Healthcare

Our Healthcare Practice Group combines an extensive knowledge of industry-specific operational and legal issues with substantial corporate, securities, transactional, and litigation experience to provide a broad range of services to clients throughout the healthcare industry. In particular, our healthcare attorneys have considerable experience working with physicians, physician groups, physician-controlled entities and other providers to address day-to-day legal and compliance concerns, employee and patient issues, assemble and structure provider organizations, acquire and sell healthcare businesses, and identify and resolve complex healthcare regulatory issues. We also defend professional liability claims at all levels of the litigation process. Our clients include:

  • Physicians and physician groups
  • Provider-owned healthcare entities
  • Public and privately-owned hospitals
  • Medical malpractice insurance companies
  • Nursing homes
  • Ambulatory surgery centers and specialty hospitals
  • Diagnostic imaging centers / Independent Diagnostic Testing Facilities (IDTFs)
  • Independent Practice Associations (IPAs) and other healthcare financing entities
  • Various other types of healthcare enterprises

Nashville is the healthcare capital of the United States. Sherrard Roe litigators have extensive experience handling cases across all sectors of the healthcare industry. When trouble arises, our seasoned team of attorneys stand ready to assist healthcare companies and providers whether we are providing preliminary counsel to mitigate risk or taking a case to trial.

We represent for-profit and non-profit hospitals, physicians and other healthcare providers, surgery centers, and healthcare entities. Our team has litigated disputes involving:

  • False Claims Act
  • Medical malpractice claims
  • Medical Licensing Boards
  • Medical staff bylaws and credentialing
  • Medicare and Medicaid Exclusion
  • Physician-hospital organizations
  • Management or service contracts
  • Managed care arrangements
  • Physicians/practice separations
  • Reimbursement calculations and challenges to accounting practices

We regularly provide guidance on the complex federal and state laws that regulate the delivery of healthcare services throughout the country, including laws governing:

  • Healthcare fraud and abuse (including the federal Anti-Kickback Statute)
  • Physician self-referral (including the federal Stark Law)
  • False claims (including the federal civil and criminal False Claims Acts)
  • Payor audits, repayment demands and recoupment actions
  • Antitrust
  • Medical records (including electronic medical record subsidies)
  • HIPAA and patient privacy
  • Civil Monetary Penalty Act
  • Medicare and Medicaid billing and reimbursement
  • Medical staff membership
  • National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) reporting
  • Corporate practice of medicine and fee-splitting

Our law firm provides a broad range of advice to dentists, veterinarians, optometrists and other healthcare specialties. We provide this primarily through representation on practice start-ups, practice transitions, creation of corporations and limited liability companies, associate contracts, buy-in agreements, employment law matters, practice office lease negotiations and HIPAA and OSHA compliance.

As lawyers for dentists, veterinary attorneys, and optometry attorneys, our legal services for dentists and optometrists and veterinary legal services can further be categorized as follows:

  • Forming professional limited liability companies, professional corporations and other start-up and entity formation matters
  • Drafting operating agreements and shareholder agreements
  • Negotiating, drafting and facilitating associate buy-ins and partnership agreements
  • Drafting and reviewing practice asset purchase agreements and other transition and buy sell agreements
  • Drafting and reviewing employment agreements, independent contractor agreements and other associate contracts
  • Counseling on employee disputes including non-competes
  • Drafting and negotiating practice real estate lease agreements
  • Assisting with HIPAA and OSHA compliance
  • Estate and business succession planning

As dental attorneys, we also provide legal services to dental specialties including pediatric dentists, orthodontists, periodontists, endodontists, prosthodontists, oral and maxillofacial surgeons, and dental service organizations. As dentistry, veterinary, and optometry attorneys, we understand that these specific healthcare industries are unique and complicated professions. As such, our firm has developed a practice group specifically focused on these industries. This group is led by Cornell Kennedy, an experienced attorney working with these industries and other healthcare and business entities.

According to data from HHS’s official Breach Portal, there were 418 HIPAA breaches reported in 2019. In total, 34.9 million Americans had their protected health information compromised in that year alone. To protect your patients, your employees, and your business, contact the experienced attorneys at Sherrard Roe Voigt & Harbison.

We represent a broad spectrum of healthcare providers and their related enterprises and provide a wide range of legal services required by these clients, including:

  • Mergers and acquisitions of medical groups and other provider entities
  • Medical practice separations
  • Physician-hospital integration
  • Physician and medical staff recruitment and employment
  • Hospital medical staff issues
  • Hospital contracting and governance
  • Credentialing and enrollment
  • Certificates of need
  • Structuring, forming and implementing physician service companies
  • Development, financing, and syndication of healthcare enterprises and medical ventures, such as ambulatory surgery centers, diagnostic imaging facilities (including sleep centers and IDTFs), mobile and stationary lithotripsy providers, and independent practice associations
  • Antitrust counseling, particularly in the context of mergers and acquisitions, clinical integration and the formation of independent practice associations and other physician negotiation groups
  • Corporate integrity agreements and compliance plans