In recent years, healthcare has experienced dramatic change, extraordinary competition, and increasingly complex regulation and is now a broad and complex industry consisting of healthcare providers, managed care, payors, vendors of services, and medical products and devices.
In order to meet these growing and varied needs of our healthcare clients, Holland & Hart's Healthcare Practice Group has expanded substantially over the years. Lawyers from several of the firm's practice areas provide coordinated representation in virtually all aspects of healthcare law. Our experienced lawyers are familiar with the healthcare industry and regularly provide services to all involved in that industry.
Our clients include hospitals, medical groups, health insurance companies including health maintenance organizations, imaging centers, ambulatory surgery centers, medical device and life science companies, rehabilitation centers, and extended and elder care facilities located between the Canadian and Mexican borders along the spine of the Rocky Mountains.
 Legal Services
Medical Staffing Disputes
Compliance
Physician Compensation
Managed Care
Labor
Immigration
Information System Security
Mergers and Acquisitions and Joint Ventures
Department of Regulatory Agencies
Medicare/Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Professional Services and DME Services
Antitrust
Risk Management/ Alternative Dispute Resolution
Tax
Healthcare Involvement
LEGAL SERVICES
Holland & Hart offers capability in both traditional aspects of healthcare law and more specialized and sophisticated matters. Our experience includes mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, financing, healthcare regulatory compliance, white collar investigation and defense, medical staff disputes, immigration, information systems security, physician recruitment, labor and employment, Medicare fraud and abuse, and medical technology acquisition.
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MEDICAL STAFFING DISPUTES
Mistakes in the handling of medical staff disputes can lead to expensive and complicated liability problems. We have a background in all aspects of medical staff issues, ranging from interpretation of medical staff bylaws to representation of hospitals and individual physicians in "fair hearings."
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COMPLIANCE
We advise our clients on the significant array of compliance issues (HIPAA, "Stark Law," anti-kickback, false claims act) facing healthcare organizations including the development of compliance programs and the internal checks and balances required of these programs. We also assist our clients with employee training programs to ensure full support of, and compliance with, the compliance programs. Additionally, we represent our clients in Medicare and Medicaid audits and inspections.
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PHYSICIAN COMPENSATION
A healthcare organization's staff typically is responsible for developing and interpreting the physician protocols and compensation structures that align the compensation incentives with the goals of the healthcare organization. We assist in this process. We also guide organizations through the appropriate removal of physicians from practices and networks.
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MANAGED CARE
We have substantial experience in the development, sale and acquisition and representation of managed care organizations and in the negotiation and review of managed care service agreements.
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LABOR
Managing rising labor costs will likely be the biggest challenge for healthcare providers in the 2000s. In an era of global budgets, effective and efficient labor management and labor relations will make the difference among healthcare institutions that survive -- and those that do not. We have a long and prominent history in labor guidance, counseling and litigation.
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IMMIGRATION
The firm assists healthcare companies in obtaining work authorization and related visas for employees under non-immigrant categories such as L-1 (intra-company transferee), H-1B (specialty occupations), E-1/E-2 (treaty trader/treaty investor), and Trade NAFTA (TN), and assists in the resolution of Employment Eligibility Verification Form (I-9) issues. Our lawyers also provide services in labor certification, permanent residence and U.S. citizenship, and immigration issues in mergers and acquisitions.
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INFORMATION SYSTEM SECURITY
We help our clients address the many privacy and security concerns that arise under HIPAA, Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, and state information security statutes. Lawyers in our Healthcare group have developed policies, procedures, and training materials for numerous clients, and we routinely advise our healthcare clients on day-to-day operational issues involving information security matters. These include compliance, auditing and remediation, monitoring and incident response, and access control.
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MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS AND JOINT VENTURES
Nationwide, changes in the healthcare industry such as the proliferation of delivery options have led to considerable growth in the acquisition, consolidation, merger, and joint ventures of healthcare providers. We have been involved in many major acquisition and consolidation transactions, both nonprofit and for profit including private equity. We negotiate and draft letters of intent, acquisition and merger agreements, opinions of counsel, financing agreements, documents of transfer, etc.
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DEPARTMENT OF REGULATORY AGENCIES
We have a wide range of experience with most divisions of healthcare-related federal and state government agencies, particularly state medical, dental, and nursing boards. We participate in rule-making activities, licensing, and professional disciplinary proceedings.
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MEDICARE/MEDICAID FRAUD AND ABUSE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AND DME SERVICES
We represent professional providers, healthcare facilities, healthcare service agencies and DME suppliers in state and federal reimbursement recovery actions, fraud and abuse actions, program exclusion proceedings and in criminal investigations and proceedings. We have substantial experience in countering recovery actions based upon the application of "statistical sampling" techniques.
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ANTITRUST
We advise our healthcare clients in all aspects of compliance with the antitrust laws. These include questions about novel physician practice arrangements and organizations, medical group practice mergers, hospital mergers, managed care system ventures, medical staff restrictions and exclusions, relationships with allied healthcare providers, exclusive contracts, provider networks, and group purchasing programs. We have successfully represented a number of healthcare institutions and physicians around the country in private and government antitrust actions.
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RISK MANAGEMENT/ ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION
We recognize that the delays and costs involved in litigation and the damage which may result to the future relationships of the parties in disagreement sometimes suggest the need for alternatives to litigation. We discuss with our clients the cost/benefits of litigation and the option of alternative dispute resolution techniques such as arbitration, mediation, fact-finding, and negotiation to pursue a reasoned and practical resolution.
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TAX
Acquiring and maintaining federal, state and local tax exemptions for nonprofit healthcare institutions requires constant vigilance and attention. Inurement, private benefit, and unrelated business income issues are endemic in the operation of tax exempt facilities. We represent not-for-profit healthcare providers in a full range of tax counseling, litigation and appeals and in direct face-to-face negotiations and collaborative structuring with the Internal Revenue Service to meet current tax requirements and service concerns.
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HEALTHCARE INVOLVEMENT
In addition to various bar memberships, the Healthcare Group lawyers of Holland & Hart are active members of several professional organizations including the American Health Lawyers' Association. Our lawyers have been actively engaged in healthcare industry concerns such as organization, administration and governance as well as in legal representation.
Holland & Hart attorneys have published articles in national and local publications, and are national speakers on various subjects of healthcare law.
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