Disputes almost never start with the rate. They start with a definition that was obvious to both sides and meant different things.
The nine
| Term | Question to settle | Why it matters later |
|---|---|---|
| Basis of share | Billed or collected? | Decides who absorbs a deduction |
| Deduction treatment | Shared, or borne by one side? | The commonest source of dispute |
| Pending collections | Held, or dropped from the payout? | A dropped line looks like a reduction |
| Payout cycle | What date, against what cut-off? | Determines when work becomes money |
| Statement detail | Case-level, or a total? | A total cannot be checked |
| Dispute route | Who decides, and in what time? | Prevents an argument becoming a standoff |
| Exclusivity | Full, partial, or none? | Constrains other practice |
| Notice period | Both directions, equal? | Asymmetric notice is common |
| Records at exit | What can you take? | Continuity of care for your patients |
Row five is the one to insist on
A case-level statement makes every other term verifiable. Without it, the basis of share and the treatment of deductions are assertions rather than arrangements, because there is no way to test whether either was applied as agreed.
The exit row is not pessimism
Agreeing at the start what happens to patient continuity at the end is a clinical question before it is a commercial one. It is also far easier to settle when neither party has a reason to be difficult about it.
Questions we get asked
What should a doctor check in a hospital consultancy agreement?
Whether the share is computed on billed or collected value, how deductions are treated, whether pending collections are held or dropped, the payout cycle and cut-off, and above all whether the statement is case-level. A case-level statement is what makes every other term verifiable rather than asserted.
What causes most consultant payment disputes?
A definition both sides thought was obvious. Deduction treatment is the commonest: the agreement says a percentage without stating whether it applies before or after a payer reduces the claim, and each side reads it the way that suits them until a large deduction makes the difference visible.
On the figures in this piece. Every rupee amount above is arithmetic on the assumptions stated beside it, not a market statistic. Where you need published Indian claim data with its source named, that sits on claim data. We publish no figure we cannot show the working for.