What Physician Assistant Expenses Should an Employer Pay For?
What business expenses should be reimbursed by your employer regarding a physician assistant employment agreement? I’ll just run through the list of the most common business expenses that we typically see within our practice. Each sort of employment relationship is unique. And so, there could be not included in this list. So, you just must consider your needs to carry out the duties that you’re employed for. And then whatever that is, that should really be the business expenses that you’re getting reimbursed for. But starting from the biggest amounts of money. And I’ll work my way down.
The biggest one is relocation expenses. Sometimes this is considered a business expense. If you’re going to be moving from out of state or across the country, that is one thing that your employer can reimburse you for. This is typically given as either a relocation bonus or relocation reimbursement, but either way that it’s structured, you just want to be careful because this is a large amount of money, I’ve seen anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000. You’re given that money up front or you’re reimbursed directly, but normally, you must stay employed with your employer for anywhere from one to three years. And if you terminate that agreement early, you may be required to pay back a prorated amount for how long you’ve been there, or you may have to pay back the entire amount. So, you just want to keep an eye on that, make sure you read your employment contract very carefully so that you know what you’re signing and what the consequences are if you do decide to terminate your agreement early.
The next business expense typically is any type of licensing fees or dues. If you need a DEA license or need to be credentialed with insurance companies, Medicaid, Medicare, any sort of state agencies, things like that, that’s always normally reimbursed and that should be reimbursed. That is one thing that should always be done because you need that to provide your services. So, they should reimburse you and these can get costly. Now, occasionally I’ve seen an employment agreement where you’re given some type of reimbursement allowance. You’re given up to 5,000 for all your licensing and fees, other times your employer, and I would say most times, your employer will just say that they will reimburse you 100% for any of those costs.
Then moving along, your CME allowance, and continuing medical education. You must do this to keep your license and provide your services, so therefore you’re considered an employee. Your employer should be reimbursing you for this. Again, this is structured normally as an allowance anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 annually. Sometimes it must be approved for what you’re using those funds for, other times it doesn’t. Again, you want to read your employment agreement. And then also, normally you’re given PTO time to go ahead and take those CME courses or conferences because if you’re not, you have to take vacation time and that’s actually money being taken away from you. So, CME also is very important. If you need a cell phone for your work, cell phone usage sometimes can be reimbursed, or they may provide you with one directly.
Technology, so laptops, if you’re provided with one or they’re going to reimburse you for using your own, that’s rare in healthcare. You’re normally provided one directly from the company. And then also travel expenses. Sometimes if you have some type of mobile practice or you’re going to be providing services at multiple clinics, sometimes travel expenses are also reimbursed. And this is what I was talking about at the beginning. Every situation is unique. And so, there may be expenses that are unique to your situation. You just need to look at what you need to provide the services that you have agreed for your employment.
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