Healthcare organizations in Louisiana face a complex regulatory landscape shaped by strict Corporate Practice of Medicine enforcement, profession-specific statutory frameworks, and comprehensive licensing board oversight. Louisiana employs profession-specific statutory frameworks: medical corporations under La. R.S. 12:901 et seq., dental corporations under La. R.S. 12:981 et seq., and general healthcare LLCs under La. R.S. 12:1301 et seq.. The Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners actively enforces these requirements through civil injunctive proceedings and criminal prosecution for unauthorized practice, while maintaining that corporations controlling physician medical judgment violate state law. This multi-layered compliance environment requires healthcare administrators to navigate formation requirements, annual obligations, and professional licensing coordination with precision.
Louisiana recognizes three primary professional entity types for healthcare organizations: Professional Corporations (PCs) governed by La. R.S. 12:901-915 for medical and podiatric practices, Professional Limited Liability Companies (PLLCs) authorized under La. R.S. 12:982.1 for dental practices with explicit authorization and under general LLC provisions for other professions, and Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) available under La. R.S. 9:3422 without healthcare-specific restrictions.
Louisiana's Professional Corporation framework operates through profession-specific statutes rather than a single comprehensive law. La. R.S. 12:902 specifies that "one or more natural persons of full age and duly licensed to practice medicine or podiatry in this state may form a corporation under the provisions of Chapter 1 of this Title for the sole and specific purpose of practicing medicine or podiatry."
Louisiana separates medical and dental practice authority: medical/podiatric practices form under La. R.S. 12:901 et seq., while dental practices form under La. R.S. 12:981 et seq.. Both require 100% ownership by licensed practitioners and restrict activities to professional practice under La. R.S. 12:904.
Louisiana's PLLC framework presents a bifurcated structure. Dentistry has explicit PLLC authorization under La. R.S. 12:982.1. Medical and other healthcare professionals must rely on general LLC provisions in Title 12, Chapter 8, which lack healthcare-specific guidance.
PLLCs provide pass-through taxation, eliminating the corporate-level income tax (3.5%-7.5% tiered rates) that applies to Professional Corporations taxed as C Corporations.
Louisiana definitively enforces the Corporate Practice of Medicine doctrine through comprehensive statutory law and active regulatory oversight by the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners. The LSBME's December 2024 Statement of Position provides the current enforcement standard, explicitly stating that "only corporations organized under the Professional Medical Corporations Act may be authorized to practice medicine as only these corporations can be owned by physicians."
The regulatory framework establishes that a corporation that "controls or directs the manner in which a physician provides medical services, thereby infringing on the physician's independent medical judgment or interposing itself in the physician-patient relationship" engages in unauthorized practice of medicine.
Non-medical corporate employment of physicians is permissible if the corporation doesn't interfere with medical judgment. This permits Management Services Organizations (MSOs) providing administrative services without controlling clinical decisions. Hospital employment is generally permitted with intact physician autonomy.
Healthcare professionals can form Professional Corporations for $60 or Professional Limited Liability Companies for $75 in Louisiana, according to the Louisiana Secretary of State Official Fee Schedule.
Form your entity through the Louisiana Secretary of State geauxBIZ online portal or by mail. Name reservation ($25, optional) secures your desired name before filing. All shareholders/members must hold current Louisiana professional licenses. Include required designators: "Professional Corporation" or "P.C." for PCs, or approved LLC designators for PLLCs. Contact the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners at (504) 568-6820 to confirm entity formation approval requirements, as no explicit requirement appears in publicly available online resources.
Louisiana healthcare professional entities face annual compliance obligations: annual reports due on the entity's formation anniversary date, corporate income tax filings for entities taxed as corporations, and no franchise tax effective January 1, 2026 following legislative repeal.
Professional Corporations ($30) and PLLCs ($35) must file annual reports on the entity's formation anniversary date through the geauxBIZ portal. Required information includes current registered agent with physical Louisiana address. Entities failing to file become "not in good standing," affecting contract and loan eligibility. Three consecutive years of non-filing triggers administrative dissolution.
Louisiana requires all professional corporations taxed as C corporations and other entities taxed as corporations for federal income tax purposes with Louisiana-source income to file corporate income tax returns. Returns are due on the 15th day of the fifth month following the close of the accounting period (typically May 15 for calendar year filers).
Tax Rates (Tiered Structure):
Filing Requirements: The Louisiana Department of Revenue mandates filing regardless of net income if the entity has Louisiana-source income. Estimated tax payments are required when tax liability is expected to be $1,000 or more, with quarterly payments due based on when the requirement is met.
Entity-Specific Treatment: Professional corporations default to C Corporation taxation and are subject to these tiered rates. Professional Limited Liability Companies (PLLCs) default to pass-through entity taxation and are not subject to corporate income tax at the entity level under default classification, though they may elect corporate taxation if desired.
Act No. 273 (2024), effective January 1, 2025, limits physician noncompete agreements to three years for primary care and five years for other specialties under La. R.S. 23:921. Primary care physicians and specialists in rural hospitals and FQHCs are exempt. Employment agreements exceeding these limits are unenforceable. La. R.S. 40:1223.3 was amended effective January 1, 2024, to include PLLCs and PCs in the statutory definition of "healthcare provider."
The Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners issued an official Statement of Position in December 2024 clarifying that physician employment by non-medical corporations is permissible provided the corporation doesn't interfere with physician independent medical judgment.
Louisiana physicians must complete 20 hours of Category 1 AMA-approved CME annually, plus a one-time 3-hour controlled dangerous substances CME covering prescribing best practices, drug diversion, addiction treatment, and chronic pain management. Documentation occurs through CE Broker. License renewal occurs annually on or before the licensee's birth month (Louisiana Administrative Code § XLV-1361).
Physician licenses renew annually on the first day of the licensee's birth month via the LaMED DashBoard portal. La. R.S. 12:902 requires professional medical corporations be formed by and owned by currently licensed Louisiana physicians. License lapses for shareholders jeopardize entity compliance. Licenses expired under one year can renew online with a late fee; licenses expired over one year require reinstatement applications.
Louisiana prohibits different healthcare professions from co-owning clinical practice entities. Each profession must maintain separate entities with 100% ownership by licensed practitioners in that field. La. R.S. 37:776 explicitly prohibits dentists from sharing ownership with non-dentists; parallel restrictions apply to physicians. Compliant multi-specialty structures use separate clinical entities (100% owned by respective licensed practitioners) paired with a Management Services Organization providing administrative services without controlling clinical decisions.
Yes, with restrictions. The LSBME's December 2024 Statement clarifies that non-medical corporate employment is permissible if the corporation doesn't interfere with physician medical judgment or clinical decisions. Corporations controlling physician services or interposing in physician-patient relationships engage in unauthorized practice. The LSBME enforces through civil injunctions against corporations and administrative sanctions against participating physicians, including potential license revocation.
La. R.S. 12:902 requires professional medical corporations be owned by currently licensed Louisiana physicians. A lapsed shareholder license jeopardizes entity compliance and creates unauthorized practice concerns. Licenses expired under one year can renew online with late fees; those expired over one year require reinstatement. Contact the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners at (504) 568-6820 immediately if any shareholder faces licensure issues.
The primary distinction is taxation: PCs default to C Corporation taxation (3.5%-7.5% tiered rates) though they may elect S Corporation status; PLLCs default to pass-through taxation with no entity-level tax. PCs have explicit statutory authority under La. R.S. 12:901-915; medical PLLCs rely on general LLC provisions without profession-specific guidance. Formation costs: $60 (PC) vs. $75 (PLLC). Annual reports: $30 (PC) vs. $35 (PLLC). Consult legal and tax advisors for your specific situation.
No. Louisiana prohibits multi-discipline co-ownership. Each healthcare profession must maintain separate entities with 100% ownership by licensed practitioners in that field. La. R.S. 37:776 explicitly prohibits dentists from sharing ownership with non-dentists; parallel restrictions apply to physicians under La. R.S. 12:902. Multi-specialty practices can coordinate through separate professional entities (one per discipline) paired with a Management Services Organization providing non-clinical administrative services without controlling clinical decisions.
Louisiana's compliance complexity overwhelms healthcare administrators: tracking annual reports on entity-specific anniversary dates, monitoring physician license renewals on individual birth month anniversaries, coordinating CME requirements across multiple providers, maintaining three-year/five-year noncompete compliance under Act No. 273, and managing registered agents across multiple entities.
Ready to simplify your healthcare entity compliance? Book a demo with Discern today and reduce administrative burden while maintaining compliance.
.png){kind=small}