The business of providing medical care is in the midst of dramatic change. To keep pace with evolving economics and reimbursement practices, the small physician practice, which stood as the standard arrangement for so long, is giving way to larger, more corporate models. These models have led to a highly regulated business environment in the health care services industry, which involves interpreting areas of the law without clear guide rails. The corporate practice of medicine and fee-splitting prohibitions, depending on which state's laws you are interpreting, can be one of those areas of the law that lack those guide rails. Advising clients on compliance with the prohibitions may require more finesse and risk analysis than legal research in some jurisdictions.

This primer on the prohibitions provides practitioners with