The American Academy of Emergency Medicine Physician Group recently sued Envision Healthcare, alleging that the company uses shell business structures to evade corporate practice of medicine laws. The lawsuit is part of a larger push for stricter enforcement of statutes prohibiting medical practice ownership by corporations not owned by licensed doctors.
Plaintiff American Academy of Emergency Medicine Physician Group (AAEMPG) originally filed its complaint against Envision Healthcare Corporation and Envision Physician Services, LLC (collectively referred to as “Envision”) in the Superior Court of California in December 2021. Envision removed the case to the Northern District of California in January 2022. According to a press release, AAEMPG filed the lawsuit in response to Envision’s “takeover of an emergency department contract at Placentia Linda Hospital,” part of the Tenet Health Hospital System.1
AAEMPG is a Milwaukee-based company that provides business and administrative services to physician groups and is a subsidiary of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine, a physician professional society. Owned by the investment firm KKR & Co., Inc., Envision Healthcare Corporation is a national hospital-based physician group headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. It operates emergency departments throughout the United States and owns and manages Co-Defendant Envision Physician Services, LLC.
Click here to read the full update, including a breakdown of AAEMPG's allegations, recent trends, and the overall significance of this lawsuit.
