An independent contractor is a physician (or nurse practitioner or psychologist or therapist) or company or group of clinicians who is/are free-standing, independent from American Telepsychiatrists and who want to provide Mental Health and Neurological services via telemedicine. The Independent Contractor contracts with American Telepsychiatrists who in turn contracts with HMOs, Managed Care Companies, County/State/Federal Mental Health Agencies, hospitals, emergency departments, and other companies who have patients in need of psychiatric services. We connect the provider with the patient and provide ongoing coordination and management to both providers and the agencies where they will see patients.
We provide the teleconferencing software license(s), 24/7 IT tech support, EMR/EHR, eRx, electronic lab review where available, training, scheduling, billing/collection, 1-800# phone, 1-800# fax, nursing and admin support, and very high quality professional liability insurance for any patients seen through American Telepsychiatrists.
As an Independent Contractor, you have to think of yourself as a business person, an entrepreneur. As with any Private Practice or business, there are start-up costs. You provide your own equipment (in the same way that your accountant or auto mechanic provides his/her own equipment in order to perform services for you). Your biggest initial investment is Time. There is a learning curve as you become familiar with the system, telemedicine, equipment, software, and the necessary EMR/EHR, eRx, electronic lab review, etc. Since it's your business, as an Independent Contractor, you don't get paid for your start-up time. You only get paid for seeing patients.
Independent Contractors receive the FULL, untaxed compensation. What this means is that you are responsible for paying ALL local, state, and federal taxes AND payroll taxes. If you formulate a company, then we can contract with you/your company and provide the full compensation for the services you bill to us, and then your company can pay you a salary (on which you pay payroll taxes) plus dividends and distributions and bonuses (for which you do not pay payroll taxes). Talk to your accountant about the advantages of setting yourself up as a company.