Our attorneys provide comprehensive legal and regulatory advice to hospitals and healthcare providers in South Alabama and the Gulf Coast region. We provide our healthcare clients with prompt, personal service from experienced lawyers – whether it’s a small, everyday matter, a major transaction, or complex litigation.
Our full-service healthcare practice advises clients on cutting-edge issues, including the latest developments in Medicaid expansion, uncompensated care issues and the Affordable Care Act. We also counsel them on HIPAA, certificates of need, discharge issues, privilege, confidentiality, electronic health records, state and federal regulatory issues, and the National Practitioner Data Bank.
We handle litigation and other adversarial proceedings, and we have extensive experience representing hospitals in large transactions, including the acquisition of physician practices.
In addition to regional and local hospitals, our healthcare clients include the largest not-for-profit healthcare provider in Alabama, physicians, long-term care facilities, mental healthcare facilities, healthcare systems and networks, rehabilitation hospitals, home health agencies, and management services organizations.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HEALTH CARE LAW
Health care is a complicated area of the law, involving receiving healthcare and determining who should pay for medical services. In 2018, the United States spent $3.65 trillion on healthcare alone. Given the breadth and expense of healthcare, it is one of the most heavily regulated industries in the U.S. This legal area is also tied to human health and often involves life and death scenarios. These complexities require attorneys dedicated to specializing in healthcare regulations.
Johnstone Adams, LLC understands the growing demand for legal counsel in the healthcare industry, with the regulatory maze addressing every aspect of giving and receiving medical attention for injury and illness. Non-lawyers cannot navigate these waters, so many hospitals and healthcare systems rely on our esteemed lawyers to keep their businesses running smoothly and help patients.
State and federal governments are attempting to reclaim billions in losses by cracking down on healthcare fraud and abuse, making complete compliance with U.S. healthcare regulations crucial to medical centers and medical professionals. Hospitals and medical associations may be accused of various illegal practices such as fixing nurses’ salaries, kickbacks, privacy violations, licensing discrepancies, and bioethics.
These intricate matters keep our healthcare lawyers busy and apprised of the ever-changing landscape of healthcare law. The rising cost of healthcare in the United States and an aging population means this industry will not slow down in the coming years.
HOW A HEALTHCARE LAWYER HELPS
There is a growing demand for legal representation in the healthcare industry, particularly in hospital chains, pharmacies, clinical laboratories, physician groups, nursing homes, walk-in clinics, health insurers, doctors, and other medical professionals. People in these professions are in a troubling position as they focus on improving the lives of patients but also face the reality of medical malpractice lawsuits due to the litany of regulations they must follow for patient safety and privacy.
A healthcare lawyer helps to protect these individuals and businesses that provide medical care so they can focus on what they do best: treating the sick and injured. These claims often reach into other legal practice areas, such as contracts, tax, corporate law, securities, bioethics, and malpractice. Johnstone Adams, LLC is uniquely suited for this practice area due to our full-service law firm with attorneys specializing in a wide range of U.S. laws.
REGULATORY COMPLIANCE
One of the areas a healthcare lawyer focuses on is regulatory compliance, as this is an essential component of healthcare business transactions. These complicated issues include third-party payor liabilities, Medicare, Medicaid, license transfer approval regulations, malpractice lawsuits, taxation, and ERISA.
FRAUD AND ABUSE
Our attorneys can help avoid healthcare abuse and fraud allegations and fight on the medical professional’s behalf should these claims arise. Many providers rely on payments from Medicare and Medicaid for the bulk of their revenue, and these legal concerns can affect invoicing. The healthcare industry is fraught with abuse and fraud implications, and only a lawyer who specializes in this area knows how to prevent and defend these issues, including anti-kickback laws, the federal false claims act, and the Stark anti-referral law.
Hospital and Physician Obligations as to Patient Rights under HIPPA
Patient rights are paramount in the healthcare industry, and every precaution has to be taken to ensure the patient’s safety and privacy. Healthcare lawyers make sure these legal rights are secured through informed consent for treatment, procedures, and research. We counsel hospitals, physicians, and other medical professionals on the reasonable expectation of privacy guaranteed to every patient, including HIPAA privacy rules and taxation issues, as many U.S. healthcare settings are tax-exempt through nonprofit status.
CONTACT OUR HEALTH CARE LAWYERS IN MOBILE
Healthcare law is a tangled web of legal issues that are constantly evolving. These clients need a team of lawyers with extensive experience and knowledge in healthcare law. At Johnstone Adams, LLC, we have experienced attorneys who currently represent major hospitals and mental health providers in all aspects of hospital administration, labor and employment issues, worker compensation claims, HIPPA compliance, and physician practice acquisitions/mergers.
Contact our Mobile, Alabama office today at (251) 319-4659 or fill out our online contact form.
