What Healthcare Investors Should Learn from California's CPOM Actions

Healthcare organizations can no longer rely on paperwork alone to prove compliance: Regulators increasingly expect concrete proof that governance structures operate in practice as described in the abstract. In this episode of "Counsel That Cares," healthcare attorney Shalyn Watkins and Camino Strategy Group CEO Phoebe Gutierrez examine how California's Corporate Practice of Medicine (CPOM) doctrine is shaping healthcare transactions, digital health platforms and investor-backed healthcare organizations. Using the recent Carbon Health settlement, ongoing litigation and broader enforcement trends as examples, they explain why regulators are looking beyond contract language to scrutinize operational decision-making, physician independence and management company control, while offering practical guidance for organizations seeking to structure and expand healthcare businesses in California's increasingly active regulatory environment.