Understanding regulatory compliance in healthcare law is essential for Florida providers. This blog explains key legal requirements and how Florida Healthcare Law Firm helps protect your practice from audits, penalties, and legal risks.
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By: Caitlin A. Koppenhaver
Effective July 1, 2025, Florida’s CHOICE Act (Contracts Honoring Opportunity, Investment, Confidentiality, and Economic Growth) significantly expands the enforceability of noncompete and garden leave agreements, making Florida one of the most employer-friendly states in the country for restrictive covenant enforcement.
Who Is Covered?
The law applies to employees and independent contractors earning more than twice the average annual wage in their Florida county of residence or the employer’s principal place of business. Healthcare practitioners are specifically excluded. Both Florida-based employers and out-of-state companies with Florida employees may fall under the Act.
Noncompete Agreements
Covered noncompete agreements can restrict a former employee from working in a similar role or using confidential information for up to four years after employment ends. To be enforceable, the agreement must be in writing, provided at least seven days before the offer to enter into an employment agreement expires, and must inform the employee of their right to seek legal counsel before execution of the agreement. The employee must also acknowledge they will have access to confidential information or customer relationships.
Garden Leave Agreements
Garden leave provisions allow an employer to require advance notice of resignation up to four yearsduring which the employee remains on payroll with full salary and benefits. The employee is only obligated to work for the first 90 days of that notice period. Similar procedural requirements apply as with noncompetes.
Enforcement
The CHOICE Act presumes these agreements are enforceable. Courts are required to issue injunctions unless the employee proves, by clear and convincing evidence, that their new role will not involve unfair competition or misuse of confidential information, or that the employer failed to uphold their payment obligations during the garden leave period.
What This Means for Employers and Employees
Employers should review and update their agreements to comply with the CHOICE Act’s requirements. Employees entering into these agreements should understand the legal obligations they are assuming, as these restrictions may significantly impact future employment opportunities.
By: Caitlin A. Koppenhaver
“Cleared to Care” Campaign Helps You Stay Compliant and Licensed
If you’re a licensed health care provider in Florida, there’s a big change coming your way. Florida’s House Bill 975 (HB 975), which became law effective July 1st, 2025 requires most licensed providers to complete a background screening when applying for or renewing their individual licensure. Staying compliant with the new law is mandatory to maintain licensure. To help licensed providers comply and prepare, the state has launched a “Cleared to Care” campaign.
Who Needs to Do This?
Most licensed health care professionals in Florida will be affected, including doctors, nurses, therapists, and more. However, there are a few exemptions. Emergency medical technicians, paramedics, pharmacy interns, registered pharmacy technicians, and radiologic technicians are exempt unless applying through the military active-duty spouse licensure pathway. Fingerprint retention requirements do not apply to these professions.
What You Need to Know
This isn’t just a routine update. If you delay the screening process, your license application or renewal could be delayed or expired. Because fingerprinting and processing may take time, especially since this has become a requirement for most licensed healthcare professions, it’s important to complete this step as soon as possible.
For License Renewals
You can start renewing 90 days before your license expires. It’s best to get your fingerprinting completed as soon as possible to avoid delays in obtaining or renewing your Florida license.
For New Applicants
You must complete the background screening as part of your application. Don’t wait until the last minute. There are also resources for out-of-state applicants to complete this step.
Act Now, Don’t Risk Losing Your License
With thousands of practitioners needing to comply, waiting until the last minute is risky. Start your background screening early to avoid delays or interruptions in your ability to practice.
Additional Resources:
Florida’s Cleared to Care Campaign: 205.03.25-ClearedtoCare-Poster.pdf
Background Screening Steps and FAQ: Initiate a Screening – FL HealthSource • Health Care Resources for Consumers & Providers
Curious about medical weed in Florida? This 2026 guide breaks down everything you need to know—from state laws and qualifying conditions to how to get your Florida medical marijuana card legally and safely.
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Verifying a medical license in Florida is essential for patients, employers, and providers. This 2026 guide explains how to check credentials, license status, and disciplinary history quickly and accurately.
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By: Carlos Arce
As corporate practice of medicine (“CPOM”) restrictions continue to tighten across multiple states, stakeholders in the healthcare industry particularly those involved in multi-state operations must navigate a shifting legal landscape. These evolving regulatory frameworks increasingly limit the degree of control non-physicians may exert over medical practices. Yet, amid this national trend, Florida stands out as a jurisdiction that remains relatively business-friendly at least for the time being.
In Florida, medical practices that do not submit claims to insurance payors may be wholly owned by non-physicians. This unique flexibility removes the necessity for a Management Services Organization (“MSO”) as a structuring vehicle when payor reimbursement is not part of the revenue model. In such cases, a direct ownership approach can be used, sidestepping the typical Professional Corporation (“PC”) and MSO arrangement commonly seen in CPOM-restricted states.
However, when insurance reimbursement is part of the equation, the calculus changes. In these instances, non-physician ownership of a Florida practice must occur through a licensed Health Care Clinic (“HCC”), pursuant to Florida’s Health Care Clinic Act. This route provides a compliant pathway to receive third-party reimbursements while maintaining non-clinical ownership. Attempting to bypass the HCC model while collecting insurance payments can trigger regulatory scrutiny and jeopardize the practice’s legal standing.
For organizations with ambitions beyond Florida, a hybrid structure becomes a strategic necessity. One model I often recommend involves using the MSO as the licensee of the Health Care Clinic in Florida. This MSO entity can then serve as the foundational platform for expansion into CPOM-restricted states. In those jurisdictions, the MSO functions as a true administrative services provider offering back-office support, marketing, staffing, billing, and IT while clinical control is reserved to the PC and licensed physicians.
This structure offers several advantages:
• Revenue Control in Florida: Through the HCC license, the MSO retains economic rights within the state.
• Administrative Uniformity Across States: The MSO can standardize processes and compliance across multiple jurisdictions.
• Scalability: The model allows for streamlined growth into states with CPOM restrictions without running afoul of local corporate practice laws.
Nevertheless, this structure is not without its complications. One of the key legal and operational challenges lies in aligning payor contracts across jurisdictions. Payor agreements entered into by a licensed Florida Health Care Clinic cannot simply be extended into CPOM states without careful legal structuring. Each state’s regulatory regime may require separate contracting entities, compliance protocols, and possibly, payor credentialing under distinct PCs.
Furthermore, the MSO model itself is under increased scrutiny. Several states have adopted or proposed “transaction review” statutes, requiring regulatory approval for certain management services agreements, equity transactions, or changes of control. Additionally, some jurisdictions are introducing or enforcing “entirety” rules that limit the scope of services an MSO can provide to a PC. These developments could curtail the flexibility of MSOs and demand more sophisticated structuring and documentation to withstand regulatory challenges.
As a result, MSO models are no longer plug-and-play. They must evolve to accommodate an increasingly fragmented legal environment, particularly for wellness enterprises, concierge medicine platforms, and retail health brands with national or multinational footprints.
Conclusion
While Florida remains a relatively permissive state for non-physician ownership of medical practices, particularly those not reliant on insurance reimbursements, that window may not remain open indefinitely. For ventures with multi-state aspirations, a forward-thinking, hybrid MSO structure offers the most strategic and compliant pathway balancing operational control in Florida with legally sound expansion into CPOM-restricted jurisdictions. Legal and compliance teams must stay vigilant, as the rules governing MSOs, clinic licensing, and payor relationships are in flux and under increasing state-level scrutiny.
