

In addition, the agreement should address

0:38

where specifically the employee will be providing his

0:41

or her services if the physician is gonna be performing

0:45

the services remotely.

0:47

The employment agreement should additionally address issues

0:50

like who's providing the internet connectivity

0:52

and backup internet connectivity.

0:54

Who's gonna be providing the reading station,

0:57

and who's responsible for the shipping

0:59

and handling cost associated with returning

1:02

that equipment upon termination of employment.

1:05

In addition to addressing questions like

1:07

where you're working and your hours of coverage, you needed

1:10

to know whether or not you've gotta comply

1:12

with any other documents.

1:13

For example, are there practice policies

1:16

and rules that you need to review prior to the outset

1:18

of commencing employment?

1:21

In addition, you need to understand whether

1:23

or not you're working nights, weekends,

1:26

and the holiday call schedule.

1:28

Ambiguity of call schedule is not good.

1:31

The employee should press for clarity

1:32

and a call schedule that promotes a quality

1:34

amongst physicians,

1:36

and this is critically important for those,

1:38

particularly around the holidays.

1:40

For example, we are coming up on the Yom Kippur holiday.

1:43

If you are an observant, uh, individual, you wanna make sure

1:47

that you have carved out from your employment agreement the

1:51

responsibility to provide call

1:53

or to provide services on those

1:55

specific holidays that you observe.

1:58

In addition to covering the scope of duties that you perform

2:01

for the employer, you need to go ahead and address whether

2:04

or not you're gonna be performing services outside

2:06

of the employment relationship.

2:08

For example, if the employee desires

2:10

to provide services moonlighting for a teleradiology company

2:14

that should be carved out

2:16

specifically addressed in the employment agreement.

2:19

If you're gonna be providing professional services outside

2:21

of the employment relationship with your employer, you need

2:24

to also understand whether

2:25

or not you have malpractice coverage available

2:28

to protect you in the performance of those services.

2:31

Typically, one would expect

2:33

that the malpractice policy will not cover services

2:36

that you perform outside

2:37

of your relationship with your employer.

2:40

In addition to the performance of professional services,

2:42

there are other activities

2:44

that physicians have regularly sought to engage in

2:46

outside of employment.

2:48

For example, more recently we've experienced a lot

2:51

of physicians that desire

2:52

to develop an intellectual property away from

2:54

the employer relationship.

2:56

The employment agreement should address this

2:58

Circumstance so that it's very clear to both the employer

3:01

and the employee who owns this

3:03

intellectual property that's developed.

3:06

Additionally, if the employee anticipates doing intellectual

3:10

property with data and records and information

3:12

and images of the employer, the employee

3:15

and the employer need to look at their contracts with their

3:18

hospitals and other clients to determine whether

3:21

or not they actually have ownership rights to that data

3:24

and what rights they have in terms of how they can use it.

3:27

It's not uncommon for the radiology practice

3:29

to have a contract with a hospital, for example,

3:32

that specifically provides

3:33

that the radiology group is not permitted

3:36

to either de-identify

3:37

or use the images

3:39

for any other purpose other than performing

3:41

professional interpretations.

3:43

If the desire is to use the images

3:45

and the interpretations for other purposes, the employer

3:49

and the employee need to work collaboratively

3:50

with the hospital and the other clients to make sure

3:53

that you have the rights to use that information,

3:56

both in accordance with contract

3:57

and accordance with applicable federal and state laws.