Related Services
Health Care
Effective legal representation in the health care industry requires keen insight and understanding of the complex regulatory and competitive business environments in which health care providers operate.
Our health care attorney group is focused exclusively to the care and success of their clients in the highly regulated health care industry. This strength enables us to understand and appreciate the unique inter-relationship among the health care facility, the patient, the physician, the non-physician practitioner and the third party payor; the varied payment and reimbursement mechanisms; the compliance and enforcement environment; the tax environment in which nonprofit health care providers operate; the constitutional and statutory environment; and the increasing industry competition in which public health care providers operate.
For over 40 years, health care clients have entrusted us to provide general and special representation to help them manage the varied health care complexities encountered in the industry. We often serve as general counsel, and provide a full range of services to many of our health care clients. As a full service firm, we have the depth of experience and the breadth of knowledge to assist our clients with all of their legal issues. We also serve as special counsel on individual issues or transactions and work with clients' existing counsel.
Who we represent:
We provide legal and business services to over 100 health care organizations throughout the region including:
- health care providers
- health systems
- general and specialty hospitals
- nursing homes
- physician groups
- provider-based managed care organizations
Our Focus:
Just as our clients and the health care environment have evolved, so too have their legal needs and business interests. Areas in which our attorneys are frequently involved include:
- bio-ethical legal issues
- certificates of need
- creation of electronic health care records systems
- EMTALA
- forming, operating or contracting with managed care organizations
- general corporate and organization issues.
- health care financing and reimbursement
- HIPAA and HITECH Act
- labor relations and employment law
- licensure
- medical staff matters
- patient care policies
- physician immigration matters
- physician recruitment and contracting
- privacy issues
- provider sanctions and investigations
- Stark
- tax and other governing rules
- transactional analysis under fraud and abuse
Client Commitment:
We help our clients stay informed and current with the regulatory environment of this ever-changing industry. Attorneys actively participate in and regularly speak extensively on health matters to national and regional industry and professional associations, seminars and conferences. Our clients receive timely legal updates in a monthly newsletters authored by our health care attorneys, and we host an annual forum that assists clients in addressing key issues within the industry.
Our health care attorneys contribute their knowledge and expertise through active participation in industry associations which include:
Vickie Brady Ahlers - President of Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA), Nebraska Chapter
Kelly Clarke - Past President of the American Health Lawyers Association
Served on governing board of the American Bar Association's Health Law Forum
John Holdenried - Program Chair for the Annual Tax Issues for Healthcare Organizations Program of the American Health Lawyers Association.
Former Vice-Chair of the Tax and Finance Practice Group of the Healthcare Attorneys
Former President of the Iowa Society of Hospital Attorneys
Julie Knutson - Immediate Past President of the Iowa Society for Healthcare Attorneys
Member of the Health Care Compliance Association
Barbara Person - Past President of Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA), Nebraska Chapter