Healthcare Operations

Representative Experience

• Represented two hospitals in the acquisition, ground leasing and building leasing of a medical office building (MOB) and an acute care general hospital, including all zoning and subdivision work related to the project.
• Advised a skilled nursing care and retirement living company in the financing, construction, development, and leasing of a 60,000-square-foot MOB.
• Represented client in placing a specialty hospital on the campus of a regional shopping center, including all financing, leasing, ground leasing, zoning, and construction of a skywalk from the hospital to an adjacent MOB.
• Assisted clients in obtaining licensure to operate in Texas as a health maintenance organization, third-party administrator, and utilization review agent.
• Secured favorable outcomes for numerous healthcare clients before the Missouri Board of Pharmacy, the Missouri Board of Registration for the Healing Arts, the administrative hearings unit of the Missouri Department of Health Senior Services, and the Division of Regulation and Licensure.
• Serve as primary outside counsel for one of the nation’s leading pediatric medical centers, headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. We advise the hospital in compliance and regulatory matters, particularly those dealing with state Medicaid programs and the unique state laws and processes required for dealing with disclosures, refunds, and other compliance concerns.
• Represented a university medical center in forming faculty practice plans for the center’s individual departments, including obtaining tax-exempt status for the entities and preparing tailored governance documents specific to individual departmental needs, goals, and desires.
• Represented a large private university and its school of medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, in matters related to commercial contracts, licensing, and other agreements, and employment litigation, as well as regulatory work with governmental agencies involving licensing and permitting of ancillary healthcare operations and persons.
• Prepared and negotiated contracts with revenue cycle, supply chain, and software vendors for a large hospital system; advised in-house personnel regarding best contracting practices.
• Directed comprehensive audit and regulatory analysis of physician contracts at a children’s hospital and submitted a Stark Law disclosure to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) under the self-referral disclosure protocol. Provided operational and corrective action recommendations related to audit findings.
• Drafted admissions agreements, program statements, and general policies and procedures for healthcare facilities to ensure conformance with regulatory requirements. Additionally, reviewed and revised policies and procedures while working to facilitate goals of compliance departments.
• Drafted credentialing policies and procedures, provided training, and advised hospitals and other healthcare entities on credentialing matters.
• Facilitated dispute between the governing board and the medical staff for a large health system involving revisions to medical staff bylaws, negotiations between the governing board and medical staff on hospital operational policies, and participation of medical staff in developing and implementing them.
• Advised a multihospital health system on all aspects of physician contracting, including contract development and negotiation, regulatory analysis, and operational considerations.
• Evaluated quality bonus programs for employed and contracted physicians in the adult and pediatric context, including facilitating valuation efforts and the development of quality initiatives, benchmarks, and bonus methodology.
• Assisted with an operational practice/staffing review and the development of a comprehensive compensation model for the exclusive anesthesia provider of a large hospital.
• Counseled nonprofit, tax-exempt organizations (ranging from small medical research foundations to rural hospitals to governmental health maintenance organizations) on all aspects of operation, including formation, tax-exempt applications, governance and dispute matters, Internal Revenue Service audits, reorganizations, and joint ventures with for-profit entities.
• Successfully negotiated major updates to joint venture arrangement between a neuro service provider and a large health system in Arizona which led to the provider working with the hospital to build and develop a new offering, a neuro services tower.
• Merged three orthopedic practices with very different compensation structures, varied affiliations, and different management approaches into one single large orthopedic practice, the largest in western Missouri and eastern Kansas.