An organizational structure of the future. The not-for-profit clinic

It used to be unthinkable . How could a small, freestanding group practice attain tax-exempt status without engaging in teaching or research activities? In the late 1960s, four internists in northeastern Ohio did just that. This case study chronicles their ordeal in seeking, obtaining, and maintaining a not-for-profit designation from the IRS, and closely examines the laws which detail tax-exempt qualifications. Undoubtedly, there are freedoms relinquished when a group operates under the close scrutiny of the IRS, but the numerous benefits gained by the not-for-profit clinic could well make it the organizational structure of the future.