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Healthcare Law

We Advise Medical Providers on Healthcare Laws

We will care for you so you can care for others

At Hemmer DeFrank Wessels, PLLC, we are dedicated health care attorneys, who combine our legal knowledge and experience with personalized attention to satisfy the legal needs of our health care clients.  We provide guidance so that our clients may thrive in the densely regulated and highly competitive health care field.

Our health care attorneys regularly address the entire spectrum of issues that clients face in the health care field, including:

  • Mergers, acquisitions and other transactions
  • Joint ventures and other transactional matters
  • Governance and organizational issues
  • Compliance programs
  • Stark and fraud and abuse
  • HIPAA
  • Certificate of Need, licensure and other state regulatory concerns
  • Professional credentialing
  • Medical staff bylaws
  • Medical ethics
  • Managed care contracts and other issues
  • Medicaid and Medicare
  • Antitrust questions
  • Whistleblower actions

Hemmer DeFrank Wessels, PLLC’s health care attorneys have experience advising clients in a variety of positions related the health care field, including:

  • Hospitals
  • Single Specialty Physician Groups
  • Multi-Specialty Physician Groups
  • Individual Physicians
  • Laboratories
  • Pharmaceutical Management Software Developers
  • EMR Management Software Developers

Our health care attorneys routinely collaborate with Hemmer DeFrank Wessels, PLLC’s Business, Tax and Civil Litigation attorneys to seamlessly provide all-inclusive service.  This permits Hemmer DeFrank Wessels, PLLC to aid health care clients with:

  • Business organization
  • Taxation
  • Real Estate
  • Employment
  • Estate planning
  • Civil litigation
  • Administrative law
  • Third-party reimbursement (Medicare and Medicaid, as well as private payors)

Counseling your practice or institution on regulatory compliance

We don’t need to tell you that the healthcare industry is heavily regulated. Every dealing between a medical provider and patient carries a regulatory overlay. The healthcare law team at Hemmer DeFrank Wessels, PLLC has decades of experience helping providers navigate federal and state statutes and regulations.

In addition to regulatory matters, our attorneys advise medical practices, clinics, hospitals, counseling services and specialists on issues involving healthcare litigation, business and real estate transactions, Medicare and Medicaid compliance, and formation of practice groups.

Defending healthcare providers against fraud allegations

Insurance companies, Medicare/Medicaid administrators and state and federal prosecutors closely scrutinize healthcare providers’ billing practices. If you believe investigators have targeted your practice, clinic or institution, you should contact an experienced healthcare attorney sooner rather than later. Our attorneys can defend you against allegations of:

Unnecessary treatment and overbilling — Private insurers and government agencies all too often accuse clinics and other healthcare facilities of charging for unnecessary treatments, of billing for services never rendered and of “upcoding,” which is billing for a more expensive procedure than the one actually performed. Our healthcare attorneys bring a sophisticated knowledge of medical billing practices to the defense of your case.

Medicare and Medicaid fraud — Medicare and Medicaid investigators often accuse healthcare providers of fraudulent billing. They also look for violations of the Stark Law, a federal statute that prohibits physicians from referring Medicare or Medicaid patients to any health services provider that has a financial relationship with the doctor. The healthcare lawyers at Hemmer DeFrank Wessels, PLLC provide you with an aggressive defense to such allegations.

You need a lawyer when you sell your practice

If you are retiring or otherwise planning to sell your medical practice or your stake in a physicians’ group, an experienced healthcare attorney can help you with:

Contracts — Transferring an interest in a medical practice requires the drafting of agreements that ensure that your liability ends when you leave the practice. Our attorneys also review your malpractice coverage to determine whether it includes tail coverage for claims that might not surface until long after you sell the practice.

Regulatory requirements — When you end your relationship with a healthcare practice, you have legal duties relating to the transfer and handling of your patients’ medical records. It also is prudent to notify patients, vendors, regulators and licensing bodies that you are no longer responsible for the actions or liabilities of the practice. Our attorneys counsel you on the steps to take to reduce your exposure after you have sold your practice.

Offering legal guidance to healthcare providers

We advise medical practices, clinics, hospitals, counseling services and specialists on issues involving healthcare litigation, business transactions, Medicare and Medicaid compliance and regulatory matters. A few of the services we provide are:

Regulatory compliance — Our attorneys stay current on statutes and regulations affecting the health industry, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the Health Care Quality Improvement Act, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act and the recent rules on electronic transmission of health information. We advise you on compliance, and represent you in proceedings before licensing boards and regulatory agencies.

Litigation defense — We help healthcare providers with all aspects of risk management and professional liability, but sometimes a doctor or institution cannot avoid litigation. Our attorneys defend healthcare providers against credentialing claims, malpractice suits, billing fraud allegations by insurance companies and qui tam actions under the False Claims Act.

Sales of practices — Our attorneys ensure that all of the complex regulatory compliance issues are addressed when you are buying or selling a medical practice. We also help determine the value of the practice and then structure and negotiate the terms of the transaction.

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Our Office
  • Fort Mitchell Office
    250 Grandview Drive
    Suite 500
    Fort Mitchell, Kentucky 41017
    Phone: 859-344-1188
    Fax: 859-578-3869