VUMC faculty and staff provide a wide range of professional services to other entities. There are other instances where professional services are provided to VUMC. Sometimes these agreements are drafted by our office, and sometimes by the other entity.
These agreements require review by the Office of Legal Affairs due to the complexities of anti-kickback and related statutes. We work closely with the reviewing attorneys, but this process can take time. Please thus, submit these matters in PEER as promptly as possible.
When preparing a scope of service for a professional services agreement, please be as detailed as possible. It is important that we are very clear what services are being provided, so that we can be sure we have met our obligations. In writing the scope, it can be helpful to think about how the contemplated activity fits into our overall mission of teaching, research, and education.
We also need a detailed budget, with indication of how the cost was calculated. It is the department's responsibility to insure that the budget reflects fair market value.