Can a Tennessee Practice Pay a Biller a Percentage?

A Tennessee practice should not choose a percentage billing fee from a generic national template. Physician fee-splitting provisions raise consent questions, and the professional license and actual service arrangement matter. A psychiatrist’s analysis should not be copied wholesale to a counselor, social worker, psychologist, or marriage and family therapist.

What does Tennessee’s physician fee-splitting provision address?

In advisory ruling MD-04-01, Tennessee’s Board of Medical Examiners discusses T.C.A. §63-6-225 and its restriction on dividing physician fees without the knowledge and consent of the person paying or charged. The ruling concerns pathology client billing and explains the Board’s analysis in that setting.

That is useful primary evidence of an issue to investigate. It is not a general approval of a modern outsourced billing contract or a universal ban covering every mental-health license. The current statute, applicable profession, and proposed agreement need review together.

Is a patient-consent sentence enough?

Do not treat one sentence as a complete solution. Ask Tennessee healthcare counsel who needs to know what, whose consent matters in the actual payment arrangement, and what other rules affect the vendor’s services. A vendor should not promise that adding boilerplate makes any percentage lawful.

Bring the complete contract. Include administrative work, referrals, marketing, collection responsibilities, access to bank accounts, and any management role. Those facts are more useful than asking whether percentages are always allowed or always prohibited.

What if I am an LPC, LCSW, LMFT, or psychologist?

Identify the practice act, board rules, and applicable professional requirements for your own credential. The cited advisory ruling is a medical-board ruling about physicians. A mixed group may need more than one profession’s framework reviewed.

Ask the reviewer to state the scope of their conclusion: which clinicians, which services, and which compensation arrangement it covers. That makes the answer usable if the group later adds a psychiatrist or expands services.

Can fixed billing fees still support a team relationship?

Yes. A service agreement can define who follows denials, reconciles payments, and tells the practice what information is missing. A fixed monthly or per-claim price does not prevent that accountability. It does mean you should understand how the company earns its fee and what happens when work exceeds the expected scope.

Bomi prefers collections-based pricing where permitted because appropriate payment benefits both teams. Its restricted-state per-claim clause applies when the percentage fee is prohibited. This article does not label every Tennessee arrangement restricted or claim that a different fee unit automatically resolves the legal questions.

How do I get a useful quote?

Give the biller your approximate original-claim volume, current follow-up needs, EHR, clinician licenses, and desired services. Request a fee example and a written description of what happens after submission. Take the proposed agreement to counsel before relying on its legal structure.

This guide is educational information. The Board’s advisory ruling was checked October 23, 2026; its historical and subject-matter limits are part of the analysis.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Tennessee’s pathology advisory ruling approve percentage billing for my therapy practice?

No. It discusses a physician-fee statute in a specific setting. It is a source for issues to review, not a blanket approval for every profession or contract.

Should I assume all Tennessee therapists must use per-claim pricing?

No. Determine the applicable profession and restrictions first. Then select a fee structure that fits the actual arrangement.

Sources and scope

Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners: MD-04-01, especially pages 7–9

Related questions

Read the national fee-splitting guide

See Bomi’s current pricing or talk through your practice’s billing needs.