*Contracts, Benefits, and Practice Management For The Veterinary Profession Flashcards
Are DVMS eligible for overtime per the Fair Labor Standards Act?
only if it’s a condition of their contract
What law provides tax relief for people with educational debts?
Tax Relief Act of 1997
Define: Lifetime Learning Tax Credit
allows up to $4k in tuition costs to be put against federal taxes owed
How many new clients should a practice get per month?
20 new clients per full time DVM
How does an employee qualify for FMLA?
employed for 12+ months
employed for 1250+ hours
company has 50+ employees
employee provides at least 30 days written notice
Define: Equal Pay Act
requires that men and women receive equal pay and benefits
What is needed to receive workman’s compensation during an LOA?
incident report
request from employee
statement from healthcare provided to insurance
Who does Professional Liability Insurance cover?
practice owner, employees, volunteers
Define: Bailee Supplemental Insurance
for pets who escape, are injured in transit, or attacked by another pet while in vet practice’s care
Define: “Elimination Period” in regards to Disability Income
waiting period after injury before benefits begin
Define: Automatic Benefits Indexing
increased pay from disability insurance due to inflation
In regards to disability insurance, what is the coverage that allows the insured to be reimbursed until income returns to the predetermined amount?
Total Recovery Clause
Define: Future Insurance Option
In regards to disability insurance.
allow purchasing of additional insurance as income increases.
In regards to disability insurance, what allows increases in monthly benefits to keep pace with cost of living?
Cost of Living Option
Define: Overhead Expense Insurance
reimburses business expenses while PO is on disability
What insurance is an agreement between co-owners that identifies responsibility when one owner is disabled, dies, or is terminated?
Buy-Sell Insurance
What insurance reimburses the practice when a key person becomes disabled?
Key Person Disability Insurance
Define: Step Rate Policies
where insurance rate slowly increases as employee gets older
Regarding health insurance, define: Fee for Service
allows patient to go to any doctor
high premiums
Regarding health insurance, define: HMO
covers preferred providers
specialist can only be seen by referral
Regarding health insurance, define: PPO
covers preferred providers
specialist does not require referral
Define: Term Life Insurance
provides coverage for a defined period of time
Define: Permanent Life Insurance
provides coverage for entire life
typically level premium through entire life
In regards to life insurance…
what is the difference between annually renewable, decreasing term, and level term?
annually renewable - premiums increase each year
decreasing term - level premiums, but decreasing coverage
level term - premium stays level for set number of years
Regarding life insurance…
define: waiver of premium
waives premium payments during disability
Regarding life insurance…
term for: allows additional increments of insurance to be purchased without medical exams
additional insurance
Regarding life insurance…
term for: allows advance of benefits when insured has terminal illness
accelerated benefits
Regarding life insurance…
term for: allows splitting of joint life policy to individual policies
policy split option
Regarding life insurance…
define: exchange rider
allows transfer of policy to someone else
Regarding retirement plans…
Define: Traditional profit sharing plan
divide employer’s annual contributions equally as uniform % of pay
Regarding retirement plans…
define: integrated profit sharing plan
allows more of employer’s contributions to those whose earnings exceed a minimum amount
Regarding retirement plans…
Define: age-weighted
allows more contributions to go to older staff
Regarding retirement plans…
define: new comparability
allows employer to define different groups to allocate contributions accordingly
Term for: employer makes non-discrimatory contributions to employee’s IRA
simplified employee pension plan
Define: Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001
increased maximum contribution of profit sharing plan from 15% to 25%
Define: 401K
allows employee to make salary deferral contributions for retirement, usually with employer match
What are the contribution limits for 401Ks?
up to 100% of salary or up to $15K
What is the difference between a simple 401k and simple IRA?
401k - limited withdrawal reasons
IRA - with withdraw for any reason
Define: Restrictive Covenants
limits the area and time where former employee can work similar job
AKA noncompete clause
Define: Sherman Antitrust Act
restricts interstate commerce and competition
Define: Material Breach
breach in contract
Define: Liquidated Damages
amount owed if there is a breach in contract
Define: Blue Pencil Doctrine
if courts can deem contract reasonable by omitting the unreasonable parts, they should
Define: Savings Clause
verbiage that deems contract valid even if portion is deemed unreasonable
Define: English Common Law System
judges have discretion to establish legal precedents based on customs and beliefs of the people
Define: Case Law
law derived from judicial decisions and interpretations
Term for: decisions made in prior cases are to be followed in current cases in courts of the same jurisdiction
Stare Decisis
Term for: ethical constraints formed by principles and ideals developed by group of people to encourage high standards
Code of Ethics
What is the Code of Ethics calls for DVMs?
AVMA Principles of Veterinary Medical Ethics
What is the difference between official, administrative, and normative veterinary ethics?
- official — ethical standards established by organized vetmed
- administrative — ethical standards established by government bodies
- normative — ethical standards established by principles of right and wrong
Who enforces laws vs ethics?
Laws - government
Ethics - organizations
Define: dog and cat lemon laws
can return unhealthy pet to dealer and obtain new pet or refund for vet expenses
What is the DVM’s moral duties?
- protect animals
- apply own standards of right and wrong
- educate owners
What’s the DVM’s ethical duties?
- follow AVMA Principles of VetMed Ethics
- retain public’s trust
- advocate for animals and society’s relationship with them
What’s the DVM’s legal duties?
- follow contracts
- enforce state and federal laws
- understand laws regarding care of animals
- be involved in creation of laws related to profession
What term describes utilizing legal consequences with difficult owners to produce results, rather than moral consequences?
Armtwister
Define: written law
rules enacted by government and placed in code of laws
Define: unwritten law
aka “common law”
interpretation by court system of written laws including previous case decisions
Define: Substantive law
rights and duties which a person must adhere to in society
Define: procedural law
rules and procedures for conducting a lawsuit
Define: criminal law
between individual and society
Define: civil law
between individuals in society
Term for: payment of monetary damaged for injury caused by misconduct
Remedies at Law
Term for: payment via action for misconduct
Remedies at Equity
Define: promissory estoppel
even if no written agreement is in place, a promise must be enforced if one party would otherwise incur substantial detriment
Define: adhesion contract
written by one party to another party under circumstances of no negotiation
Define: doctrine of unconscionability
gives someone the right to resist enforcement of poorly written contract
Term for: breach caused minimal damages
Nominal damages
Define: Compensatory damages
breach caused significant financial detriment
Term for: breaching party must give up unfair gains
Restitution
Define: Law of Agency
Involves situations where agent of owner makes requests for patient care; should have contract outlining this whenever possible
