Kansas has one of the clearest corporate practice of medicine (CPOM) rules in the country, set by its Supreme Court and stated directly by its medical board. If you are a non-physician launching a med spa, telehealth platform, weight-management clinic, or other medical business in Kansas, it determines how your company must be structured.

The Rule: General Corporations Can’t Practice Medicine in Kansas

In Early Detection Center, Inc. v. Wilson (1991), the Kansas Supreme Court held that a general corporation may not provide medical services or act through licensed practitioners. A business owned by non-physicians cannot employ physicians to practice medicine, and it cannot provide medical services through physicians it contracts with. In Central Kansas Medical Center v. Hatesohl (2016), the Court reaffirmed that a corporation cannot hire a physician to practice medicine that the corporation itself is not licensed to provide.

The Kansas State Board of Healing Arts states it directly: a business entity that is not entirely owned by physicians (or other qualified persons under K.S.A. 17-2707) cannot practice medicine in Kansas or employ a Kansas physician to do so.

Who Can Employ Physicians in Kansas

The doctrine has a defined set of exceptions:

• Professional associations. Physician-owned entities formed under the Kansas Professional Corporation Law (K.S.A. 17-2706 et seq.) can practice medicine and employ physicians. Note the naming: Kansas requires these entities to use the designation “P.A.” (professional association), not “P.C.” Ownership is generally limited to physicians and other qualified persons. A corporation can render more than one type of professional service only with certification from each licensing board involved, and only in the professional combinations Kansas law allows.
• Licensed medical care facilities. In St. Francis Regional Medical Center v. Weiss, the Court held that a hospital licensed by the state to provide health care services can employ physicians.
• Licensed ambulatory surgical centers, within the scope of the ASC’s license (Hatesohl).
• Certified worksite and health-plan clinics. A 2019 law, K.S.A. 65-28,134, lets certain entities employ physicians once the Board of Healing Arts certifies them. The law is narrow: it covers only Kansas employers running clinics solely for their own employees and dependents, certain nonprofit or mutual health carriers serving their enrollees, and EMR companies running employer worksite clinics. It does not cover consumer-facing medical businesses.

What This Means for Non-Physician Owners

If you are not a physician and want to own a medical business in Kansas, the standard structure is a physician-owned professional association (P.A.) paired with a management services organization (MSO):

• The P.A. is owned by a Kansas-licensed physician. It employs or contracts with the clinicians and makes every clinical decision.
• The MSO, which you own, provides non-clinical services such as marketing, billing, staffing support, technology, and facilities.
• A management services agreement (MSA) defines what the MSO provides and how it is paid. Fees should be fixed or cost-based and set at fair market value, not a percentage of clinical revenue.

The MSO cannot control clinical protocols, prescribing, treatment decisions, or who the P.A. hires to provide care.

Telehealth

Kansas regulates telehealth based on where the patient is. A physician treating a patient located in Kansas generally needs a Kansas license. Kansas law also allows the Board of Healing Arts to issue a telemedicine waiver to out-of-state physicians who meet statutory conditions (K.S.A. 65-28,135); confirm with the Board that the waiver is available to you before relying on it. Out-of-state physicians may consult with a Kansas-licensed physician without a Kansas license.

Under the Kansas Telemedicine Act (K.S.A. 40-2,210 et seq.), telemedicine is held to the same standard of care as in-person care and can be used to establish a provider-patient relationship. With the patient’s consent, the provider must send a report of the encounter to the patient’s primary care or treating physician within three business days.

The CPOM rule applies to telehealth the same way it applies to in-person care: a telehealth company serving Kansas patients needs the same physician-owned structure.

NPs and PAs

Kansas grants nurse practitioners full practice authority, so NPs do not need a collaborating physician to practice. Physician assistants still practice under a supervision agreement with a Kansas-licensed physician. Whether an NP or PA can hold ownership in a Kansas medical entity depends on the entity type and should be reviewed with counsel.

Common Mistakes in Kansas

• Forming a general LLC or corporation to employ physicians. Under Early Detection Center, that is the core violation.
• A “physician owner” in name only. If the MSO controls clinical decisions, the structure is a sham and creates risk for the physician and the business.
• Percentage-of-revenue management fees, which look like fee-splitting.
• Filing as a “P.C.” Kansas medical entities use “P.A.”
• Assuming the 2019 certificate law applies to you. Unless you are an employer clinic, a qualifying health carrier, or an EMR company running worksite clinics, it does not.

How Access Plus Health Helps

Access Plus Health structures physician-owned entities for non-physician-owned healthcare businesses in Kansas and nationwide: a Kansas-licensed physician owner, an MSA drafted for Kansas law, fair-market-value fee structures, and supervising physicians for PA-staffed practices. To discuss your Kansas structure, book a consultation call.

Sources: Early Detection Center, Inc. v. Wilson, 248 Kan. 869 (1991); St. Francis Regional Medical Center v. Weiss (Kan.); Central Kansas Medical Center v. Hatesohl (Kan. 2016); K.S.A. 17-2706 et seq.; K.S.A. 65-28,134; K.S.A. 65-28,135; K.S.A. 40-2,210 et seq.; Kansas State Board of Healing Arts. Last reviewed October 2026. This article is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice.

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