Since the early 1960s, our attorneys have provided legal services to a wide variety of individuals and entities in the healthcare field, such as:
- Clinical, anatomic and specialty laboratories
- Clinical testing companies
- Healthcare billing and management companies
- Healthcare product vendors and distributors
- Healthcare technology and biotech companies, including start-up ventures
- Home health providers
- Hospitals and hospital systems, including specialty hospitals
- Imaging centers
- Lenders and investors involved in healthcare ventures
- Long-term care providers
- Medical staffs
- MSOs
- Multi and single specialty clinics and groups
- National, state and specialty healthcare societies and associations
- Occupational medicine provider
- Physicians in all specialties (private practice and academic) and other healthcare professionals, including dentists, optometrists, podiatrists, and veterinarians
- PPMCs
- Provider-owned managed care organizations
- Surgery centers, urgent care centers, and other specialty facilities
Our diverse, national practice enables us to provide our healthcare clients with a unique perspective on the issues that confront them in the rapidly evolving healthcare environment. We have substantial knowledge of the legal, business, financial and operational components of healthcare. Because of this knowledge, we can deliver "value added" services to our healthcare clients and are well qualified to facilitate healthcare projects. The scope of our representations ranges from acting as transactional or specialty counsel to serving as general counsel. Although many of our clients rely on us for all of their legal services, other clients utilize us for specific transactions or types of legal services. In those situations, we are often engaged to work jointly with local counsel to accomplish client objectives.
Below is a listing and brief descriptions of the many areas of experience of our Healthcare attorneys.
Accreditation and Licensure
Counsel with regard to accreditation and licensing issues.
Antitrust
Advise regarding antitrust issues in connection with the formation, acquisition, sale, or merger of healthcare entities;
Counsel clients regarding antitrust litigation in the healthcare field, including civil and criminal price fixing matters;
Assist clients with Hart-Scott-Rodino filings and other interactions with regulatory agencies.
Bankruptcy and Workouts
Provide a multi-disciplinary approach to the problems inherent in a healthcare business restructuring;
Experience in a broad range of insolvency-related issues, including sales of distressed businesses, refinancings, workout and bankruptcy in the healthcare arena, both in the for-profit and nonprofit sectors.
Benefits and Qualified Retirement Plans
Work routinely with healthcare clients regarding the design, drafting and compliance requirements of qualified and non-qualified retirement plans as well as health and welfare benefit plans;
Work with hospitals, physician groups and individual physicians to design retirement plans that maximize benefits to targeted groups; Assist healthcare clients in dealing with day-to-day administrative issues;
Represented healthcare clients before the Internal Revenue Service or the Department of Labor in audit situations.
Corporate Law
Substantial experience in the development of organizational documents for corporations, LLCs and partnerships and have worked extensively with both for profit and tax-exempt structures.
Drug and Pharmacy
We understand the drug and pharmacy sector. Our attorneys have extensive knowledge of all segments of the drug supply chain and assist manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and pharmacy benefit managers in all facets of legal representations including regulatory, transactional, government investigation, and litigation matters.
Estate Planning
Work with healthcare professionals and other clients on trust, tax, Will, probate and personal planning matters, implementing family limited partnerships; administering estates; planning and implementing techniques to reduce taxes; preparing charitable trust and charitable foundation plans.
FDA Issues
Assist clients with FDA concerns, including regulatory compliance issues and filings.
Financing
Assist clients in structuring institutional, bond, and private placement financings.
Fraud and Abuse
Assist with compliance with the Medicare and Medicaid anti-kickback laws, and Stark law and regulations;
Develop arrangements that fulfill the business objectives of the venture while eliminating or minimizing any fraud and abuse risks.
Healthcare Restructuring
The National Healthcare Restructuring Practice Group assists clients experiencing significant financial or operational issues requiring strategic legal advice or seeking acquisition opportunities in this current challenging environment. Our clients include hospitals and healthcare systems (for-profit and tax-exempt), long-term care facilities, surgicenters, imaging centers, physician practices and ventures, investors, and healthcare technology companies.
Our services include:
- Refinancings
- Recapitalizations
- Negotiation of new arrangements with investors, lenders, landlords, vendors, unions, payers and other third parties
- Reorganizations
- Mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures, and other transactions related to a reorganization
- Business protection, including consensual, out-of-court restructurings and chapter 11 filings
Our healthcare restructuring team draws primarily upon the experience of our Business Restructuring Department and Healthcare Practice Group, both of which provide services nationwide. The team is also able to call upon other relevant practice areas to provide clients with a full range of services to address complex and high-stakes business and legal issues. The group's attorneys understand the healthcare marketplace and the various factors which impact the financial and operational viability of healthcare companies. Our experience working with healthcare companies to address problems, including substantial experience assisting distressed healthcare companies through the chapter 11 process, enables us to identify and implement reorganization action plans. We work effectively with a client's other advisors to provide practical, timely solutions.
Representative healthcare restructuring projects include the following:
- Representation of creditors' committee in healthcare chapter 11
- Ongoing representation of hospital systems currently operating in chapter 11
- Representation of a nursing home chain in chapter 11, which culminated with the successful 363 sale of the client's facilities
- Representations of separate multi-location laser surgery centers in successful debt restructuring and in a wind down that enabled the owners to avoid personal liability
- Representation of a plastic surgery center in the wind down of operations and transition of practice to another facility
- Representation of a struggling medical laboratory in forbearance agreement with bank lender, obtaining replacement of its bank line of credit, exploration of strategic alternatives and representation of its company in its ultimate sale to investor group
HIPAA
Advise a variety of healthcare clients regularly on HIPAA compliance, particularly implementation of procedures and safeguards mandated under the HIPAA privacy and security rules.
Hospital-based Physicians
Hospital-based physician clients (pathologists, radiologists, anesthesiologists, and emergency room physicians) constitute the largest component of our physician group client base;
Represent more than 400 hospital-based groups as well as national associations and network management entities for hospital-based physicians.
Hospitals, Surgery Centers and Other Facilities
Serve individual hospitals, including specialty hospitals, and hospital systems;
Counsel clients who develop and operate hospitals, surgery centers, imaging centers and other healthcare facilities
Advise clients with regard to governance, accreditation, fraud and abuse, antitrust, securities, financing, compliance and other issues affecting myriad transactions as well as day-to-day operations.
Joint Ventures
Assess and create solutions to the legal, business and practical issues that may arise during development and operation of a joint venture.
Labor and Employment
Advise clients regarding employment issues, such as overtime compliance, sexual harassment, civil rights claims, union matters, employee relations and policies, the Americans with Disabilities Act and employment contracts.
Litigation
Represent healthcare clients in litigation matters relating to employment, white collar antitrust, commercial, tort and breach of contract matters.
Managed Care Contracting
Review and negotiate managed care contracts, including risk and non-risk contracts.
Medical Staff Matters
Counsel clients regarding all aspects of medical staff relations, including credentialing and re-credentialing, medical staff bylaws requirements, HCQIA and JCAHO requirements, and medical staff disciplinary proceedings and appeals.
Mergers and Acquisitions
Extensive experience assisting healthcare clients with mergers, sales and acquisitions;
Participate in strategic planning, due diligence, negotiation of transactions, financing arrangements, licensure, and regulatory compliance.
Network Affiliations
Assist healthcare clients in developing or affiliating with healthcare systems or networks;
Assist clients with the negotiation of financial arrangements, governance issues, antitrust reviews, licensure, physician representation and regulatory compliance.
Physicians
Provide counsel to many physician groups ranging in size from small, single location groups to large, multiple location groups. We represent physicians in all specialties in addition to multi-specialty clinics, academic departments, and physician-owned facilities.
Real Estate
Assist clients in real estate matters related to healthcare transactions including formations, sales, acquisitions, leasing and related financing matters.
Reimbursement
Advise clients extensively regarding Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE and commercial payor reimbursement matters and often represent them in negotiations with payors;
Assist clients in the review and negotiation of hardware/software and billing contracts.
Tax-Exempt Matters
Work with a variety of nonprofit healthcare organizations, including healthcare providers and professional associations;
Assist tax-exempt healthcare providers with matters such as the structuring of business relationships with private individuals or taxable entities and the limitations imposed on contracts for use or management of facility space constructed or improved with the proceeds of tax-exempt bonds;
Serve as hospital counsel for several tax-exempt bond issuances. In addition, we have significant experience representing nonprofit clients before the IRS. Our attorneys have assisted 501(c)(3) hospitals and health systems in obtaining IRS Office approval of evolving healthcare structures.