Medical practice licensing. Physician practice entity.
Medical practices must form Professional LLC or Professional Corporation in most states. Ownership restricted to licensed physicians (or under specific arrangements). Corporate practice of medicine doctrine restricts certain ownership models.
Start here.
PLLC, Professional Corporation, Partnership.
Corporate Practice of Medicine prohibits corporate ownership of medical practice in many states.
Most states require licensed physicians to own the practice.
Telemedicine licensing varies by state. May require multi-state licensure.
Federal HIPAA compliance required. BAAs with vendors.
The full picture.
Entity options
Professional LLC (PLLC) most common for new practices. Professional Corporation (PC) historical and continues. Partnership for group practices. Some states permit limited corporate structures with specific exemptions.
CPOM doctrine
Corporate Practice of Medicine prohibits non-physicians from owning or controlling medical practices in many states. Exception jurisdictions: Arizona, Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Nebraska, Tennessee, Utah. Other states maintain strict CPOM. Workarounds: MSO (Management Services Organization) structure with operations company separate from clinical entity.
Ownership restrictions
Most states require all owners to be licensed physicians in the practice state. Some states allow other healthcare professionals (PAs, NPs) limited ownership stakes. Most prohibit lay (non-physician) ownership.
Designated medical director
Most practices have designated medical director responsible for clinical operations and compliance.
State medical board
Each state has a medical board overseeing physician licensure and practice. Annual fees, license renewals, continuing medical education (CME).
HIPAA compliance
Federal HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules. Business Associate Agreements (BAAs) with all vendors handling PHI. Annual training. Risk assessments.
Multi-state telemedicine
Telemedicine across state lines typically requires physician licensure in patient state. Multi-state licensure expensive. Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (IMLC) facilitates simplified multi-state licensing for IMLC member states.
Payer enrollment
Separate enrollment with each payer (Medicare, Medicaid, commercial insurance). NPI (National Provider Identifier) required.
Continuing requirements
Annual practice license renewal; individual physician license renewal; CME; payer revalidation; audits.
Common questions.
Do medical practices need special licensing?
Does my medical practice need to be a professional entity?
What is the corporate practice of medicine doctrine?
Do owners of a medical practice need to be physicians?
Does licensing affect how I can bring in partners or investors?
What entity type should a medical practice use?
Does a medical practice have added compliance?
What ongoing requirements does a medical practice have?
Can File.Business help form my medical practice?
Set up your professional firm.
PLLC formation, registered agent, ongoing compliance. We handle entity-level requirements; you handle the professional practice.
Professional licensing is handled by state boards. File.Business handles entity formation and ongoing compliance.
How we deliver, end-to-end.
Four-step path from request to confirmation. State and IRS turnaround varies; our steps run in parallel where possible to compress the timeline.
Intake + scope
You tell us what you need through a short intake form (or a call for complex matters). We confirm scope, surface any gating issues (deadlines, missing documents, entity status), and quote any state fees that pass through at cost.
Prepare + verify
Our specialists draft the filing, verify entity details against state databases, run internal QA, and route any items needing your sign-off. You see drafts before anything gets submitted.
File with the authority
We submit directly to the state Secretary of State, FinCEN, IRS, USPTO, or whichever authority your filing requires. We pay state fees at cost and track the submission identifier in your account.
Confirmation + vault
Stamped certificate, IRS notice, or filing receipt arrives in your SOC 2 encrypted document vault the moment we receive it. Next filing deadline auto-added to your compliance calendar where applicable.
Built on the same infrastructure used by 220,000+ businesses.
SOC 2 Type II audited
Independent annual security audit covering access control, change management, incident response, and data handling. Current report on request.
All 51 US jurisdictions
Every state plus DC plus Puerto Rico - direct filings, not third-party reseller. We hold registered-agent qualifications in every state we operate.
Deadline guarantee
If we miss a filing deadline on a service you pay us to manage, we pay the state penalty. Specific to each plan and the filings it includes.
4.9 from 8,200+ verified reviews
Independently verified by Trustpilot + Google + our own NPS infrastructure. Customer success team within reach by email, chat, or phone.
60-day money-back promise
Change your mind in the first 60 days and we refund our service fee in full. State filing fees pass through at cost and are non-refundable once paid to the state.
E&O insured
Errors and omissions coverage protects you from service errors. Carrier and certificate available on request for enterprise clients.