Functional Lawyer
Practice Protection Program
The premier legal resource and support program for integrative medicine and functional medicine MDs, DOs, NDs, DCs, NPs and PAs who want a strong foundation to protect their practices and protect their licenses.
Live Weekly Office Hours
Legal Document Library
Legal and Business Education
One 60-Minute Individual Call with an Attorney
Safeguard your practice without spending tens of thousands of dollars.
The Functional Lawyer Practice Protection Program provides education and support for foundational best business practices and legal knowledge so you can build your practice confidently.
So if you:
- Need foundational business guidance as you set up your practice.
- Are just starting out and don’t know where to start
- Have regular business and legal questions as you move through the process of practice ownership and operation.
- Would like access to legal templates and documents as your practice model changes and evolves.
Then the Functional Lawyer Practice Protection Program is for you.
What do I get inside the Practice Protection Program?
- Peace of Mind knowing you are doing things "the right way"
- Confidence to grow your practice professionally
- Community Support from Scott and your colleagues, like-minded professionals like you who want to do things "the right way."
Access to the full document vault
Upon joining, you get immediate access to the 60+ legal document templates available in the vault. The vault is always expanding and receiving updates based on provider feedback and requests.
These document templates are law-firm quality, as they have been created in collaboration with a team of attorneys from various specialties.
Each template comes in MS Word format and is accompanied by a line-by-line video walkthrough of the template so that explains some of the legal language in plain English (not legalese), and highlights areas where you may want to edit for your situation.
Comprehensive legal and business education series for practice owners
We provide 6 Legal Education Modules covering the following:
- Starting Your Practice
- Telemedicine Law
- Practice Essentials
- HIPAA Made Easy
- Protecting Your Online Presence
- Employment Essentials
- PLUS...as new issues emerge, we add lessons to reflect the dynamic nature of the legal landscape.
Live Office Hours each week
Join Scott for a 90-minute group video call every week in an open Q&A session.
There is plenty of time for each attendee to get individual attention.
Scott not only brings his experience as an attorney, but also his experience in building and growing a functional medicine practice with his wife Linda, a D.O.
Many providers come each week to listen in and learn from the experience and opinions of their colleagues as well.
What sets us apart
We know that owning and operating a practice can be overwhelming for providers who may not have business expertise. But the fact is, business and legal foundations are necessary for success.
We not only have documents, education, and office hours accessible to you, we also keep you up to date.
Scott regularly updates the documents in the Program and releases regular education as laws and the functional medicine landscape changes and evolves.
Also, you benefit from the feedback of other providers. If you or another provider requests a particular template or potential new lesson, Scott may research and develop what is needed and add it to the Program so you may benefit as well.
The Practice Protection Program is a place for you to get business and legal advice in an economical, safe and reliable manner. That way you can focus on helping others, living your best life, and growing your business.
Take a look inside the Program:
Our 6 Legal Education Modules covering the following:
Starting Your practice.
- Which business entity makes sense for you (LLC vs Corp vs Professional Corp.)
- Step-by-step guidance on how to set up your entity, your business bank account, your state and local registrations, your IRS registrations, and more.
- What is an S-Corp and how it can save you money? (No, it is not a type of business entity.)
- The three most common business models and how to avoid headaches with each one.
- And much more....
Practice Essentials.
- The NUMBER ONE thing every provider should be doing to prevent malpractice suits and regulatory discipline. (It's easy and takes about 5 minutes.)
- What you should be including in your patient agreements, but most providers don't know
- The 2 different insurance policies that every provider/owner should have in place
- How to understand your commercial lease so you can protect your rights with your landlord
- And much more...
Telemedicine Law.
Stay up-to-date and compliant in this quickly changing intersection of multi-state law and medical regulations.
- What is the practice of medicine? How it it different from telehealth?
- Are you licensed in the state where the patient is located? Do you need to be? (Mostly yes, but that is changing.)
- Tip: there is often a provider-to-provider consultation exception
- Can you start telemedicine care for someone you have never seen in person?
- Can you continue care when the patient leaves for college, vacation, etc?
- Do you need to register as a foreign business in the state where your patient is located?
- Do you need medical malpractice insurance in the remote state?
- How can you avoid the corporate practice of medicine?
- Can you write prescriptions for a remote patient?
- And MUCH more (as this area of the law is changing almost monthly)...
Protecting Yourself Online.
- Why your Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy, and Disclaimer are so important. (Get them all FREE when you join.)
- How to ensure your online dispensary is NOT in violation of anti-kickback and referral laws.
- What to say, and when and where, if you are an affiliate for another company (like Amazon Associates)
- How to protect yourself on social media from Federal Trade Commission issues
- How to arrange your online program or course to avoid telemedicine and regulatory issues
- And much more....
HIPAA Made Easy.
- We make this complex set of laws and regulations simple and give you a step-by-step method to help you with compliance.
- The annual audits you must do each year.
- The training you and your staff must get each year.
- How to write the mandatory written policies and procedures specific to your office.
- How to avoid fines because of the acts of others' (your business associates)
- How to provide patients with the mandatory disclosures
- And SO much more here...
Employment Law Essentials
- What do you need to do when you hire a new employee?
- How to correctly determine whether you have an employee or an independent contractor (and prevent the IRS from knocking on your door for years of backtaxes)
- Why an employee handbook is essential and what to include in it
- How to avoid overtime and minimum wage (Fair Labor Standards Act, or FLSA) issues.
- How to avoid Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) issues
- And more...
ALL DOCUMENTS INCLUDED IN THE FUNCTIONAL LAWYER
PRACTICE PROTECTION PROGRAM!
Legal Foundations
These documents are important for operating a cash practice outside of insurance and Medicare. As well as staffing your practice to ensure that expectations and duties are well communicated from the beginning.
- Medicare OptOut Affidavit
- Medicare Private Contract
- Letter to Insurance Carrier
- Office Policies and Procedures
- Testimonial Release
- Employment Agreement for Staff
- Employment Agreement for Health Coach/ Nutritionist
- Employment Agreement for MD/DO
- Independent Contract Agreement Health Coach / Nutritionist
Online Presence
In today's world, people see you first online. The documents will protect your online presence via your website, online courses, and social media.
- Website Terms and Conditions
- Website Privacy Policy
- Website Disclaimer
- Online Course Agreement (Terms)
- Affiliate Disclaimer
- Supplement Dispensary Disclosure
Practice Essentials
These documents are critical for the smooth operation of your medical practice. They enable clear communication from the beginning between you and your patient.
- Informed Consent
- Patient Membership Agreement
- Patient Fee for Service Agreement
- Patient Program Agreement
- Discontinuation of Care Letter
- Telemedicine Consent
HIPAA Documents
HIPAA can be overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be if you have the right documents in place and know when and how to use them.
- HIPAA Policies and Procedures Manual
- Notice of Privacy Practices
- Business Associate Agreement
- Authorization for Use or Disclosure of PHI
- Revocation of Authorization to Release PHI
- Patient's Request for Access to PHI
- Practice Response to Request for Access
- Patient Restriction Request Form
- Termination of Request for Restrictions
- Request for Alternative Communications Form
- Request for Amendment of PHI
- Privacy Complaint Form
- Request for Accounting of Disclosures of PHI
- Disclosure Tracking Log
- Staff HIPAA Training Acknowledgement Form
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I get access to every lesson immediately?
Will this education apply in my state?
I'm a Nutritionist/RD/PA/ND/NP/other, will this help me?
Is it a subscription?
Is there a guarantee?
Can you help me in MY state?
Can I cancel after a couple of months?
Will you answer my legal questions?
Will you represent me in the event of a lawsuit?
Will you become my lawyer?
Enroll Today and Enjoy Peace of Mind
Have questions? See our FAQs here.
Value Plan
$299/month
24 Installments (2 years of access)
- All the documents you need to protect your practice and license (67+)
- Education on legal concepts that you NEED TO KNOW
- WEEKLY Office Hours with Scott Rattigan, JD
- A community of like-minded practitioners to share insights and strategies
- Option to renew for as little as $597/year for continued updates, weekly office hours, and more support as laws change and your practice evolves.
MOST POPULAR
$5,988
One-Payment
- All the documents you need to protect your practice and license (67+)
- Education on legal concepts that you NEED TO KNOW
- WEEKLY Office Hours with Scott Rattigan, JD
- Community of like-minded practitioners to share insights and strategies
- Option to renew for as little as $597/year for continued updates, weekly office hours, and more support as laws change and your practice evolves.
Monthly
$549/month
12 Installments
- All the documents you need to protect your practice and license (67+)
- Education on legal concepts that you NEED TO KNOW
- WEEKLY Office Hours with Scott Rattigan, JD
- Community of like-minded practitioners to share insights and strategies
- Option to renew for as little as $597/year for continued updates, weekly office hours, and more support as laws change and your practice evolves.
Functional Lawyer is not a law firm nor a substitute for an attorney or law firm. The information and templates available on Functional Lawyer’s website are for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. Though Functional Lawyer aims to keep its information and templates up-to-date and accurate, because the law changes rapidly and because of variations in laws in different jurisdictions, Functional Lawyer makes no guarantees as to the accuracy and completeness of the information. It is your responsibility to ensure that the information and templates you choose to utilize from Functional Lawyer are appropriately tailored to and accurate for your particular business. Communications between you and Functional Lawyer are not protected by the attorney-client privilege or as work product. You should contact an attorney in your state to obtain advice with respect to any particular legal issues or problems and/or state specific requirements or customizations necessary for your business. Use of Functional Lawyer’s website and its products are subject to our Terms & Conditions, End User License Agreement, Privacy Policy, and Full Disclaimer.