A Word is Worth Thousands: Protecting Your Healthcare Brand

trademark law

trademark lawBy: Chase Howard

Investing in a healthcare related business involves significant time and money. Building a brand takes even more and is extremely important in today’s society. Having the ability to build a recognizable brand, scale, and potentially sell, is the goal of many healthcare business entrepreneurs. With the ever-booming impact of social media, online advertising, and online reviews, healthcare businesses seek to engage at a higher degree than ever before to attract new patients, retain current patients, and establish themselves as experts in their respective fields.

Building a brand is part of it, while protecting that brand is far more important. A well-recognized word or logo can be worth everything to your business. Obtaining ownership and protection over a name or mark is a fairly simply task with significant rewards. Trademarks are the names, slogans, tag lines, and/or logos that identify and represent your business, its services, and mission to the public, and are the foundation for the business’s overall branding and marketing. Trademarks can also be used to protect your business in a specific area or a specific area of expertise. If you do not protect your brand, a competitor could use it (or something similar, which could confuse the public and your patients and therefore potentially draw business away from your brand.Continue reading

Prepping Your Dental Practice for Sale

dental practice sales transaction

dental practice sales transactionBy: Chase Howard

Thinking About Selling Your Practice? Preparation is key and the difference between a successful sale and seller’s regret.

Step 1: Call Your Financial Planner

  • Be sure that you can afford to leave the business
  • Most buyers will require a comprehensive non-compete and you should be certain that you are financially prepared to retire, sell, or move before signing any restrictions.
  • You will also want to ensure that you are planning for the income you are about to receive. Are there vehicles in place or options that are best to ensure the purchase price is put to its best use for you.
  • Consider post sale options if not retirement – are you going to be employed by the buyer? Are you selling to an associate and will phase out? Are you just moving and will need to find new employment/open a practice?

Step 2: Visit Your Accountant

  • Your business is only worth as much as can be defined on paper.
  • If a potential buyer cannot make sense of your accounts and assets, you may leave significant value on the table.
  • Get your financial history in order by reviewing tax returns, profit statements, AR reports, and payroll history for prior 3-4 years.
  • Clean up creative bookkeeping – you will have to promise the buyer that your financial statements are true and accurate.
  • Have your accountant help value assets of your business – or use an appraiser if necessary.
  • Discuss company structure – there may be restructuring needs or you may need to transition to a different structure for tax purposes.

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Attorney Steven Boyne Joins Florida Healthcare Law Firm in Delray Beach, Florida

florida healthcare law firm managed care attorneyJune 1, 2020 – Florida Healthcare Law Firms adds experienced attorney Steven Boyne to the team to assist with human resource law, corporate and transactional law, as well as telemedicine, healthcare tech and cyber breaches.

Florida Healthcare Law Firm has announced that they have added Steven Boyne to the team. Steven brings over twenty plus years experience working with different types of healthcare entities from Air Ambulances to large healthcare insurance companies, and everything in between. Steven specializes in areas including specific healthcare business human resource issues, telemedicine and HIPAA, strategic disaster planning for healthcare providers, business interruption insurance, health insurance and air ambulances.

“Positioning your healthcare business to be proactive is one of the most important things you can do. Who would have imagined we’d see a global pandemic in our lifetime? Being prepared for ‘interruptions’ help keep your business afloat when disaster strikes, especially when it comes to finances. Steven’s experience in large health insurance companies brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise that will help individual practitioners be just as prepared as the big guys. And, as technology grows in the healthcare industry, Steven is on board to help with his tech expertise,” Florida Healthcare Law Firm COO Autumn Piccolo says. Founder and President, Jeff Cohen, goes on to say that, “We advise many clients on telemedicine and telehealth laws. Steven’s passion for tech is a great addition for current and future clients. His unique firsthand knowledge on cyberbreaches, tech software and security systems is hyper-specific, which will benefit healthcare business owners.Continue reading

A Few Nuances to the Paycheck Protection Program Established Pursuant to the CARES Act

By: Susan St. John

The Paycheck Protection Program under the CARES Act (the “Act”) allows a small business to apply for a low interest rate loan to sustain the business during the economic disruption caused by COVID-19. This program focuses on payroll costs as opposed to revenues of the small business. Allowable uses of the PPP loan funds include the following:

  1. Payroll costs;
  2. costs related to the continuation of group health care benefits during periods of paid sick, medical, or family leave, and insurance premiums;
  3. employee salaries, commissions, or similar compensating;
  4. payments of interest on any mortgage obligation (which shall not include any prepayment of or payment of principal on a mortgage obligation);
  5. rent (including rent under a lease agreement);
  6. utilities; and
  7. interest on any other debt obligations that were incurred before the covered period.

The Act defines payroll costs as follows:

  1. the sum of payments of any compensation with respect to employees that is a:
    1. salary, wage, commission, or similar compensation;
    2. payment of cash tip or equivalent;
    3. payment for vacation, parental, family, medical, or sick leave;
    4. allowance for dismissal or separation;
    5. payment required for the provision of group health care benefits, including insurance benefits;
    6. payment of any retirement benefit; or
    7. payment of State or local tax assessed on the compensation or employees; and
  2. the sum of payments of any compensation to or income of a sole proprietor or independent contractor that is a wage, commission, income, net earnings from self-employment, or similar compensation and that is in an amount that is not more than $100,000 in 1 year, as prorated for the covered period; and shall not include the compensation of an individual employee in excess of an annual salary of $100,000, as prorated for the covered period; taxes imposed or withheld under chapters 21, 22, or 24 of the Internal Revenue Code for the covered period; compensation for employees outside of the US; qualified sick leave wages for which credit is allowed under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act; or qualified family leave wages for which credit is allowed under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.

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