How Role Schedules Work in Multidisciplinary Clinic Contractor Agreements
A multidisciplinary clinic may work with several types of healthcare practitioners under the same clinic brand.
The clinic may want consistent terms governing payment, confidentiality, privacy, insurance and termination. At the same time, the services and professional responsibilities of each practitioner may be different.
One way to address this is through a master independent contractor agreement supported by profession specific role schedules.
The master agreement establishes the general contractual relationship. Each role schedule then describes the services, compensation and responsibilities associated with a particular practitioner role.
This structure can provide consistency without treating every practitioner as though they perform the same work.
What Is a Role Schedule?
A role schedule is a document attached to and incorporated into a master independent contractor agreement.
It supplements the general provisions of the master agreement. It does not normally operate as a complete agreement by itself.
The master agreement may contain terms that apply across the clinic, while the schedule contains details that are specific to the practitioner.
For example, the master agreement may address confidentiality, invoicing procedures, insurance, termination and dispute resolution. The schedule may identify:
The practitioner’s professional role
The services the practitioner will provide
The practitioner’s qualifications
The compensation structure
Documentation responsibilities
Professional requirements
Service boundaries
Additional insurance requirements
Responsibilities relating to client records
Procedures specific to that role
The master agreement and applicable schedule should be read together.
Why Multidisciplinary Clinics Use Role Schedules
A clinic may begin with one practitioner and one contractor agreement. As the clinic grows, it may add practitioners from different professions.
If every new practitioner receives a completely separate agreement, the clinic may eventually have several documents containing inconsistent general terms.
One agreement may require thirty days of notice to terminate, while another requires sixty days. One may contain detailed confidentiality obligations, while another says very little about confidential information. Payment provisions may also be described differently even where the clinic follows the same process.
Role schedules can help the clinic maintain consistent general terms while tailoring the provisions that need to be different.
This structure may be particularly useful for a clinic working with:
Psychotherapists
Social workers
Nurse practitioners
Peer support workers
Other regulated or unregulated service providers
The clinic does not need to pretend that these practitioners have identical responsibilities. Instead, it can establish a general contractual framework and then address profession specific matters in the schedules.
What May Be Addressed in the Master Agreement?
The master agreement generally addresses contractual terms that the clinic intends to apply consistently.
Depending on the clinic’s operations, these may include:
The nature of the contractor relationship
General invoicing and payment procedures
Confidentiality
Privacy and information security
Insurance
Use of clinic technology
Ownership and use of clinic materials
Representations made by the contractor
Termination rights
Responsibilities when the relationship ends
Liability and responsibility for claims
Dispute resolution
General notice requirements
The master agreement should still be tailored to the clinic. A document prepared for an unrelated business may not address the privacy, client care and professional issues that arise in a healthcare setting.
The clinic should also ensure that its practices are consistent with the agreement. A written document describing an independent relationship will not determine contractor status if the clinic operates the relationship as employment in practice.
What May Be Addressed in the Role Schedule?
The role schedule focuses on the practitioner’s particular services and responsibilities.
The appropriate provisions depend on the profession and the clinic’s operating model. A schedule may address:
The services the practitioner is engaged to provide
The limits of the practitioner’s role
Required qualifications or registration
The location or method of service delivery
Compensation calculations
Administrative or clinic fees
Client scheduling responsibilities
Documentation requirements
Client record responsibilities
Professional liability insurance
Compliance with applicable professional standards
Role specific termination responsibilities
The schedule should be detailed enough to clarify the role without creating terms that contradict the intended contractor relationship.
For example, the clinic may need to establish service expectations and protect clients without exercising the degree of control normally associated with an employment relationship.
Example of a Multidisciplinary Clinic Structure
Consider an Ontario virtual clinic that engages a psychotherapist, social worker, nurse practitioner and peer support worker.
The clinic may want every contractor to comply with general requirements concerning:
Confidentiality
Secure use of the clinic’s technology
Invoicing procedures
Insurance
Client communications
Termination
Use of the clinic’s name and materials
Those terms may be addressed in the master agreement.
The schedule for each role can then address the differences.
The psychotherapist schedule may describe psychotherapy services, applicable registration requirements and documentation responsibilities.
The social worker schedule may describe the social work or psychotherapy services the practitioner will provide and the professional requirements relevant to that role.
The nurse practitioner schedule may address the particular healthcare services contemplated by the clinic, along with applicable qualifications, insurance and documentation responsibilities.
The peer support schedule may clearly define the nature and limits of peer support services, required qualifications and the boundaries between peer support and regulated clinical services.
Each practitioner signs the master agreement together with the schedule that applies to their role.
This provides a connected contract structure without requiring every practitioner to receive identical role provisions.
Role Schedules for Psychotherapists
A psychotherapist role schedule may identify the psychotherapy services the practitioner will provide through the clinic.
Depending on the arrangement, it may also address:
Registration requirements
The practitioner’s responsibility to remain in good standing
Client documentation
Informed consent responsibilities
Virtual service delivery
Compensation
Insurance requirements
Communication with clients
Professional standards
Responsibilities when services end
The agreement should not suggest that compliance with clinic procedures replaces the psychotherapist’s independent professional obligations.
The schedule should instead explain how the practitioner’s professional responsibilities operate within the clinic’s service model.
Role Schedules for Social Workers
A social worker schedule may require separate consideration even where the clinic already has a psychotherapist schedule.
The clinic should identify the services the social worker is expected to provide and whether those services include psychotherapy.
Depending on the arrangement, the schedule may address:
The practitioner’s registration and qualifications
The services provided through the clinic
Client documentation
Consent responsibilities
Insurance
Compensation
Client communication
Professional standards
Service boundaries
Transition responsibilities when the relationship ends
A clinic should not assume that a document prepared for a psychotherapist can be used for a social worker without further review.
Even where the practitioners provide similar services, their professional frameworks and individual responsibilities may differ.
Role Schedules for Nurse Practitioners
A nurse practitioner may provide services that are substantially different from the clinic’s psychotherapy or social work services.
The nurse practitioner schedule should accurately describe the services contemplated by the clinic and the responsibilities associated with those services.
Depending on the arrangement, the schedule may address:
The services the nurse practitioner will provide
Registration and professional requirements
Insurance
Documentation
Client records
Virtual care, where applicable
Compensation
Use of clinic systems
Client communications
Responsibilities when the engagement ends
The clinic should ensure that its marketing, client documents and contractor agreement consistently describe the nurse practitioner’s role.
If the nurse practitioner relationship differs significantly from the clinic’s other contractor relationships, a separate agreement may be more appropriate than a schedule.
Role Schedules for Peer Support Workers
Peer support workers may be unregulated, but this does not mean that the contractual relationship should be left undefined.
A peer support schedule can help the clinic describe the services being offered and establish clear boundaries.
Depending on the clinic’s model, the schedule may address:
The nature of peer support services
The limits of the worker’s role
Required training or qualifications
Confidentiality
Client documentation
Escalation procedures
Communication with regulated practitioners
Compensation
Insurance, where appropriate
Responsibilities when the relationship ends
The clinic should avoid describing peer support services in a manner that suggests the worker is providing a regulated service they are not authorized to provide.
The contractor agreement, client consent documents and clinic marketing should describe the service consistently.
Compensation Should Be Clear in Each Schedule
Practitioners working through the same clinic may not have identical compensation arrangements.
One practitioner may receive a percentage of collected fees. Another may receive a fixed amount for each completed appointment. Another arrangement may involve an administrative fee charged by the clinic.
The schedule should clearly explain:
How compensation is calculated
When the practitioner becomes entitled to payment
Whether payment depends on the clinic receiving payment from the client
How cancellations and missed appointments are handled
How refunds or payment disputes are treated
Whether taxes apply
When invoices must be submitted
What happens to outstanding amounts after termination
The payment provisions should reflect how the clinic actually administers compensation.
A vague reference to a percentage or clinic fee may not be sufficient if the agreement does not explain the amount against which the percentage is calculated.
Role Schedules and Client Records
Client record responsibilities can be complicated in a multidisciplinary clinic.
The schedule may need to address:
Which system the practitioner uses for documentation
When records should be completed
Who may access the information
How corrections are addressed
How privacy concerns are reported
What happens to records when the practitioner leaves
How requests for access are handled
The contract should align with applicable privacy legislation and the practitioner’s professional obligations.
The agreement cannot simply declare that the clinic owns every record if the legal and professional responsibilities do not support that conclusion. The clinic should consider its actual role, the practitioner’s role and how services are presented to clients.
Can the Same Schedule Be Used for Every Practitioner in One Profession?
A clinic may be able to use the same general role schedule for practitioners performing substantially similar services.
However, the clinic should still review the individual arrangement.
Practitioners within the same profession may have different:
Compensation arrangements
Service areas
Insurance coverage
Scheduling responsibilities
Corporate structures
Program responsibilities
Negotiated contractual terms
Some differences may be addressed by completing variable information in the schedule. Material differences may require amendments or a separate agreement.
When Is a Separate Agreement Better?
A role schedule is not always the best solution.
A separate agreement may be more appropriate where:
The practitioner provides a distinct service outside the clinic’s usual model
The payment structure is materially different
The practitioner operates a separate program
The practitioner has different record responsibilities
The practitioner is engaged through a corporation and requires distinct terms
Important provisions have been separately negotiated
The relationship does not fit comfortably within the master agreement
The goal should not be to force every relationship into the same template. The agreement structure should reflect the clinic’s actual relationships.
Adding a New Professional Role
When a clinic adds a new type of practitioner, it should not automatically use an existing role schedule.
The clinic should first consider:
What services the new practitioner will provide
Whether the role is regulated
Which professional standards apply
How the practitioner will be paid
Who will be responsible for client records
What insurance is required
How clients will be informed about the service
Whether existing consent forms remain appropriate
Whether the clinic’s privacy policy requires changes
Whether the master agreement remains suitable
The clinic can then determine whether to prepare a new schedule, amend the master agreement or use a separate practitioner agreement.
Common Problems With Role Schedules
Role schedules may create problems when:
The master agreement and schedule contradict each other
The schedule does not clearly identify which terms it changes
The services are described too broadly
Compensation calculations are incomplete
Professional requirements are copied from another profession
Record responsibilities are unclear
The clinic uses the same schedule for regulated and unregulated roles
The documents do not reflect the clinic’s actual practices
The schedule has been updated but the master agreement has not
The agreement does not explain what happens when the practitioner leaves
The documents should be reviewed as one complete contract. A well drafted schedule cannot correct every problem in an unsuitable master agreement.
When Should a Clinic Review Its Role Schedules?
A clinic should consider reviewing its master agreement and role schedules when:
It adds a new profession
It changes its compensation structure
It begins offering virtual services
It changes its client record system
It introduces a new service
It changes its privacy procedures
A practitioner begins contracting through a corporation
It experiences a difficult practitioner departure
Professional requirements affecting a role change
The agreements no longer reflect the clinic’s operations
The clinic should also check whether its contractor agreements remain consistent with its consent forms, privacy documents and client communications.
Legal Support for Multidisciplinary Clinic Agreements
A master independent contractor agreement with profession specific role schedules can provide a consistent contract structure for a growing multidisciplinary clinic.
However, the master agreement and each schedule should reflect the clinic’s actual services, payment arrangements and practitioner relationships.
Delta Law assists Ontario multidisciplinary clinics with master clinic independent contractor agreements, profession specific role schedules and separate practitioner agreements.
If you are opening a clinic, adding a new professional role or replacing inconsistent contractor agreements, we can help you determine an appropriate agreement structure.
Book a Consultation to discuss your multidisciplinary clinic contractor agreements.
