Arkansas Management Services Agreement Guide: Ancillary Services Only and a Practice That Bills as the Provider
Arkansas bars any unlicensed person from ownership, management or control of a medical corporation, so the agreement keeps the MSO to ancillary services and the corporation bills as the provider.
Key Highlights
- Section 4-29-307 bars any unlicensed person from ownership, management or control of the medical corporation.
- A 2015 attorney general opinion, which we read through a summary site, says an unregistered for-profit corporation cannot be paid as the provider and treats billing and collections for a registered corporation as ancillary.
- A Board rule requires an entity engaging a provider to supply a patient list within 21 days of the provider's request and not to mislead patients about a departing provider's new location.
- Act 232 of 2025 voids non-competes that restrict a physician's right to practice within their scope.
How to Price the Management Fee
We found no express Arkansas fee-splitting prohibition in the practice act or Board ethics rule and no authority on percentage fees. The control bar is the operative limit, so we use a fixed fee for ancillary services and nothing tied to who the practice treats.
What the Practice Must Keep
The corporation holds the Medical Board certificate of registration and bills patients and payers as the provider, and the agreement leaves management and control with the licensed shareholders. The MSO handles only ancillary services such as billing and collections support, facilities and administration.
Terms to Avoid
Avoid any term giving the MSO management or control, any arrangement in which the MSO bills as the provider, and any ownership by an unlicensed person. A December 2025 state document says many clinics are owned by advanced practice nurses and that enforcement is inconsistent, and we do not rely on that.
Term, Records and Departing Clinicians
A Board rule requires a patient list within 21 days and appointment contacts within two business days of a departing provider's request, so transition terms should provide for it. Act 232 of 2025 voids a non-compete restricting a physician's right to practice within their scope, with a sale-of-business carve-out, and it does not cover nurses or physician assistants. Its effective date is stated in secondary sources as mid-July 2025.
Filings, Notices and Watch Items
The Medical Board certificate expires every January 1 and cannot be assigned. We found no Arkansas transaction notice law. The Nursing Board's draft aesthetics and IV statements were open for comment until October 19, 2026.
Drafting Checklist
- Fee: fixed, for ancillary services.
- Billing: the corporation bills as the provider.
- Control: management and control stay with licensed shareholders.
- Transition: patient list within 21 days of a request.
- Certificate: renewed each January 1.
- Non-competes: none for employed physicians.
How We Draft It
Patients pay the physician-owned practice, the practice pays the management company a fixed monthly fee under the agreement, and the management company pays MedGrid a fixed monthly retainer for consulting. The management company never practices medicine, and the agreement never moves a clinical decision to it. Our template follows the same flat-fee design in every state, with the state-specific limits below layered on top.
Disclaimer
This article is general educational information, not legal advice. Management agreement rules change and differ by state, and this summary draws on our published state guide, parts of which rest on secondary sources, so have health care counsel in the state review any agreement before you sign.
MedGrid MSO provides management services to independently owned practices; it does not practise medicine and does not direct clinical decisions. Requirements vary by state and by service, and change over time — nothing on this page is legal or medical advice. Talk to us or your own counsel before making a structural decision for your clinic.