Overview
Rachel is Counsel in McDonald Hopkins’ Business Department and Healthcare Practice Group. She brings extensive experience advising healthcare clients on a wide range of regulatory, transactional, and reimbursement issues. Rachel partners with a wide range of clients, from independent providers and ambulatory surgery centers to academic medical centers and private equity investors, to navigate the evolving healthcare landscape.
Her practice is particularly focused on the development and operation of ambulatory surgery centers, certificate of need applications, and value-based care arrangements. She also advises clients in emerging areas such as artificial intelligence in healthcare, palliative care, and the creation of new physician residency and anesthesia assistant programs.
Rachel’s deep knowledge of the corporate practice of medicine, Stark Law, Anti-Kickback Statute, EMTALA, HIPAA, and state-specific fee-splitting laws enables her to structure transactions that are both compliant and commercially strategic. She also regularly counsels on Friendly PC model transactions and provides ongoing regulatory support for private equity investments in the healthcare sector. Her transactional work is informed by a nuanced understanding of payer-provider dynamics, sharpened by her previous roles at Anthem and other managed care organizations.
Her regulatory experience also includes drafting and implementing life-sustaining treatment policies, graduate medical education regulations, and telehealth protocols, including those developed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rachel serves as general counsel to a continuing care retirement community and has led multiple private equity buyouts of an ophthalmology groups. She is actively involved in legislative and policy efforts, including recent advocacy on behalf of the Virginia Society of Anesthesiologists.
She earned a J.D. from Barry University’s Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law and a B.A. from the University of Virginia.
Honors & Recognition
Virginia Lawyers Weekly, Healthcare Law "Up & Coming" (2024)
Credentials
Education
Barry University, Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law
University of Virginia
Admissions – State
- Florida
- Virginia
Professional & Civic
Professional Activities
American Health Lawyers Association
American Bar Association-Health Law Section
Virginia Bar Association
Florida Bar Association-Health Law Section
Florida Bar License
News & Insights
External News & Publications
- Understanding Price Transparency Laws and Gag Clauses: A Guide for Healthcare Providers (March 2025)
- Ambulatory Surgery Center Trends in Regulation, Compliance, and Enforcement (February 2025)
- Navigating Value-Based Care in Anesthesia: Enhancing Patient Outcomes Amid Legal Complexities | Whiteford - JDSupra (January 2025)
- Navigating New Medicare Overpayment Rules and Practical Tips to Comply | Whiteford - JDSupra (December 2024)
- Understanding IRS Encouragement of PLRs for Healthcare Entities and Assessing Healthcare Corporate and Tax Structure For Tax Compliance | Whiteford - JDSupra (November 2024)
- Preparing For 2025 Stark Enforcement Regarding Compensation and Productivity Bonuses | Whiteford - JDSupra (November 2025)
- California Department of Public Health's (CDPH) Limits On CRNA Scope of Practice Reminds Hospitals Nationwide to Revisit Anesthesia Staffing | Whiteford - JDSupra (September 2024)
- New CMS Guidance on Use of Algorithms and AI in Prior Authorizations and Utilization Management | Whiteford - JDSupra (March 2024)
- CMS Releases Final Part Two Guidance of the Medicare Prescription Drug Payment Plan (July 2, 2024)
- What Providers Need to Know About the CMS Interoperability and Prior Authorization Rule (June 12, 2024)
- Client Alert: What You Need to Know About the FTC’s Changes to the Health Breach Notification Rule and How to Comply (May 28, 2024)
- New CMS EMTALA Portal Signals CMS Continued Focus on Enforcement Fight Against State Abortion Bans (May 7, 2024)
- New HHS Final Rule and DOJ Proposed Rule Take Aim to Eliminate Further Discrimination Against People with Disabilities in Healthcare (April 26, 2024)
- Summary of New CMS Minimum Staffing Standards for Long-Term Care Facilities and Institutional Payment Transparency (April 23, 2024)
- Client Alert: New HHS and CMS Guidance on Informed Consent for Sensitive Examinations and Best Practice for the Informed Consent Process
Events
Speaking Engagements
- Speaker: “The ACA and the New Administration”Stafford Webinar, June 2025
- Speaker: “Strategic Planning for Adding New Service Lines: Legal, Operational, and Compliance Essentials” (American Alliance of Orthopedic executives, webinar, June 2025)
- Speaker: "Legal Considerations of Incorporating AI in Healthcare Practices” (American Alliance of Orthopedic Executives Webinar, March, 24, 2025)
- Panelist: "Emerging Trends in ASC Reimbursement, Regulation” (Investment & Operations Conference, February 19, 2025)
- Speaker: "Artificial Intelligence and Related Compliance Considerations” (Florida Bar’s Representing the Physician 2025, February 7, 2025)
- Speaker: "HHS Section 504 Final Rule: New Antidiscrimination Measures in Healthcare Treatment and Accessibility” (Strafford live video webinar, January 8, 2025)
- Speaker: "Palliative Care Programs: Where to Start and How to Maintain Them,” (Virtual Annual Conference for the Virginia Association for Home Care and Hospice, November, 2024)
- Speaker “CRNA Scope of Practice” (Mary Baldwin CRNA Program October 2024)
- Speaker: "Palliative Care Programs,” (LifeSpan Maryland Conference, September 25, 2024)
- Speaker: "Legal Consideration for AI in Health Care,” (American Alliance of Orthopedic Executives Virtual AI Summit, August 28, 2024)