California Professional Corporation, MSO & Physician Collaboration Law
MedBiz Law helps California healthcare professionals, founders, and operators get the structural side of medicine right: professional corporations owned by clinicians, management services organizations that run the business side, and the agreements and physician-collaboration relationships that connect them — all built for California’s strict corporate practice of medicine rules.
Clear answers first. Then, when you’re ready, attorneys who structure this every day.
Six ways clients usually arrive here.
“I’m a physician forming or restructuring a practice.”
Professional Corporations“I’m a nurse practitioner planning my own practice.”
Professional Nursing Corporations“I’m a founder or investor who isn’t a clinician.”
MSO Structures“I run a med spa or aesthetic practice.”
Medical Spa Structures“I operate an MSO and need my agreements reviewed.”
Management Services Agreements“I’m evaluating a PC-MSO deal or platform.”
MSO vs PC StrategyFour pillars of California healthcare-business structure.
Professional Corporations
California requires most clinical practices to operate as professional corporations (PCs) — entities owned by licensed clinicians under the Moscone-Knox Professional Corporations Act. We handle formation, ownership and governance questions, and the operational documents that keep a PC compliant as it grows.
Explore Professional Corporations
MSO Structures
A management services organization (MSO) is the business entity that supports a practice’s non-clinical operations — and the lawful home for non-clinician ownership and outside capital. We structure MSOs, define what they can and cannot control, and build the entity relationships California expects.
Explore MSO Structures
Management Services Agreements
The management services agreement (MSA) is the contract that connects a PC and an MSO — and the first document a regulator or buyer reads. We draft and review MSAs with California’s control rules, fee requirements, and current scrutiny in mind.
Explore MSAs
Physician Collaboration
Medical directors, collaborating physicians, and standardized procedures are where clinical governance meets business structure — especially for nurse practitioners, med spas, and clinics. We build collaboration relationships with real duties, defensible compensation, and clean documentation.
Explore Physician CollaborationA 90-second explainer.
Most California healthcare businesses that involve non-clinician founders, investors, or multi-site growth use a two-entity structure. A professional corporation, owned by licensed clinicians, delivers all patient care and holds every clinical decision. A management services organization, which anyone can own, runs the non-clinical side — facilities, non-clinical staff, billing support, marketing, technology — under a management services agreement at fair market value.
The structure works because each entity stays on its side of one line: the PC controls medicine; the MSO manages business. It fails when that line blurs — and in California, regulators judge how the arrangement actually operates, not just what the documents say.
Whether that model fits your situation is the first real decision. Our cornerstone guide walks through it in plain English: MSO vs Professional Corporation (PC) Strategy in California →
California’s scrutiny of these structures has intensified.
California has always enforced the corporate practice of medicine (CPOM) doctrine — the rule that unlicensed persons and entities may not control medical decisions — more seriously than most states. That scrutiny has intensified: recent legislation and Attorney General attention have put MSO control, management fees, and “friendly PC” continuity agreements under a brighter light, particularly where institutional investors are involved.
The practical consequence: structures that passed unexamined a few years ago now get read closely by regulators, payers, buyers, and diligence teams. Getting the architecture right at formation — or reviewing an existing structure before someone else does — is the least expensive moment to do it. Read the CPOM explainer →
Nine audiences, one focused practice area.
How working with MedBiz Law works.
Tell us your situation
A short intake — who you are, what you’re building or restructuring, and where the open questions sit.
Structure review or design
We map your entities, agreements, and collaboration relationships against California’s requirements and current enforcement posture, and lay out options with tradeoffs — not a lecture.
Documents and follow-through
Formation filings, MSAs, collaboration agreements, and governance documents drafted for how your business actually runs, with plain-English explanations of every piece.
Legal services are provided by Bay Legal, PC, a California law firm. MedBiz Law is where its healthcare-business structuring work lives.
Quick answers before you call.
Can a non-physician own a medical practice in California?
What does an MSO actually do?
Do I need both a PC and an MSO?
What is the corporate practice of medicine doctrine?
Is MedBiz Law a law firm?
Structure it right the first time.
Whether you’re forming your first professional corporation, bringing in a business partner or investor, or stress-testing an existing PC-MSO structure against California’s current scrutiny — the conversation starts with where you are now.