Healthcare

Healthcare is one of the fastest growing and most heavily regulated industries, and as it continues to expand, constant change seems to be the norm.  Operating a healthcare related business or practice in this dynamic industry requires skilled and sophisticated legal counsel to help navigate the many unique and complex challenges that healthcare entities encounter on a daily basis.

Gunster’s Healthcare practice understands that this heavily regulated industry creates a host of situations that can involve litigation, and complex transactional and regulatory issues at both the state and federal levels. Our experienced team is ready to help meet the needs of our healthcare clients and to  provide comprehensive counsel. Gunster’s healthcare practice also provides services to other entities and individuals who interact with the healthcare industry.

Our healthcare practice includes lawyers and professionals that are Board Certified in State and Federal Government and Administrative Law as well as others with medical and scientific backgrounds. This gives our healthcare team a unique perspective and knowledge when counseling our clients. When appropriate, our team of attorneys draws upon the comprehensive experience of other practices within the firm, including tax, corporate, labor and employment, immigration and real estate.

We have experience providing representation and counsel to a variety of entities, including:

• Hospitals and health care systems
• Individual  physicians and other healthcare practitioners
• Single-specialty and multi-specialty physician group practices
• Integrated service-networks, PHOs, IPAs and MSOs
• Nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities and assisted living facilities
• Home health care providers
• Emerging biotechnology companies
• Medical device companies
• Pharmaceutical companies
• Medical coding and billing companies

Full Service Representation & Counsel

Our multi-disciplinary experience working with healthcare entities allows our attorneys to provide an integrated approach to counseling our clients. When needed, we combine our business, corporate transactional, regulatory and litigation skills to provide representation in virtually every area of healthcare law, including:

• Practice acquisitions, M&A’s  acquiring physician practices and selling healthcare facilities
• Federal Stark Law, Anti-Kickback, Anti-Markup and False Claims Act investigations
• Qui Tam and Whistleblower Claims
• Managed care litigation and reimbursement disputes with private and government payors including Medicare, Medicaid, Claims of Lien and PIP recoveries, on behalf of service providers
• Hospital and other provider patient account claims against health, automobile and PIP insurers, hospital liens and letters of protection issues
• Professional licensure defense and applications
• Reimbursement and privileges disputes
• Florida Patient Brokering Act, Fee Splitting and Anti-Kickback Laws and the Patient Self Referral Act
• Peer  review and credentialing issues
• Bioethics, Advanced Directives, Guardianships, and Health Care Proxy issues
• Joint Ventures, Under Arrangements and Co-management Agreements
• Facility operations, risk management, EMTALA and AHCA compliance and defense
• Development of Accountable Care Organizations (ACO)
• Medical Imaging and Clinical Laboratory issues, including IDTFs
• Representation of medical groups in issues of income allocation and employment agreements
• Shareholder agreements, buy-in and buy-out, non-compete and other restrictive covenants
• Americans with Disability Act compliance issues
• DEA, OIG and CMS reviews and investigations
• Medical malpractice defense
• 403b and 457 plans
• Qualified and nonqualified plans of exempt organizations with extensive experience with affiliated groups
• Physician and medical staff employment and consulting agreements
• Foundation and not for profit advice
• Executive compensation plans
• Employee benefits and compensation plans
• Healthcare contracts for healthcare providers and hospitals
• Transactional work including the purchasing, leasing and use agreements for physicians and hospitals
• Immigration issues for hospitals and other organizations including in-bound and out-bound issues
• All aspects of labor and employment counsel  and litigation including representing physicians in dissolution disputes
• Transactions including joint ventures, and corporate mergers and acquisitions
• Compliance and regulatory counseling
• Government affairs, including healthcare legislation and lobbying
• Appellate practice
• Health facility representation
• Health information, including privacy and technology (HIPAA and HITECH)
• Real estate, including projective development, leasing and construction contracts and landlord tenant matters unique to healthcare facilities
• Alternative dispute resolution
• Environmental, including medical and non-medical waste management issues
• Provider defense in Federal fair debt reporting, fair debt collection and unfair and deceptive trade practices litigation