Nov 11 2007
NP Owned Urgent Care in New York?
I received this question from an Nurse Practitioner in New York.
Hello, maybe you can help me. I am an FNP in New York State. I am interesting in opening an urgent care center in NY State. I want to be the owner, but would like to hire an MD or two to be my mentoring physician. I want to know if this is legal to do or does the MD need to be the sole owner of the business? Does anyone know how i go about doing this or where I can find information? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Mary
While I am not an expert on NY rules, I would think, that just like in California where NP’s must have a collaborating physician, they can and do own their own practices. Some have MD’s on staff, other paid these physicians to be their collaborators and perform the necessary tasks associated with it. I do know of an NP in WA who owns her own Urgent Care/Primary Care Clinic, however, we are independent here and do not require physician collaborator.
I invite any NP’s in NY (and elsewhere) to add their knowledge to this post.
Tags: New York State, NP practice issues, nurse practitioner
I live in NC. I am really not sure about NY rules, but in NC a Nurse Practitioner can not hire a physician. However I have heard of someone that had a physician as a contract worker. SO that my be something to think about or check into if NY does not allow NP’s to hire physicians.
I also do not live in NY. I own my own practice in Oregon, where NPs are independent. However, in California, where NPs are required to have a “supervising physician”, I knew an NP who owned her own clinic 10 years ago, and “hired” her supervising doctor on paper. So check into it, and as long as your protocols for the NY nursing boards are met with regards to your NP/Physician requirements, I would think that the NP could be the financial owner of a clinic. However, it is possible that the physician may also want to be an investor which would help with costs of start up and might be of benefit.
What is at stake here for physicians is that various states have a law barring the Corporate Practice of Medicine. This means that physicians cannot be employees of organizations or businesses that are not owned by physicians.
You can find more information and the list of states at
www.capc.org/tools-for-palliative-care-programs/hospital-hospice-tools/corporate-practice.pdf
I live in New York and started my NP Women’s Health (traditional except no Abortions orPrenatal Care)and Holistic Practice (Aromatherapy and TT) in November 2004.
In New York you only need sign to collaborate and consult with an MD to be in business. The MD does not even need to on grounds. You pay according to your agreement. As a NYS licensed NP you may own the business and hired a physcian/s.
I seen it done here in NYC with a huge abortion facility and the owner is a foriegner and not a nurse.
Your problem will be to meet the requirements for urgent care in NYS. Check with NYS Board of Education (Professional Licensing reqirement)and NYS Department of Health ( Medical facility requirement).
Where are you located???? We have an Urgent Care in Upstate NY that we would like to sell to a nurse practitioner group. It has been open for 7 years, has a proven track record of making money. One of the 4 owners wants to retire, another is leaving the area to be closer to family. We could help with financing and offer to be supervising physicians during and after the transition period. Ideally it would be best suited to two owners, but would probably require 4 N.P.’s to keep fully staffed at all times. E-mail me if you are interested or know anyone who is.
As an NP in NY, I am familiar with the requirements of an NP-owned practice. A nurse practitioner cannot directly hire a physician to be on staff though CAN hire them as an independant contractor to be availabe for phone consultation, chart review, etc.
Good luck!
Hi
I am a FNP and would like to get some more info.
where are you located ?
Lisa