Georgia repealed its formal corporate-practice-of-medicine statute in 1982 and has no standalone doctrine; it controls who performs services and applies professional-entity ownership rules instead. A standard LLC owned by a non-licensee may employ licensed professionals (O.C.G.A. § 14-11-100 et seq.), while a Professional Corporation must be owned by licensees actively engaged in the profession (O.C.G.A. §§ 14-7-3 to 14-7-5). Georgia has no PLLC. Behavior analysts are now licensed under a new chapter and board (O.C.G.A. Title 43, Chapter 7A; Georgia Behavior Analyst Licensing Board).
The nine criteria at a glance
- Why Georgia has no standalone corporate-practice doctrine
- ABA is now a licensed profession in Georgia
- The entity menu: no PLLC, so LLC or PC
- Who is allowed to own the practice
- What a management services organization actually is
- When you would still want an MSO in Georgia
- How Georgia would evaluate your arrangement
- Fee design and the referral fee-sharing rule
- Keeping clinical judgment with the clinician
- How this connects to the rest of your compliance stack
- Setting it up in Georgia: the sequence
- Georgia MSO variables at a glance
- Frequently asked questions
- Where professional advice is essential
Why Georgia has no standalone corporate-practice doctrine
Georgia repealed its formal corporate-practice-of-medicine statute in 1982 (the former O.C.G.A. § 43-34-37(9)), and no higher court has clearly revived the doctrine since. The current approach is different from both the strict states and the openly permissive ones: rather than ban corporate ownership, Georgia regulates who may perform professional services and folds corporate-practice principles into licensure, fee-sharing, and professional-entity rules (O.C.G.A. § 43-34-37). The practical headline, confirmed by Georgia healthcare counsel, is that non-licensees can own medical and other professional practices in Georgia, provided clinical decisions stay with the licensee and the structure respects the fee-sharing and referral rules.
ABA is now a licensed profession in Georgia
This is recent. Georgia created the Georgia Behavior Analyst Licensing Board and provided for the licensure of behavior analysts and assistant behavior analysts (O.C.G.A. Title 43, Chapter 7A, Practice of Applied Behavior Analysis; the unlicensed-practice provision is at O.C.G.A. § 43-7A-6). The board is operational and reviewing applications, with a licensure application deadline set for April 1, 2026. BCBA certification is the basis for the license. So the people delivering ABA in Georgia must now hold the Georgia license, even though the entity that employs them is not restricted to licensees the way it is in a strict state.
The entity menu: no PLLC, so LLC or PC
Georgia is one of the states that does not offer a Professional Limited Liability Company. Licensed professionals use one of three forms: a standard LLC under the LLC Act (O.C.G.A. § 14-11-100 et seq.), a Professional Corporation under the Professional Corporation Act (O.C.G.A. Title 14, Chapter 7), or a Professional Association (O.C.G.A. Title 14, Chapter 10). The choice matters for ownership: the standard LLC is open to non-licensee owners, while the PC and PA are restricted to licensees.
Who is allowed to own the practice
Because there is no standalone corporate-practice ban, a standard LLC owned by a non-licensee can own an ABA practice and employ licensed behavior analysts, unless the relevant board specifically prohibits it. If you instead choose a Professional Corporation, only persons licensed in Georgia and actively engaged in the profession may be shareholders, and only licensed officers, employees, and agents may deliver the professional services (O.C.G.A. §§ 14-7-3, 14-7-4, 14-7-5). So the ownership question in Georgia is decided by which entity form you pick, not by a blanket doctrine.
In Georgia the LLC is the flexible path: a non-licensee can own it and employ licensed behavior analysts. The Professional Corporation is the licensee-only path. You choose the lane.
What a management services organization actually is
An MSO is a separate company that provides the non-clinical side of a practice to a clinical entity. The clinical entity employs the licensed clinicians; the MSO employs everyone else and runs the business. A management services agreement ties them together, and the clinical entity pays the MSO a fee. In strict states the split is mandatory because the clinical entity must stay licensee-owned. In Georgia you can often skip it by using a non-licensee-owned LLC, but the model still has uses.
Business and administrative functions
- Billing and collections
- Scheduling and intake logistics
- Real estate, equipment, and facilities
- Technology and data systems
- Non-clinical HR, marketing, finance
Clinical judgment, in every model
- Clinical and treatment decisions
- Behavior intervention plans
- Clinical supervision
- Professional judgment
- The licensee delivering the professional service
When you would still want an MSO in Georgia
The MSO model still earns its place in three situations. First, the Professional Corporation route: if you want or need a PC for some reason, it must be licensee-owned, and an MSO is how outside capital participates. Second, multistate scale: a single management company across separate, locally compliant clinical entities is cleaner than a different structure in each state. Third, private equity, which prefers a clean, sellable management company. See the practice expansion and sale page for the transaction view.
How Georgia would evaluate your arrangement
Georgia looks at who performs the services and whether the structure respects fee-sharing rules, more than at ownership alone. These are the factors that keep a structure clean.
Licensed practitioners
Is everyone delivering ABA licensed under the new chapter (O.C.G.A. Title 43, Chapter 7A)?
Entity form matches ownership
Is a non-licensee owner using an LLC, not a PC or PA that requires licensee ownership (O.C.G.A. 14-7-3)?
Clinical decision authority
Do the licensed clinicians, not the management company, control treatment, assessment, and clinical staffing?
No improper fee-sharing for referrals
Does the fee avoid sharing professional fees with non-licensees for patient referrals?
Fair-market-value fee
If you use an MSO, does the fee track real services rather than disguise a referral payment?
Federal overlay for Medicaid
For Medicaid clients under Ava's Law coverage, does the structure satisfy the federal anti-kickback statute?
Fee design and the referral fee-sharing rule
Georgia does not impose a percentage-fee ban, so an MSO fee can be fixed, cost-plus, or a percentage, with fixed and cost-plus the safest because they trace to documented services. The Georgia-specific concern folded into the licensure statutes is improper fee-sharing with non-licensees for patient referrals (O.C.G.A. § 43-34-37). Design the fee so it pays for management services, not for referrals. For Medicaid clients, the federal anti-kickback statute applies on top (42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(b)).
Keeping clinical judgment with the clinician
Even without a standalone doctrine, Georgia keeps the principle that the licensee must control the professional service. A non-licensee owner can run the business, but the licensed behavior analyst must retain authority over assessment, treatment, and clinical supervision. Write the operating documents so the business side cannot override clinical decisions, and you stay within Georgia's framework.
How this connects to the rest of your compliance stack
Ownership is one layer. Three others interact with it directly:
- Payor and Medicaid disclosure. Your real ownership stack, including any MSO, is disclosed at enrollment and revalidation (42 C.F.R. Part 455). See Medicaid and insurance mandates.
- Facility licensure. A change in the service model can affect facility and records obligations. See facility licensure and HIPAA.
- Entity structure. The no-PLLC reality and the LLC-versus-PC choice are their own analysis. See entity structures for ABA practices.
Setting it up in Georgia: the sequence
- License the practitioners. Everyone delivering ABA must hold the Georgia behavior-analyst license (O.C.G.A. Title 43, Chapter 7A); note the application deadlines the board has set.
- Choose the entity form. A standard LLC (non-licensee ownership permitted; O.C.G.A. 14-11-100 et seq.) or a Professional Corporation (licensee-owned; O.C.G.A. 14-7-3 to 14-7-5). Georgia has no PLLC.
- Decide whether you even need an MSO. For a single-state LLC with non-licensee owners, often not. For a PC, multistate, or PE, build one.
- If using an MSO, paper it to pay for services, not referrals. Set the fee to fair market value and avoid improper fee-sharing (O.C.G.A. 43-34-37).
- Preserve clinical control. Keep clinical judgment and supervision with the licensed behavior analyst.
- Confirm with Georgia healthcare counsel. The new licensure chapter and the entity choice should be reviewed together.
Georgia MSO variables at a glance
| Variable | Georgia value |
|---|---|
| Is ABA a licensed profession? | Yes, newly; Georgia Behavior Analyst Licensing Board (O.C.G.A. Title 43, Chapter 7A) |
| Corporate-practice doctrine | No standalone doctrine; formal statute repealed 1982; principles in O.C.G.A. § 43-34-37 |
| PLLC available? | No; use a standard LLC or a Professional Corporation |
| Non-licensee ownership of the practice | Permitted through a standard LLC (O.C.G.A. § 14-11-100 et seq.) |
| Professional Corporation ownership | Licensees actively engaged in the profession only (O.C.G.A. §§ 14-7-3 to 14-7-5) |
| Is an MSO required? | No. Usually optional; used for a PC structure, multistate scale, or PE |
| Percentage management fee | Not banned; improper fee-sharing for referrals is restricted (O.C.G.A. § 43-34-37) |
| Transaction-notice or PE-review law | None as of June 2026 |
| Key authorities | O.C.G.A. Title 43, Chapter 7A; O.C.G.A. Title 14, Chapters 7, 10, 11; O.C.G.A. § 43-34-37 |
Frequently asked questions
Do I need an MSO to run an ABA practice in Georgia?
Can a non-licensed investor own my Georgia ABA practice?
Does Georgia have a PLLC?
Are behavior analysts licensed in Georgia?
Does Georgia require notice before a practice sale or investment?
Where professional advice is essential, not optional
Georgia's flexibility comes with a catch: the answer depends on the entity form you choose and on the fee-sharing rules, and the behavior-analyst licensure is brand new. Confirm both with Georgia healthcare counsel before bringing in an outside owner or building an MSO.
The governing authorities to know are the Practice of Applied Behavior Analysis chapter (O.C.G.A. Title 43, Chapter 7A, with the unlicensed-practice provision at O.C.G.A. § 43-7A-6), the Professional Corporation Act (O.C.G.A. Title 14, Chapter 7, especially the licensee-shareholder rules at §§ 14-7-3 to 14-7-5), the LLC Act (O.C.G.A. § 14-11-100 et seq.), and the licensure and fee-sharing provisions at O.C.G.A. § 43-34-37, with the federal anti-kickback statute (42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(b)) layered on for Medicaid.
This page describes general patterns in a regulatory environment that changes, and Georgia's behavior-analyst licensure is brand new. The Georgia Behavior Analyst Licensing Board, the Georgia Secretary of State, the Georgia Composite Medical Board, and qualified counsel provide current requirements. Neither this page nor any secondary source should be relied on in place of direct verification with the relevant authorities and counsel.