HEALTH LAW

Whether you are a hospital, physician group, healthcare provider, or a company that serves provider organizations, you know that the demands on the health sector are complex. At Friday, Eldredge & Clark, our health law practice encompasses a wide range of legal services to address not only issues that arise in the highly-regulated healthcare industry, but also the counsel to handle business operation needs as well.

Our healthcare lawyers have the insight, capability and experience to effectively address the complex issues inherent in the highly regulated healthcare industry, including regulatory and compliance matters, contract negotiations and preparations, reimbursement issues, and audit reviews and appeals.

Our firm also represents clients in mergers and acquisitions; financing and restructuring; corporate, regulatory and strategic counseling issues; litigation defense; physician compensation; and labor and employment matters.

Focused on Clients

We represent hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, physician groups, insurers, individual practitioners, ancillary service providers, nursing facilities and foundations. Our clients include such well-known entities as:

American Physicians Management
Arkansas Cardiology, P.A
Arkansas Children’s Hospital
Arkansas Colleges of Health Education
Arkansas Otolaryngology Center
Arkansas Rural Health Partnership
Arkansas Surgical Hospital
Arkansas Urology, P.A.
Ashley County Medical Center
Baptist Health
Baptist Memorial Health Care System
Bowen Hefley Orthopedics
Chicot Memorial Medical Center
Children’s Healthcare Systems, Inc.
Conway Regional Medical Center
Drew Memorial Hospital
Empower Healthcare Solutions, LLC
Habilitation Centers, Inc.
HealthStar Physicians of Hot Springs
Little Rock Children’s Clinic, P.A.
McGehee Hospital Incorporated
MedEvolve, Inc.
Medical Associates of NWA
Medical Assurance/A Proassurance Company
Medical Mutual Insurance Company
Medical Protective Company
Merck & Company, Inc.
OrthoArkansas, P.A.
Orthofix, Inc.
Ouachita County Medical Center
Pain Treatment Centers of America
Pfizer, Inc.
Piggott Community Hospital
Radiology Oncology Associates
Roller Weight Loss Institute
Unity Health

Focused on Services

Regulatory compliance - The healthcare industry is one of the most regulated in our economy, and careful attention is required to navigate through the complexities. Our team of health law attorneys will work with you to understand the state and federal regulations that are unique to the industry. We will also work with you to develop a compliance program tailored for your organization, perform internal audits, and advise on complex compliance issues and procedures.

Enrollment and accreditation - Our attorneys are experienced in assisting with the following matters:

Physician and other health professional disciplinary and regulatory proceedings
Enrollment, licensing and certification
Practice management groups, preferred provider organizations (PPOs), independent practice or physician associations (IPAs) and professional associations

Privacy and security - Our healthcare attorneys have broad experience in advising clients regarding federal and state privacy laws including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). We currently represent more than 100 healthcare clients on matters concerning HIPAA compliance. We regularly assist providers in responding to security incidents and cyber events.

Fraud and abuse - We work in defending and managing audits, investigations, and potential violations of the False Claims Act, Anti-Kickback laws, Stark Law, and the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA). We are also able to provide a defense team that can vigorously represent you or your organization should you be named in a qui tam (or similar) suit and assist with complying with corporate integrity agreements.

Government regulations - Public policy issues concern health care providers and provider organizations. We can help you shape the regulatory landscape through:

Statutory and regulatory drafting, review, and monitoring
Representation before federal agencies
Auditing and reimbursement

Because numerous areas of government are working hard to prevent and actively fight fraud, waste and abuse, so are we. We are skilled in working with providers to address their Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement issues. Our team is also equipped to handle your appeals, whether the audit originates from the Medicare Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC), Zone Program Integrity Contractor (ZPIC) and or Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC).

Litigation - If you are faced with a problem, we will help you work to resolve it. Our ethical, aggressive, cost-effective litigation services include assistance with all areas of conflict resolution, including representation in government regulatory actions, medical staff controversies, medical malpractice litigation and product liability concerns:

Representation of hospitals, doctors, and other providers in medical malpractice cases
Representation of ethical pharmaceutical manufacturers in class action product liability cases
Representation of medical device manufacturers in product liability cases

Qui Tam - The False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729, et seq., provides a cause of action on behalf of the United States against a person or entity that knowingly submits a false or fraudulent claim to the United States. These are commonly referred to as qui tam actions and are brought by an individual, known as a relator, who sues on behalf of the United States. Typically, qui tam actions are filed by people with insider knowledge of allegedly false claims, and often involve health care, military, or government spending programs.

Labor and Employment - With our strong focus on representing hospitals and other health care providers, Friday, Eldredge & Clark knows how to identify the problems that can become employment lawsuits. Our teams work to prevent problems or resolve controversies with issues involving:

Physicians’ contracts
Employment agreements
Credentialing, disciplinary and regulatory proceedings

Employee benefits and executive compensation - You know that to hire and retain the skilled professionals you need; you must strive to combine effective compensation strategies with competitive employee benefits plans. Our lawyers understand competitive industry conditions and can provide benefits and compensation advice tailored to your operational needs in such areas as:

Qualified retirement plans
Non-qualified deferred compensation plans
Executive compensation arrangements
Health and other welfare benefits plans
ERISA controversies and litigation
Cafeteria plans

Hospitals/provider operations and management - On the operations side of the healthcare industry, our attorneys can provide counsel in the facility operations, contracting, managed care and risk-sharing.

We also provide counsel on executive compensation and benefits packages, including advice to non-profits and design and compensation plans designed to meet the special tax rules applicable to foundations and Section 501(c)(3) organizations.

Our firm represents hospitals and physician groups in a wide variety of corporate matters. Our experience includes the formation of various types of entities such as nonprofit and for-profit corporate corporations, professional associations, limited liability companies, and professional limited liability companies. We also provide representation in drafting bylaws, operating agreements, shareholder and member agreements, practice acquisitions, integration arrangements between hospitals and physician practices and co-management agreements between hospitals and physician practices. We have formed clinically integrated networks of hospitals and physicians and helped our hospital and physician clients navigate the ever-changing regulatory landscape.

Transactions - A multi-disciplinary approach is required when a healthcare institution undergoes organizational changes. Providers trust our firm to make sure that mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and contracting arrangements comply with all aspects of antitrust requirements and related fraud and abuse enforcement and regulation. In addition, our team will address issues that might affect the transaction such as Medicare and Medicaid issues, tax and ERISA issues and issues relating to bonds.

The firm has extensive mergers and acquisitions practice, including experience with the acquisition and disposition of hospitals, surgery centers, practices and other ancillary service providers.

Our team can assist in forming practice groups and joint ventures for ambulatory surgery centers, hospitals and other ancillary service providers.