Practice Areas & Industries: Jackson Walker L.L.P.

Practice/Industry Group Overview

Jackson Walker's health care attorneys represent a broad spectrum of health care providers and affiliated entities, including hospital systems, freestanding hospitals, physicians and physician organizations, physician practice management companies and consulting companies, long term care providers, joint venture entities, home health agencies, medical equipment manufacturers and suppliers, psychiatric providers, financial institutions, clinical laboratories, ambulance service providers, and medical foundations. The firm also represents health care trade associations.

Services Available

Attorneys in the Health Care section have extensive expertise in representation of health care clients and the unique legal issues that they confront, including in the following areas:

Transactional
Jackson Walker attorneys represent health care entities and individual practitioners in mergers and acquisitions; capital raising activities and securities offerings; planning, structuring and implementing hospital and physician joint ventures, including heart hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, imaging centers, cancer centers, and equipment joint ventures; representing hospitals and nursing home companies in acquisition and divestiture of facilities; establishing long term care facilities; structuring and documenting full-service management, hospital-based and clinic coverage, and other types of affiliation arrangements; and representing medical equipment companies and ambulance companies in broad based acquisition programs.

HIPAA
Jackson Walker attorneys represent numerous hospitals, physicians and other health care providers, as well as software companies, electronic data interchange providers and other technology-related companies, in complying with the medical record privacy and security requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ("HIPAA"). Jackson Walker attorneys assist clients in drafting patient consents and authorizations, drafting and implementing notices of privacy practices, and negotiating business associate agreements with vendors and business partners. Jackson Walker's HIPAA team also advises clients on evaluating and implementing policies and procedures, drafting and implementing security plans, and formulating employee handbooks and policies as required by HIPAA and the regulations promulgated thereunder. Jackson Walker attorneys are frequent speakers before hospital and physician groups on HIPAA-related matters.

Administrative Law
The attorneys at Jackson Walker have years of experience representing health care providers in administrative proceedings before state and federal governmental agencies involving agency sanctions, reimbursement and other regulatory matters. Our attorneys have significant expertise in representing hospital clients in matters involving the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (formerly HCFA) and the Provider Reimbursement Review Board (PRRB).

Hospital Issues
Attorneys in this section are involved in advising hospitals, hospital systems (including non-profit, governmental, and for-profit), and their affiliated entities with regard to operational, liability, medical staff, and employment issues and representation in disputes; drafting, reviewing and revising medical staff and governing body bylaws, hospital policies and procedures, and fair hearing plans; counseling concerning physician recruitment matters and preparing recruitment agreements; drafting and implementing corporate compliance plans; advising hospitals regarding Medicare and Medicaid repayment and voluntary disclosure issues; drafting, reviewing and negotiating hospital contracts, including managed care agreements, management agreements, provider based physician agreements, medical director agreements and transfer agreements; and advising hospitals regarding HIPAA and medical records issues, including electronic medical records and confidentiality issues.

Physician and Professional Organizations
Attorneys in this section are experienced in organizing physician and practitioner entities, including analyzing alternative structures; developing Texas certified nonprofit health care (f/k/a 5.01(a)) organizations, general and limited liability partnerships, professional associations, and professional limited liability companies; representing physicians, physician group practices, and practice management companies in negotiation and review of medical and health care contracts, including managed care contracts, employment agreements, shareholder agreements, management agreements, practice acquisitions, and covenants not to compete; and representing physicians before state professional licensing and peer review entities.

Regulatory, Reimbursement and Compliance
Jackson Walker attorneys analyze state and federal regulatory issues affecting health care providers and entities, including Stark, illegal remuneration, corporate practice of medicine and EMTALA; represent provider entities in antitrust matters before the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice; advise health care clients on Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement and billing issues; represent clients charged with Medicare or Medicaid fraud and abuse; assist in preparing and implementing corporate compliance programs; assist health care providers in qualifying for Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement; handle reimbursement disputes before the Medicare Provider Reimbursement Review Board, state Medicaid agencies, and in state and federal court; resolve regulatory and legislative issues with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (formerly HCFA), the Office of the Inspector General, and members of Congress; and provide advice on disclosure issues in private placements and public offerings. In addition, Jackson Walker attorneys regularly assist clients in complying with the regulations promulgated under HIPAA. They are experienced in drafting business associate agreements, drafting appropriate consents and authorizations, drafting and implementing the various policies and procedures required for providers under HIPAA, and in assisting clients in developing appropriate security plans.

Managed Care/Integrated Delivery Systems
Jackson Walker attorneys are involved in developing and organizing physician hospital organizations, preferred provider organizations, independent practice associations, management service organizations and other integrated delivery systems; drafting, reviewing and negotiating managed care agreements; assisting in contractual matters involving HMOs and other managed care entities; analyzing operational and credentialing issues, obtaining certificates of authority for HMOs and assisting HMOs with regulatory compliance issues; and representing health care clients before the Texas Department of Insurance.

Legislative and Governmental Issues
Attorneys in this section are experienced in representing the interests of health care industry trade associations and health care clients on matters pending before the Texas Legislature and various state and federal regulatory agencies.

Financing
Our finance section attorneys are particularly experienced in health care tax exempt bond financing and refinancing transactions as bond, issuer, underwriter, and hospital counsel (having participated in the issuance of approximately $10 billion in tax-exempt bonds over the past decade); participating in taxable debt transactions as lead counsel; interpreting bond covenants; and drafting and negotiating Letters of Credit and other credit enhancement devices.

Tax-Exempt and State Non-Profit Issues
Jackson Walker attorneys have years of experience in preparing applications for Section 501(c)(3) status; advising health care clients on maintaining their tax exempt status and the risks presented by various transactions; counseling on private inurement, private benefit and unrelated business income and other tax exempt issues; advising clients in such areas as corporate system reorganization; and preparing ruling requests to assure compliance. In addition, our attorneys regularly provide advice on State non-profit, ad valorem tax, and State indigent and charity care requirements.

Licensure, Certification and Accreditation
In this area of expertise, our attorneys have experience in representing health care providers and practitioners in all aspects of licensure, certification and accreditation, including state licensure, Medicare/Medicaid certification, and JCAHO and NCQA accreditation matters, including assisting in, preparing for, and responding to surveys.

Litigation
Jackson Walker attorneys have extensive experience representing health care providers and practitioners in litigation related to malpractice defense, drug product liability defense, antitrust and trade regulation matters, and Medicare reimbursement disputes and governmental imposition of civil monetary penalties and other sanctions; representing parties in litigation involving physician practice management companies; representing hospitals in labor and employment and medical staff disputes; and mounting legal challenges to agency rules or other agency actions affecting clients' health care related businesses.

Employment Issues
Attorneys in this section are well-versed in developing employment policies and procedures, compensation plans, and employee benefit packages, including ERISA programs, for health care clients; representing employers in employment disputes, including discrimination and harassment claims based on race, national origin, sex, religion, age and disability; representing employers in wage audits, wage claims and claims for unemployment compensation; assisting clients that do not participate in Texas workers' compensation program in risk management programs and employee injury claim disputes; and representing providers in litigation involving covenants not to compete.

Business Organizations
Jackson Walker attorneys are skilled in forming corporations, limited and general partnerships, limited liability companies, and joint ventures, and reviewing documents creating health care business organizations and affiliations particularly in relationship to Medicare/Medicaid fraud and abuse safe harbors and impact upon tax exempt status.

Biotechnology and Biomedical Science
Jackson Walker attorneys have expertise in diverse areas including intellectual property, transactions, finance, licensing arrangements and tax law to assist all companies specializing in the commercialization of biotechnology and biomedical science. The firm's intellectual property attorneys regularly counsel clients regarding patents in various Life Sciences and render opinions in the areas of patentability, patent infringement, patent validity, and freedom to operate; litigate to protect or defend intellectual properties; handle arbitration, mediation and other litigation alternatives; and negotiate assignments and licenses to maximize the value of such intellectual property. Jackson Walker's corporate attorneys regularly assist clients with securing venture capital; assisting in corporate and commercial finance transactions; conducting public offerings, roll-ups, exchange offers, stock conversions, and proxy contests; and drafting public and private corporate and partnership securities offerings. Jackson Walker's regulatory attorneys also regularly advise biotechnology and biomedical science companies on state and federal regulatory issues relating to the development, approval, and use of various forms of biotechnology, including pharmaceuticals and medical devices.

Jackson Walker is a full service law firm that, in addition to providing clients with highly specialized expertise in health law, has a team of lawyers with expertise in other areas of law that regularly impact health care entities. Attorneys throughout the firm have particular familiarity in representing health care clients and can provide assistance in matters relating to litigation, real estate, finance, antitrust, environmental, tax, securities, intellectual property, employee benefits, and bankruptcy.