Operator deep page (statute cites, PC vs MSO table, Foundry formation CTA): Iowa CPOM on the CPOM 50-state guide. Pair it with CPOM compliance and MSO-PC formation ($15,000). A friendly PC owner is $3,000/mo.
Iowa is Moderate, not a no-rules state. Official Iowa Code § 496C.7(1) (Iowa Code 2026) lets a professional corporation practice in this state only through shareholders, directors, officers, employees, and agents who are licensed to practice the same profession in this state. Official § 148.1 treats holding-out, prescribing, and acting as a representative in those acts as the practice of medicine.
Share rules founders actually cite
Official § 496C.10 limits issuance to licensed individuals and bars joint ownership of shares. Official § 496C.11 limits voluntary transfer to the corporation or an individual licensed in Iowa to practice a profession the corporation is authorized to practice. Official § 148.2 is a carve-out list (patent medicines, supervised students, other licensed professions). It is not a digital-health waiver.
What Des Moines founders should do
- Form an Iowa professional corporation owned by an Iowa-licensed MD or DO.
- Keep § 496C.10 / § 496C.11 in the share file. Do not issue shares jointly to a founder and a physician.
- Pay the MSO a fixed or FMV-supported admin fee, not a percentage of collections.
- If you also treat Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin, or Kansas patients, open those deep pages. Iowa’s Moderate label does not control them.
Full operator file: Iowa CPOM. Doctrine map: CPOM 50-state guide. Last reviewed 20 September 2026.