Healthcare

Healthcare providers need a steady, reassuring hand to help them through the many demands placed upon them by government regulations. Parsons Behle & Latimer attorneys provide counseling and training to healthcare providers in the area of Medicare and Medicaid compliance, HIPAA compliance, fraud and abuse and the Americans with Disabilities Act as well as federal labor and employment laws. Our skills in preparing policies and procedures as well as conducting on-site training and self-auditing, is the personal touch that our clients value. 

Drug and alcohol treatment providers are called upon to negotiate a heavy scheme of state and federal regulations. Parsons Behle & Latimer attorneys are experienced in representing drug and alcohol treatment providers and are familiar with the extensive regulatory requirements that must be followed. We can assist our clients not only with regulatory compliance, but also the need to meet quality and standard of care issues in their facilities. 

Healthcare providers are subject to a wide variety of potentially threatening audits and investigations by the state and federal governments. Experienced counsel is needed to deal with these career threatening events. Parsons Behle & Latimer attorneys have the experience and skills to respond decisively on behalf of our clients. Whether the investigation is civil, criminal or administrative, we can protect our healthcare clients and bring them peace of mind.

Parsons Behle & Latimer attorneys understand how the government operates and can help you create a sound regulatory plan. Healthcare and related entities are impacted by a vast and complex array of laws and regulations that conflict and that can impose untenable barriers. Parsons' government relations attorneys continue to help clients initiate regulatory and legislative action and to interface with regulators as an additional business strategy for planning, preventing and solving problems. The firm offers regulatory experience at the local, state and federal levels, including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Health and Human Services (HHS), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), state licensing boards and insurance commissions.

Parsons Behle & Latimer attorneys provide extensive transaction services across all healthcare industries, including the medical, dental, podiatry, chiropractic and veterinary sectors. We have helped close hundreds of healthcare practice sales and acquisitions as well as assisted with the negotiation and preparation of numerous partnership agreements, employment agreements, practice office leases, shared services agreements and a host of other healthcare-related agreements. Parsons' attorneys also have more than 20 years' experience in assisting healthcare practices with financing issues, including traditional bank lending, Small Business Administration loans and private equity and similar sources of funding.

Parsons Behle & Latimer’s health care attorneys provide guidance and tools that prevent HIPAA violations and that serve to mitigate damages if such violations occur.

Parsons' attorneys have developed HIPAA compliance and risk analysis tools to assist clients in deciphering complications of privacy and security regulations. We facilitate client transactions by evaluating transfers of protected health information that comply with HIPAA. We also help clients determine whether they must initiate breach notification procedures in the event of inadvertent data disclosures or loss and aid clients with the private and administrative actions for HIPAA violations and security breaches.

While the firm has traditionally assisted pharmacies, clinics, physicians, other health care providers and health care plans with HIPAA compliance, we increasingly represent entities that provide electronic health records (EHR) systems; data storage companies; billing, transcription, and answering services companies; and health care and information technology companies that are HIPAA business associates and must now comply with many of the privacy and security provisions of HIPAA.

Hospital privileging, peer review and credentialing can be potentially career-threatening events for healthcare providers. Among other things, these events carry the risk of reporting to the National Practitioner Data Bank, thereby placing a “black mark” on a practitioner’s career and reputation. Parsons Behle & Latimer attorneys have handled multiple matters involving these sensitive situations and have been successful in obtaining the best possible outcomes for our clients. 

Parsons Behle & Latimer attorneys have worked with hundreds of healthcare providers to assist them in meeting coding and billing guidelines promulgated by the Medicare and Medicaid programs. We have a network of medical coding, billing and statistical consultants with whom we work on a regular basis to educate healthcare providers or, if necessary, to litigate reimbursement disputes. 

The laws and regulations governing the mental health field raise a host of unique issues. Parsons Behle & Latimer attorneys serve as general counsel to the Idaho Psychological Association and also represent multiple mental health providers regarding HIPAA privacy and security matters, coding and billing compliance, malpractice issues, state licensure board investigations and employment matters.

Parsons Behle & Latimer attorneys have solid experience in assisting clients with licensing and regulatory matters.

There are few events more threatening than receiving an action against a professional license or facility permit from a regulatory agency. Licensure actions can destroy a career or undermine the existence of a business entity.

Parsons' attorneys have a long history of helping clients avoid regulatory pitfalls, developing compliance programs and advising clients about how to conduct business within the limitations imposed by labyrinthine laws and regulations. Likewise, our attorneys have decades of experience defending clients in administrative forums. For physicians, nurses, pharmacists and medical companies that are under investigation or have had administrative actions taken against them, we can assist with sound, strong procedural and substantive defenses. Even when administrative actions lead to criminal proceedings, such as with alleged violations of controlled substances laws, Parsons' criminal defense attorneys team up with other attorneys to provide a coordinated approach to pending threats.

From HIPAA to the Affordable Care Act, Parsons Behle & Latimer attorneys can help healthcare providers stay current on the myriad regulatory provisions that they encounter in their practices. Our firm conducts compliance training and prepares the necessary policies and procedures for our clients to enable them to be in full compliance with state and federal law. 

Parsons Behle & Latimer has one of the most experienced national defense practices for Medicare, Medicaid and commercial insurance audits and investigations. Defending reimbursement audits requires a multi-disciplinary approach as well as the tenacity to battle through multiple levels of appeal. Having successfully handled hundreds such audits, our attorneys have access to a strong network of experts in the fields of statistics, medical billing and coding, and medicine. 

The attorneys at Parsons Behle & Latimer can help you to understand how anti-kickback laws may affect your business. Any health care provider and any entity that has financial relationships with providers know that the words "Stark Law" and "Anti-Kickback Law" will find their way into any discussion about health care transactions. After the passage of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, states are more focused on their own versions of anti-kickback laws and are taking actions to recover payments to providers, and indirect payments to medical device and pharmaceutical companies. Now that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, that law’s fraud and abuse provisions will be enforceable. The health and life sciences attorneys at Parsons understand the impact of these statutes and assist clients in structuring transactions to avoid self-referral problems and to avoid criminal sanctions under state and federal anti-kickback laws.