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Gainesville Health Care Center9/18/2003
ng any additional consideration from a Medicare/Medicaid patient aside from the standard rate paid by Medicare/Medicaid. 42 C.F.R. ยง 483.12(d)(3). We have found no authority from any jurisdiction which holds that an arbitration provision constitutes "consideration" in this sense; nor do we believe that the federal regulation was intended to apply to such a situation. Finally, appellee claims that the arbitration provision is invalid and unenforceable because it constitutes an act of self-dealing in violation of appellant's fiduciary duty to Ms. Brooks. In the first place, no evidence was presented sufficient to establish the existence of a fiduciary duty owed by appellant to Ms. Brooks. Moreover, assuming that a fiduciary duty did exist, we have found no authority which holds that a fiduciary breaches that duty by entering into an otherwise valid arbitration agreement. Arbitration agreements are a favored means of dispute resolution, and doubts concerning their scope should generally be resolved in favor of arbitration. E.g., Grektorp v. City Towers of Fla., Inc., 644 So. 2d 613, 614 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994).
V.
The burden was on appellee to present evidence sufficient to establish that the arbitration provision is unconscionable and, therefore, unenforceable. Because that burden was not carried and appellee's alternative arguments regarding unenforceability of the arbitration provision are legally without merit, we reverse and remand with directions that the trial court enter an order granting appellant's motion to compel arbitration and abate the civil action.
REVERSED and REMANDED, with directions.
KAHN and DAVIS, JJ., CONCUR.
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