Healthcare Regulatory Compliance
In addition to their experience in the state and federal laws and regulations that govern Emergency Medical Services and other healthcare entities, our attorneys are healthcare providers with graduate degrees in health and public administration. This unique combination is certain to help you by allowing us to familiarize ourselves quickly with your situation and reach cost-effective solutions.
Our experience includes:
- State EMS statutes and regulations
- Other State healthcare statutes and regulations
- OSHA Regulations governing infection control, respiratory protection, hazardous materials, confined spaces and more.
- HIPAA – Health Information Portability and Accountability Act
- EMTALA – Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act
- Electronic Medical Records / ePCR Systems, including ImageTrend and emsCharts
- State and federal employment laws affecting the healthcare industry
Healthcare Reimbursement
As one of the biggest challenges in healthcare, the issue of reimbursement is a constant concern for our clients. Counseling them and helping them navigate this territory is one of our busiest practice areas. This includes Medicare and Medicaid compliance, as well as matters involving commercial insurance and third-party payors. Some examples of matters that we typically handle are:
- Bundled Billing Agreements
- Agreements with Outside Billing Companies
- Medicare Appeals
- Third-Party Payor Overpayment Demands and Audits
- Demands involving Statistical Extrapolation
- False Claims Act cases and Qui Tam Actions
We also provide training on EMS documentation for compliance purposes. We focus our training on clinically-relevant documentation to support your reimbursement and be legally defensible.
Organizational Licensure and Credentialing
Whether your organization is seeking initial state licensure and Medicare certification, or working to gain national accreditation, we can guide you through the process, and make sure your changes meet the new standards, as well as the laws governing your new organizational status.
Organizational Governance and Policies
Your company, agency, or department may need assistance in drafting, updating, or revising governing documents, including corporate charters, constitutions, and bylaws. Our attorneys can assist you at any point in this process, from initial stakeholder input to limited revision of documents.
We can also assist in preparing and revising policies, procedures, and other operational guidelines to ensure that they are current, valid, and legal.
Employment Law
Employment issues are a major concern for healthcare agencies, including EMS providers. Our attorneys will guide you through the maze of employment law, discrimination and harassment law, hiring and separation issues, wage and hour issues, social media concerns, and more.
We conduct outside investigations, specifically in the public safety and healthcare areas, under the attorney-client relationship. We also provide dispute resolution services using attorneys who know the details of the EMS and healthcare system, giving them credibility on both sides of an issue.
We also provide training and education programs tailored to your needs on topics of workplace culture, social media awareness, patient-provider boundary issues, and more.
Contracting
Our team can help you negotiate, draft, review and assist with contracts, as well as requests for proposals, from both the contractor and contractee perspectives. Contracts include service contracts, ePCR vendors, vehicle contracts, equipment contracts, and employment contracts.
RFP Support
We are also experienced in preparing on behalf of municipalities, and responding to on behalf of EMS agencies, public contract requests for proposals (RFP). There are numerous common pitfalls associated with public contracting, such as the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, that our attorneys can help you avoid.
Provider Licensure and Credentialing
If you are summoned before a professional licensing board or other credentialing body, you need expert representation from attorneys with healthcare experience. Our attorneys have successfully brought matters before licensing boards, state departments, and other agencies for Initial Investigation or Preliminary Investigative Committee (PEC) hearings, all the way through full trials before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) in the Office of Administrative Law. Our experience includes physicians, nurses, paramedics, EMTs, social workers, physical therapists, and more. This includes representation at the Office of EMS and National Registry of EMTs.
Litigation Support
You may already be involved in active litigation involving our areas of expertise, including administrative, civil or criminal matters. We can review medical documentation, prepare witnesses, help coordinate with other attorneys, and make appearances at depositions and other hearings as needed. If you are represented by defense counsel who need help with EMS-specific issues, or obtaining expert witnesses, we can work with your existing team on those issues.
Crisis Management
Unfortunately, from time to time your department may be faced with a problem that you need help solving. Our team members are experienced leaders as well as qualified attorneys, so we have experience in responding to and mitigating adverse events, developing internal messaging, helping with public relationship, engaging in dispute resolution, and working to prevent events from reoccurring.