How to open a medical practice in Los Angeles

The Medical Board of California licenses the physician and approves the agencies that accredit outpatient surgery settings.¹² CDPH licenses surgical clinics, a category that excludes offices owned or leased and run by physicians in individual or group practice, though they may apply.³

• Hold a California licence for every physician, from the Medical Board.¹
• Apply for a Fictitious Name Permit if the practice will use a name other than the physician's own.¹
• Keep clinical control with the physician. Business and Professions Code 2400 gives corporations and other artificial legal entities no professional rights, privileges or powers.⁴
• Accredit before anesthesia beyond local. Surgery with anesthesia that risks loss of life-preserving protective reflexes must be in an accredited, licensed or certified setting, and the Board's approved agencies include AAAHC and the Joint Commission.²
• Register with the DEA, then CURES. DEA requires a separate registration in each state, and California prescribers must register for CURES upon issuance of that registration.⁵⁶
• Get an NPI, then enroll. Apply through NPPES, then enroll in Medicare through PECOS, where most physicians complete the CMS-855I.⁷⁸

• The AAAHC hub
• Office-based surgery accreditation by state
• The Joint Commission hub
• Joint Commission office-based surgery accreditation

An office using only local anesthesia or a peripheral nerve block is outside the accreditation rule.² An outpatient surgery setting meets the minimum standards in Health and Safety Code 1248.15 before an approved agency accredits it.²

• Sign a transfer agreement with a local accredited or licensed acute care hospital, approved by the setting's medical staff.²
• Check admitting privileges. Surgery is permitted only by a licensee with admitting privileges at a local hospital, or with a written transfer agreement with one who has them.²
• Equip for emergencies with onsite equipment, medication and trained personnel, and a detailed emergency plan the accreditor reviews.²
• Decide on CDPH licensure if the clinic is not physician-owned, or if the physicians choose to apply.³

• The AAAHC survey checklist

Failing to provide adequate security, by liability insurance or an interindemnity trust, for claims arising from surgical procedures performed outside a general acute care hospital is unprofessional conduct, and the Medical Board decides what counts as adequate.⁹

• Buy from an acceptable source. The security must come from an admitted insurer, an eligible surplus lines insurer, an authorised cooperative or an insurer licensed in at least one state.⁹
• Know the limits on damages. Noneconomic damages against health care providers started at $350,000 for injury cases filed from 1 January 2023, rising $40,000 each January to $750,000.¹⁰
• Price for wrongful death separately. That limit started at $500,000 and rises $50,000 each January to $1,000,000.¹⁰
• Budget for privacy claims too. A negligent release of medical information carries $1,000 in nominal damages without proof of loss.¹¹

• The AAAHC clinical records guide

Each physician's Medical Board licence, and each prescriber's CURES registration. California law requires every practitioner authorised to prescribe Schedule II to V controlled substances to register for CURES once they hold a DEA registration.¹⁶

• Train every prescriber on CURES consultation, which Health and Safety Code 11165.4 makes mandatory.⁶
• Name the clinician who reviews AI-drafted clinical messages. AB 3030's disclaimer falls away once a licensed clinician has read and reviewed the message.¹²
• Keep titles honest. Since 1 January 2026, Business and Professions Code 4999.9 bars AI wording that implies care comes from a licensed person.¹³

• Training a clinic team on AI

Since 1 January 2023, every Medical Board licensee must tell each patient that they are licensed and regulated by the Board and that their licence can be checked.¹⁴ Every vendor that handles patient information signs a business associate agreement under HIPAA.¹⁵

• Ask everyone before you record. Under Penal Code 632, every party to a confidential conversation must agree before it is recorded.¹⁶
• Answer in Spanish and Korean. Spanish is spoken at home by 39.0% of city residents aged five and over, and Korean by 2.2%.¹⁷
• Post the Board's notice as a sign, on letterhead or in a signed acknowledgment kept in the record.¹⁴

• Clinic AI in Los Angeles
• US recording laws for AI scribes

The adverse event clock. Accredited outpatient settings report adverse events to the Medical Board within five days of detection, sooner for an ongoing urgent threat.²

• Expect the accreditor at least every three years. The approved agency inspects each setting on that cycle and reports a reprimand, probation or suspension to the Board within 24 hours.²
• Consult CURES before controlled substance prescriptions, as Health and Safety Code 11165.4 sets out.⁶
• Diary Medicare revalidation, every five years or when CMS asks.⁸
• Trace one patient end to end from booking to follow-up, the way a surveyor does.¹⁸

• The AAAHC mock survey