Contracts and account ownership

The contract decides what happens when the relationship ends, and every relationship ends eventually. Getting ownership right at the start costs nothing. Fixing it later can cost the website, the phone numbers and years of ad history.

The practice owns; the agency is a user

Each of these should be registered to the practice, using a practice email address that the owner controls, with the agency added as a user or manager:

• Domain name: the practice is the registrant, and the owner can log in to the registrar.
• Website and hosting: the hosting account is in the practice’s name, or the contract says the site and its files transfer to you on request.
• Google Business Profile: the practice is the primary owner. See the GBP ownership chapter.
• Ad accounts: Google, Meta and any others are created by the practice, with the agency given access. You keep the history and the billing when you leave.
• Analytics and Search Console: owned by a practice account, with the agency as a user.
• Social media profiles: owned by the practice, with the agency as a manager.

Call-tracking numbers

Tracking numbers end up on your profile, your ads and your website, and patients save them. Ask whether the numbers can be transferred to the practice when you leave, and get the answer in the contract. Call recordings often contain health information, so ask where they are stored and who can hear them, and check your state’s call-recording consent rules.

Business associate agreements

Under HIPAA, a vendor that creates, receives, stores or transmits protected health information for the practice is generally a business associate, and the practice needs a signed business associate agreement before sharing that information. Marketing vendors can fall into this category when they handle call recordings, form submissions, patient lists for email or texting, or review software connected to your patient records. If a vendor handles patient information and won’t sign one, don’t give them the information. Texting and calling campaigns also raise consent rules of their own. The compliance guides are the place to start, and a healthcare attorney can tell you what applies to your situation.

Termination and handover

• The minimum term, whether it renews automatically, and how much notice cancellation takes.
• Who owns the website design, content, photos and ad creative you paid for.
• What the agency hands over when you leave, and how quickly: logins, files, website backup, tracking numbers, reports.
• Any fees to leave early or to release your accounts and files.

Have an attorney read it

Agency contracts are written by the agency. Have an attorney, ideally one who works with healthcare practices, read the contract before you sign, especially any pricing tied to patients or revenue, the business associate agreement and the termination terms. This guide is not legal advice.