Marketing free services legal? - Follow up question

Question:

Jennifer,

Thank you for answering my question!  Now my follow up, and please keep my identity anonymous. What if I wanted to offer some free services?  What would you recommend? Are there any protections I can put in place to offset risk?

Thanks again, 

Dr. C

Answer:

Well, to start, we should definitely discuss offline what it is you want to market, to whom (non-insured, insured, etc), what value the services have, how often you will agree to render and how well you will document the offering and rendering.  I also will want to know whether claims will be submitted to insurance by you or possibly the patient of the service - is the service reimbursable to start? 

Once you market - whether online or in print the offering is obviously out there. So, my feeling is you have to commit and fully document, you also should have the offering itself and the language vetted by competent healthcare counsel. 

We will discuss in more detail offline.