Healthcare
Think of us as your primary care attorneys.
Healthcare is an intricate and complex mix of providers, consumers, manufacturers, payors, and government regulators. Both high-tech and low-tech, conservative and cutting edge, it’s the fastest growing and most important sector of the economy.
Like good doctors treat their patients, Howard & Howard’s Healthcare Industry Practice Group takes a holistic approach—our attorneys triage symptoms and complaints, diagnose pain points, and utilize legal professionals and generalists where appropriate to treat the needs of a variety of clients, such as:
- Physicians and physician practice groups
- Dentists and dental practices
- Chiropractors
- Psychologists, nutritionists, counselors, mid-level, and other providers
- Hospitals and health systems
- Private equity companies
- Rehabilitation and therapy centers
- Telemedicine companies
- Assisted living and long-term care facilities
- Skilled and non-skilled home health agencies
- Healthcare management companies and dental support organizations (DSOs)
- Pharmacies
- Life sciences companies
- Medical device and equipment manufacturers and DMEPOS suppliers
Our healthcare lawyers guide physicians and other providers throughout their careers, whether they own their practices or not. They rely on us for assistance with:
- Purchases and sales of practices and healthcare-related businesses
- Compliance, HIPAA, patient privacy, and informed consent requirements
- Anti-Kickback Statute, Stark Law, and regulatory compliance
- Licensure, credentialing, and privileging
- Employment contracts and immigration status
- Professional entity selection and formation
- Shareholder agreements
- Equity participation and deferred compensation programs
- Succession planning and partner retirements and withdrawals
- Buy-sell agreements
- Medical office purchases, sales, leasing, and build-outs
- Equipment purchases and leases
- Marketing and consulting contracts
- Data sharing arrangements
- Defense of medical malpractice claims
- Estate planning
Hospitals, medical and dental groups, and healthcare facilities; health systems; medical device manufacturers; and pharmaceutical companies often encounter the same issues, as well as unique transactional, regulatory, and litigation needs that include:
- Corporate governance, planning, and maintenance
- Agreements with third parties including management entities, vendors, information technology companies, service providers, and EMR/EHR providers
- Accreditation and disciplinary actions
- Certificate of Need applications
- Ancillary service lines
- Billing service arrangements
- Company-wide compliance/HIPAA programs and associated training
- Employer-employee relationships and medical staff relations
- Mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, and joint ventures
- Executive compensation and employee benefits
- Government contracting
- Medicare, Medicaid, and third party reimbursement
- Compliance with human subjects research protections
- Patent, copyright, and trademark and service mark registration
- Confidentiality and trade secret protections
- Vendor disputes
- Products liability defense
- Real estate transactions, construction, and development
- Environmental liability
- Federal and state taxation including tax credits and incentives
Howard & Howard’s healthcare lawyers represent investors and private equity groups looking to invest in the healthcare industry in a manner that is fully compliant with applicable healthcare laws and regulations, restrictions on the corporate practice of medicine, and fee-splitting prohibitions. We perform comprehensive due diligence, draft appropriate contracts and provisions, and consummate deals as quickly and efficiently as possible. We’ve also represented lenders and borrowers in the healthcare and life sciences areas by structuring, negotiating, and documenting complex financings and credit facilities.
The scale of the healthcare industry is enormous, with professionals, providers, researchers, manufacturers, and entrepreneurs building connections within their communities and around the world. Whether you practice medicine or are in the business of medicine, we have the right healthcare legal team to help you manage those complex relationships and the related risks and opportunities.