Legal Services

Expertise in:

Credentialing, Licensure, Scope of Practice

Every state has legal rules that restrict practice boundaries (scope of practice) for non-medical health care professionals, such as acupuncturists, chiropractors, nurses and psychologists. Practitioners and health care entities have to ensure they do not run afoul of these scope of practice legal rules. Our complementary and alternative attorneys and integrative medicine lawyers advise a variety of health care providers and business entities concerning compliance with credentialing, licensure and scope of practice rules.

Some states, such as New York, spell out clearly who can offer health care practices and the legal definitions for and boundaries of these practices. Other states have more amorphous legal definitions. Some states, such as California, have medical freedom laws that allow non-licensed healers to provide services. Such states still have prohibitions though on the unlicensed practice of medicine, and it takes careful drafting to create appropriate office policies and forms for practitioners.

Our law firm has represented and given legal advice to a broad array of health care practitioners, including: physicians (MDs and DOs), psychiatrists, nurses, psychologists and other mental health counselors, chiropractors, licensed acupuncturists, massage therapists, hypnotherapists, energy healers, astrologers, naturopathic physicians (naturopaths), practitioners of Ayurveda and Ayurvedic medicine, shamans, homeopaths and homeopathic physicians, yoga teachers and yoga studios, wellness clinics, integrative medicine clinics, nutritionists, dietary supplement manufacturers, a massage therapy school, a school for spiritual healing, and others.