MD Society of Otolaryngology – 2008 and  2009
Baltimore Maryland

“Negotiating/Evaluating Your First Employment Agreement”  (Presenters:  Robert Landau and Robert Wade)   This course addressed the various practical, business and legal aspects of reviewing and negotiating an initial employment agreement.  Issues covered in the course include understanding the business and legal terms of the proposed employment arrangement, the fundamentals of a contract and tips on how to negotiate the deal with the prospective employer. 

American Academy of Ophthalmology 2009
San Francisco, CA

In October of this year, the Attorneys of Wade, Goldstein, Landau & Abruzzo returned to the annual Joint Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology which was held in San Francisco, CA to present a wide variety of courses on practice management and related issues. This was the sixteenth consecutive year the Firm has been invited to present at the AAO.

The following is a list and description of the courses and programs in which the Firm’s attorneys will present:

“Employment Law Bootcamp” (Moderator/Instructors, Robert Wade, Mark Abruzzo and Jill Patterson) This course is designed to provide administrators and ophthalmic group practices with a comprehensive review of relevant employment law issues. It is intended to identify and discuss employment laws and legal issues that group practices need to consider when drafting or revising their employee policies and procedures, and when making personnel-related decisions. This discussion will be limited to federal legislation.

“Partial Retirement Within A Group Practice” (Moderator, Robert Landau) This course will provide an overview of the issues involved in structuring a partial retirement within a group practice. Particular attention will be paid to (i) whether, and under what circumstances, practices should permit partial retirement, (ii) how partial retirement might impact other group practice arrangements, including governance, ownership, compensation and buy-out terms and (iii) when and how a successful partial retirement policy should be implemented.

“A Practical Guide to Understanding and Negotiating an Employment Agreement” (Moderator/Instructor, Robert Landau) This course will address the various practical, business and legal aspects of reviewing and negotiating an initial employment agreement. Issues covered in this course include understanding the business and legal terms of the proposed employment arrangement, the fundamentals of a contract and tips on how to negotiate the deal with the prospective employer.

“Practice Valuation: What’s Your Practice Worth?” (Instructors, Mark Abruzzo and Rick Koval) This course will explore the different methods to valuing ophthalmology practices for purchases and sales, buy-ins and pay-outs, mergers, and similar purposes. Practice valuation can, sometimes, have situational aspects. Accordingly, the instructors will devote significant course time to real life examples.

“Negotiating Payer Contracts, or Anything Else for That Matter…Really!” – (Instructor, Robert Wade) This course will discuss the different styles and approaches to negotiating anything. Discussion will focus on acquiring necessary knowledge about one’s negotiating partners and the marketplace, the development of concession strategies and the use of advisors.

“Income Division for Group Practices: Structuring Appropriate Physician Compensation Arrangements” – (Instructors, Robert Landau and Robert Wade) This course will explore different models for dividing income in a group practice, with emphasis on creating incentives, responses to incentives, legal and regulatory concerns, and “modeling” different structures. A case study will be employed to illustrate the process.

“Deciphering Financial Reports for the Young Ophthalmologist” – (Instructor, Robert Wade) This course will make some very important distinctions as to the kind of accounting that is done in order to prepare financial statements (cash v. accrual) and then look at the basic financial statements an ophthalmologist or administrator may encounter and the information those statements should provide as well as the purposes for which that information may be used.

In November of 2008, the Attorneys of Wade, Goldstein, Landau & Abruzzo returned to the annual Joint Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology which was held in Atlanta, Georgia to present a wide variety of courses on practice management and related issues. This was the fifteenth consecutive year the Firm has been invited to present at the AAO.

The following is a list and description of the courses and programs in which the Firm's Attorneys participated:

"The 10 Commandments of Negotiating" (Moderator, Robert Wade) This course dealt with the art and science of negotiating – anything, but in particular, employment agreements and third party payor contracts.

"Partial Retirement Within A Group Practice" (Moderator, Robert Landau) This course provided an overview of the issues involved in structuring a partial retirement within a group practice. Particular attention was paid to (i) whether, and under what circumstances, practices should permit partial retirement, (ii) how partial retirement might impact other group practice arrangements, including governance, ownership, compensation and buy-out terms and (iii) when and how a successful partial retirement policy should be implemented.

"Structuring Co-Ownership Arrangements" (Moderator, Mark Abruzzo) This course provided an outline for Employers, once the decision is been made to promote an associate to partnership status, the specific steps and considerations to be made in structuring a co-ownership arrangement

"Practice Valuation: What’s Your Practice Worth?” (Instructors, Mark Abruzzo and Rick Koval) This course explored the different methods to valuing ophthalmology practices for purchases and sales, buy-ins and pay-outs, mergers, and similar purposes. Practice valuation can, sometimes, have situational aspects. Accordingly, the instructors devoted significant course time to real life examples.

"Stark IIII, Health Care Fraud and Compliance: What Every Ophthalmologist Should Know” (Instructors, Robert Wade and Nancy Miller) This course summarized some of the Stark III revisions that typically impact ophthalmology practices, and, in addition, reviewed some of the Stark and Anti-Kickback Statute requirements typically encountered by ophthalmology practices in structuring their business arrangements.

"Partnership Pitfalls: Preparing for the Unexpected" (Instructors, Robert Landau and Robert Wade ) This course was designed to assist Employers in anticipating as many “bad” Employee behaviors or problems as possible and attempt to formulate an approach or philosophy to handling such problems in advance.

"Selling an Ophthalmology Practice" (Moderator, Mark Abruzzo) This course was designed to enlighten both prospective Sellers and ophthalmology practices as to the process and common issues and deal points involved in a practice sale/purchase transaction.

"Income Division for Group Practices: Structuring Appropriate Physician Compensation Arrangements” – (Instructors, Robert Landau and Robert Wade) This course explored different models for dividing income in a group practice, with emphasis on creating incentives, responses to incentives, legal and regulatory concerns, and “modeling” different structures. A case study was employed to illustrate the process.

Selling A Practice
Income Division
The Ten Commandments of Negotiating…Anything
Hiring A Physician > Income Division for Group Practices…
Practice Valuation: What’s Your Practice Worth?
Selling Ophthalmology Practices