SB 351: Health facilities.

Existing law generally regulates the licensing and operation of health facilities and other facilities providing health care in this state. Existing law, the Medical Practice Act, creates the Medical Board of California to license and regulate physicians and surgeons. Under existing law, the Dental Practice Act, the Dental Board of California licenses and regulates dentists.

Existing law, the Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation Law, generally requires a nonprofit public benefit corporation to give written notice to the Attorney General before it sells, leases, conveys, exchanges, transfers, or disposes of its assets, except as specified. Existing law provides specific procedures for health facilities and additionally requires these facilities to obtain the consent of the Attorney General prior to entering into a specified agreement or transaction.

This bill would prohibit a private equity group or hedge fund, as defined, involved in any manner with a physician or dental practice doing business in this state from interfering with the professional judgment of physicians or dentists in making health care decisions and exercising power over specified actions, including, among other things, making decisions regarding coding and billing procedures for patient care services. The bill would prohibit a private equity group or hedge fund from entering into a contract or other agreement or arrangement with a physician or dental practice if the contract or other agreement or arrangement would enable the person or entity to engage in the prohibited actions described above and would make provisions of those contracts or other agreements that violate that prohibition void and unenforceable. The bill would prohibit and render void and unenforceable specified types of contracts between a physician or dental practice and a private equity group or hedge fund that include any clause barring any provider in that practice from competing with that practice in the event of a termination or resignation, or from disparaging, opining, or commenting on that practice in any manner as to any issues involving quality of care, utilization of care, ethical or professional challenges in the practice of medicine or dentistry, or revenue-increasing strategies employed by the private equity group or hedge fund, as specified. This bill would entitle the Attorney General to injunctive relief and attorneys fees and costs incurred in remedying violations of these provisions, as specified. The bill would make its provisions severable.