Finally, an attorney can arrange custody of your medical records in accordance with applicable state record retention requirements, help wind down your financial matters, and terminate your practice’s professional entity.
3. Practice Mergers
Engaging a healthcare transaction attorney protects your investment in your practice and in the practice with which you decide to merge. Healthcare mergers, due to the complex rules and regulations governing the industry, are uniquely complicated. A traditional business lawyer with merger experience likely will not understand regulations that solely impact healthcare mergers, which can lead to regulatory fines and penalties.
Therefore, if you are considering merging your practice, it is critical that you engage an attorney who is highly experienced in the legal implications of healthcare transactions and who has a deep understanding of the Anti-Kickback Statute, Stark Law, and other applicable regulations. Doing so is the only way to ensure compliance with healthcare rules and regulations.
4. Payor Audits
The number of payor audits is increasing dramatically. Payor audits can involve Medicare, Medicaid, or third-party payors. When an audit notice is received, there often is a limited time period to respond. Therefore, it is imperative that you engage an experienced healthcare attorney upon receipt of such a notice to draft a professional response to the audit request and help you gather the requested documents in accordance with the time frames specified in the notice.
In addition, an attorney can address procedural, legal, or factual flaws in the auditor’s position, which can prevent repayment of significant monetary penalties and suspension or revocation of billing privileges.
5. Malpractice Allegations
Without question, if you are subject to a medical malpractice lawsuit, you absolutely must retain an experienced healthcare attorney. Your insurance company will usually hire one for you, but that is not always the case.
Medical malpractice cases are extremely complicated. To prevail, you need an attorney who not only understands the law but also the practice of medicine. A healthcare attorney will not only know what litigation filings are required but will be able to arrange expert witnesses to help prove that you acted in accordance with professional standards.
In Sum
It is critical that an experienced healthcare attorney be hired to help manage these situations and many more. There is no better way to protect the professional and personal interests you have worked so hard to build. TH