Independent contractor or employee? It's a question that is becoming as cliché as tomato or tom-mah-to. But before you call the whole thing off, sample an analysis by Nathaniel Lacktman and Richard Werblow of Foley & Lardner that focuses on classifying telemedicine providers.

The authors say the issue is not as simple as looking at the contract between the doctors and the company. A filing from Texas-based Teladoc's upcoming initial public offering is illustrative of this, as it states, “although we believe that our providers are properly characterized as independent contractors, tax or other regulatory authorities may in the future challenge our characterization of these relationships.”

The Internal Revenue Service has come up with a 20-factor test for this situation. Lacktman and Werblow note it's not conclusive, but provides a general framework to examine relationships between a company and the people with whom it contracts. “The central theme is the concept of direction and control of a worker,” say the authors. Authorities will analyze issues such as instructions, training, integration, work hours, payment and expenses.