Practice Areas & Industries: Hunton & Williams LLP

Practice/Industry Group Overview

Health care is one of the most regulated and technology-dependent sectors in today's economy. Heightened regulatory focus on compliance, declining payments from payors, developing consumer activism and steadily increasing competition continually stress an already complex industry. To meet the inevitable challenges, our extensive health care practice combines the expertise of lawyers who devote all of their time to health care clients with the experience of lawyers, from other practice groups, who have valuable knowledge of the health care aspects of their areas.

Services Available

Our clients include:

• multi-hospital systems
• academic medical centers
• acute care and psychiatric hospitals
• medical staffs
• nursing homes
• physician practices
• blood banks
• health insurers
• health maintenance organizations
• multispecialty clinics
• drug manufacturers
• vendors
• pharmaceutical retailers.

On behalf of these clients, we advise and counsel on:

• state and federal regulatory compliance
• hospital and health system operations and governance
• mergers and acquisitions
• hospital/physician relations
• information privacy and security, and medical record confidentiality
• certificates of public need and licensure
• medical ethics and patient care issues
• governmental relations and lobbying
• peer review and other disciplinary issues
• tax exempt status issues
• third party payor contract negotiation and enforcement
• unwinds, divestitures and restructurings of physician practices, hospital joint ventures or other arrangements among providers
• tax, civil and criminal litigation
• antitrust, labor and employment
• employee benefits
• technology and information systems
• real estate
• environmental matters
• health provider contracts.

Our work in tax-exempt financing for hospitals, nursing homes and continuing care facilities has earned us a national reputation. We have served as counsel, bond counsel and special disclosure counsel to hospitals, underwriters and governmental issuers in offerings for individual facilities and national systems.

Our lawyers have developed master indenture and other "obligated group" structures, and dealt with the disclosure and tax exemption issues peculiar to health care financing and as well as issues arising from defaulted and "troubled" bond issues. We also have experience in IRS audits of health care facilities and bond issues, and in negotiating IRS closing agreements.

An increasing area of concern among providers involves ensuring compliance with myriad federal and state laws and regulations. Our lawyers regularly assist clients in undertaking self-examination of business practices and developing compliance strategies. We also advise clients on self-disclosure and successful resolution of issues arising out of non-compliant organizational or individual conduct.

As healthcare providers confront an ever widening scope of complexity in the laws and regulations that govern their operations, their interactions with patients and other providers, and their obligations to public and private payors, Hunton & Williams Health Care lawyers build upon their knowledge and experience in responding effectively and efficiently to the needs of their clients.