Verrill Dana’s Health Care Group serves a wide variety of organizations in the health care industry and related professions. The group brings together attorneys in key legal disciplines, including health care regulatory compliance, corporate, labor and employment, employee benefits and executive compensation, intellectual property, life sciences, litigation, real estate and tax to meet the needs of our health care clients. Our goal is simple: provide a coordinated team of skilled attorneys to serve health care industry clients in a highly responsive and cost effective manner.
Our health care attorneys advise clients with respect to a wide range of corporate matters, including mergers and acquisitions, financing, health technology, strategic planning and routine regulatory matters. We regularly advise health care clients regarding compliance issues in all areas of regulation affecting the industry, including HIPAA, Stark, Medicare anti-kickback and other state and federal laws. We consult with clients regarding compliance programs, internal audits, and defense against government investigations. We also provide advice and consultation regarding industry standards and best practices from the standpoint of medical staff governance, hospital licensing requirements and Joint Commission standards. We advise executives and board members of hospitals, medical groups and other health care organizations regarding the governance of their organizations. By bringing together an integrated team of lawyers from a wide range of disciplines on behalf of the firm’s health care clients, we provide comprehensive services in a highly efficient manner. Our health care attorneys also serve as outside general counsel to hospitals and health care systems, private medical groups and other health care organizations.
Academic and Biomedical Research
- Analyzed various legal, regulatory, and ethical factors involved in the development of a client’s policy on when to return incidental findings and research results in genome sequencing studies
- Conducted internal investigations and provided advice concerning remedial measures at a major university to address research irregularities, and at a major health care system to address billing irregularities
- Provided on-site coverage to in-house research counsel and the Director of Research Compliance at an institution during a time of staffing transition, and worked hand-in-hand with client to manage daily research compliance matters
- Assisted with the investigation of alleged non-compliance with applicable HHS and FDA regulations in response to an investigation by the Office for Human Research Protections, included in which was the development of appropriate corrective actions, reporting the matter to appropriate federal agencies, and implementing the agreed-upon corrective action plan
- Reviewed and revised Institutional Review Board Standard Operating Procedures in preparation for accreditation by the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs, Inc. (AAHRPP), and as part of the corrective action response to a specific instance of non-compliance with applicable requirements and regulations
Accountable Care Organizations and Managed Care
- Advised on the formation and implementation of accountable care organizations and provided guidance
- Negotiated subsidiary agreements with participating provider organizations and practitioners
eHealth and Health Information Technology
- Represented one of the nation’s first statewide health information exchanges, including the negotiation of data use agreements with several integrated delivery systems
- Counseled health data consortium regarding data use projects to analyze health care costs and quality
HIPAA/HITECH Privacy and Security
- Created HIPAA/HITECH policies and procedures for covered entities and business associates
- Counseled hospitals and physican group practices with respect to the implementation of HIPAA
- Investigated data breaches by hospitals and medical groups, drafted HIPAA and state breach notifications and negotiated settlements with the Office for Civil Rights with the Department of Health and Human Services
- Drafted and negotiated business associate agreements
Medicare/Medicaid and Third-Party Reimbursement
- Advised client with respect to the sale of a Medicaid managed care plan to an HMO
- Represented four teaching hospitals in multi-issue Medicare billing investigations by the OIG
Mergers/Acquisitions
- Negotiated asset purchase agreements between regional health care systems and New England teaching hospitals, including assistance with associated governance issues and subsidiary agreements and filings
- Advised with respect to several affiliations between a community hospitals and regional medical center through a membership substitution transaction
- Advised on the affiliation of a 90 physician group practice with a health care system
- Advised on the sale of several homecare organizations to health care system through an asset transaction
- Assisted with the sale of the assets of a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt Medicaid managed care plan to a 501(c)(4) managed care plan
- Negotiated physician compensation, transfer of major medical equipment that was subject to Certificate of Need review, as well as a wide variety of corporate issues in the sale of client’s medical practice
- Counseled integrated health systems with respect to the establishment of joint ventures for specialty care services
- Counseled large multi-specialty physician practice with respect to a merger with a large specialty physician practice
Regulatory Compliance
- Analyzed multi-specialty medical group’s compliance with the Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute incident to a merger
- Created and implemented an innovative health care benefit product for an association of employers creating a captive insurance company
