Healthcare providers need a good healthcare lawyer. But do you have one who can spot those hidden issues specific to the healthcare field?
How does healthcare law fit into the legal practice? As a corporate attorney, I provide services to a client across the different aspects of their company
- Corporate formation
- Transactions – buying a company, selling a company, spinning off a part of the company, joint-venturing with partners
- Risk Management and insurance
- Employment Law – employment contracts
- Real Estate
- Contracts
- Other rules and regulations that affect a company’s industry, product, or service.
Healthcare law is an added layer to corporate law.
- Stark Law – federal law prohibiting a relationship with a referral source based on the value or the volume of those referrals.
- Anti-Kickback Statute – federal criminal statute prohibiting payment for receiving referrals
- HIPAA/HITECH – federal rules protecting patient privacy
- Corporate Practice of Medicine – state laws restricting non-physicians, including corporations, from owning companies that practice medicine. Massachusetts restricts the “corporate practice of medicine”.
- Certificate of Need – state regulations that require state department approval before practicing medicine. Massachusetts is a Certificate of Need state.
- False Claims Act – federal and state rules prohibiting falsifying medical records or billing for services not provided.
- Fee splitting – federal and state rules prohibiting certain ways to share revenues between physicians for services rendered.
Many see healthcare law and make the connection to medical malpractice. I like to say that healthcare law, if done properly, can help a healthcare provider avoid medical malpractice by doing two things: a) ensuring a provider’s practice in line with federal and state laws, rules, and regulations, and b) knowing that their practice is sound, the provider can then focus 100% of their attention on their patients.
Matthew DeNoncour, Esq. is the principal attorney and owner of Magis Law Firm, a boutique law firm based in Boston, with offices in Providence, Miami, and Fort Myers, where he provides legal services to the healthcare, life science, and technology industries. You can reach Matt at magislawfirm.com, by phone at 866-277-8680 or by email at mdenoncour@magislawfirm.com. This post is not meant to be legal advice: learn more here.
