Each of the Association's Practice Groups will hold a luncheon at the Annual Meeting. The luncheons are an additional fee, space is limited, and pre-registration is required.
12:20-1:30 pm
Sponsored by MediTract Inc.
Don't miss this spectacular luncheon! You will be amazed by the creative video highlighting this Practice Group's activities over the last year. You will also be entertained by real-life, too-weird-to-be-true stories told by fellow health law attorneys competing for the Tenth Annual Golden Ferret Award. As you listen to your colleagues recounting their strangest work-related escapades, you will gain a new appreciation for your own practice environment. The coveted Golden Ferret Award will be presented to the luncheon participant who tells the most entertaining and outrageous true-life anecdote from their in-house practice. The winner will also receive a complimentary registration to next year's In-House Counsel Program. And last but not least, it's Salary Survey time again! The results will be distributed to all attendees. This year we added questions about hospitals' responses to the challenging economy.
12:30-1:45 pm
Title: Trends in Healthcare Fraud Enforcement
The past few years have seen ever larger settlements involving pharmaceutical companies, device manufacturers, and others involved in the healthcare industry. The government and qui tam relators have shown creativity in their approaches to prosecuting healthcare fraud, from deferred prosecution agreements to novel legal theories. The defense bar for its part continues to try to mount a strong defense, while recognizing the practical limitations posed by the threat of exclusion and massive potential FCA liability. The Obama Administration is changing the faces at the top of the Deparment of Justice and the various U.S. Attorneys Offices around the country. The luncheon will provide an opportunity to hear the perspective of the government, the qui tam relators bar, and the defense bar on the future of healthcare fraud enforcement.
Presenters:
Crane M. Pomerantz
Criminal Healthcare Fraud Coordinator
U.S. Attorney’s Office for District of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV
Paul W. Shaw, Esq.
Brown & Rudnick, Boston, MA
Joseph E.B. White
President & CEO
Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund, The False Claims Act Legal Center, Washington, DC
Sponsored by Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP
Title: Health Reform as It Impacts Life Sciences
Presenter:
Neera Tanden
Senior Advisor, Office of Health Reform
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC
Neera Tanden is currently a Senior Advisor for Health Reform at the Health and Human Services Department Office of Health Reform, where she is working on the President's healthcare reform plan and helping formulate the department's response to reform efforts. She is also working on the Department's interagency Comparative Effectiveness Subgroup as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that is focused on maximizing the effectiveness of the Congress' $1.1 billion investment in funding. Prior to that she was the Director of Domestic Policy for the Obama-Biden Presidential Campaign, where she ran point on the campaign's major initiative on healthcare, as well as other domestic issues. Before that, Tanden served as Policy Director for the Hillary Clinton Presidential Campaign, where she directed all policy work ranging from domestic to economic to foreign affairs. She previously served as then Senator Clinton's Legislative Director, where she oversaw healthcare policy including the Senator's healthcare quality legislation and comparative effectiveness proposals. She was formerly Senior Vice President for Domestic Policy as well as Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs at the Center for American Progress, where she worked on the Center's proposals for universal healthcare and healthcare quality.
Title: Transparency in the Ownership of Healthcare Facilities: Why or Why Not?
This panel of speakers will discuss the trend in state and federal legislative proposals to require complete or significant transparency (and disclosure) of the ownership of healthcare entities, including long term care facilities. The panel will address their respective viewpoints on the need for transparency and its consequences in today's marketplace.
Panelists:
Christopher Armstrong
Investigative Counsel, Minority Staff
U.S. Senate Finance Committee, Washington, DC
David E. Hebert
Senior Vice President of Policy & Government Relations
American Health Care Association
Washington, DC
Anne Montgomery
Senior Policy Advisor
U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, Washington, DC
Michael Park
Health Policy Counsel, Minority Staff
U.S. Senate Finance Committee, Washington, DC
Moderator:
Lawrence R. Siegel, Esq.
Williams Mullen, Virginia Beach, VA
Sponsored by MediTract Inc.
Title: Mock Quarantine Hearing and Motion for Writ of Mandamus to Quash Designation as Quarantine Hospital
The recent H1N1 "Swine" flu has received a great deal of attention, but luckily, the virus causes relatively mild symptoms in most individuals. Even so, hospitals, clinics, and physician offices experienced significant increases in patient visits—up to 50% increases, and this in a disease with mild symptoms. Imagine what could happen if a novel influenza virus has higher virulence and equal ability to be transmitted between people. Imagine what could happen if one of your employees was among the first patients in the U.S. to be diagnosed and other employees were quickly becoming symptomatic as well. Imagine what could happen if the local Public Health officer wants your hospital to be the designated hospital to care for all influenza patients. Join us on Monday, June 29, at the Teaching Hospitals and Academic Medical Centers luncheon, as we present the “Mock Quarantine Hearing and Motion for Writ of Mandamus to Quash Designation as Quarantine Hospital.”
Attendees also have the opportunity for a sneak peek at some very cool technology that tracks and models transmission of contagious disease, as our epidemiologists use modeling to support their positions regarding the need for quarantine.
Join us for an interesting look into possible future scenarios which could directly affect your client.
Participants:
A. Chevelle Glymph, MPH - as the Public Health Epidemiologist
Lead Epidemiologist
District of Columbia Department of Public Health, Washington, DC
Marc D. Goldstone, Esq. - as Counsel for Hospital
Vice President and Associate General Counsel, Division II
Community Health Systems
Franklin, TN
Claire Cowart Haltom, Esq. - as Counsel for Public Health
Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC, Memphis, TN
Cynthia Gelmine Imperato - as the Judge
State of Florida, 17th Judicial Circuit Judge
Criminal Division, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Demetrios Kouzoukas, Esq. - as Counsel for Patient
Covington & Burling LLP, Washington, DC
Charles P. Mouton, MD, MS - as Epidemiologist for for Patient and Hospital
Chair, Community Health and Family Practice
Geriatrics, College of Medicine
Howard University, Washington, DC
12:15-1:45 pm
Title: Healthcare Restructuring and the Capital Crunch—A Report from the Front Lines
Martin Winter, a Managing Director and Co-Head of Alvarez & Marsal's Healthcare Industry Group will report on the state of affairs of the healthcare marketplace in light of limited availability of capital to all but the strongest participants, challenges, and uncertainty on reimbursement, continued payor pressure, increasing unemployment and resulting bad debts, reduced charitable contributions and investment income, and operating challenges that were unanticipated as recently as a year ago. Attorneys seeking to better advise their clients on navigating these turbulent waters will want to hear what the leading healthcare advisory and restructuring firm is seeing and doing to meet these challenges.
Presenter:
Martin E. Winter, Esq.
Managing Director, Alvarez & Marsal, New York, NY
Title: HIT at the Forefront—Federal Legislation Alters the Health Information Technology Landscape
Presenter:
Susan McAndrew, JD
Deputy Director for Health Information Privacy
Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC
Title: Wage and Hour Issues in Healthcare under the Obama Administration
- Enforcement Initiatives Under the New Administration
Red Flags in Department of Labor investigations
Collective Action Developments
Presenter:
Alexander J. Passantino
Former Acting Administrator
Wage and Hour Division, US Department of Labor, Washington, DC
Title: New England Carpenters v. First DataBank & McKesson Corp.: Settlement Impact on Drug Pricing for Third-Party Payors, Pharmacies, and Patients
First Data Bank (FDB) is the prescription drug industry’s largest publisher of average wholesale price (AWP) data, which is used to derive drug prices at the consumer end of the United States drug distribution system. The proposed settlement requires, in part, FDB to rollback many prices on its published list. This presentation will discuss the far-reaching impact of the current proposed settlement on the healthcare industry, including the contracts among payors, pharmacy benefit managers, and pharmacy providers.
Panelists:
Don L. Bell II, Esq.
Senior Vice President of Legal Affairs and General Counsel
National Association of Chain Drug Stores, Alexandria, VA
Suzanne E. Broderick, Esq.
The Phoenix Law Group of Feldman Brown Wala Hall & Agena PLC, Scottsdale, AZ
T. Reed Stephens, Esq.
McDermott Will & Emery LLP, Washington, DC
Moderator:
Todd M. Ebersole, Esq.
Vice President and Senior Associate General Counsel
Prescription Solutions, a UnitedHealth Group Company, Irvine, CA
12:00 noon-1:20 pm
Sponsored by Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP
Title: Current Government Initiatives Regarding Healthcare Reform
Presenter:
Jim Kessler
Vice President for Policy
Third Way, Washington, DC
Jim Kessler is co-founder and Vice President for Policy of the DC-based think tank Third Way—the leading moderate voice of the progressive movement. Mr. Kessler and Third Way have been extensively involved in both the substance and politics of the current healthcare debate, including meetings and briefings with senior White House officials and leading Members of Congress from both Houses. Before founding Third Way, Mr. Kessler spent twelve years as a senior legislative aide in Congress that includes an eight-year run as Rep./Sen. Charles Schumer’s most senior policy advisor. During that period, he worked on major healthcare issues facing hospitals, providers, and consumers. Mr. Kessler appears frequently on television and has published dozens of columns for major outlets. He has a B.A. in political science from Boston University (1982) and a Masters Degree in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government (1988).
Sponsored by FIOS Inc.
Title: What You Need to Know About the New Privacy and Security Rules from the Stimulus Bill (the ARRA)
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the Stimulus Bill) substantially strengthened both the security and privacy provisions of HIPAA, creating a wide range of new obligations for both the healthcare industry and its business partners. Come hear the former chair of AHLA’s HIPAA Affinity Group explain the key provisions and latest thinking about how these provisions will impact the liability of healthcare providers and business associates. The discussion will include:
- Expectations for heightened privacy enforcement by the federal government and state attorneys general;
- Sweeping new rules concerning notification to affected consumers of security breaches; and
- What it means for the HIPAA privacy and security rules to apply directly to business associates.
Presenter:
Kirk J. Nahra, Esq.
Wiley Rein LLP, Washington, DC
Title: MS.1.20—Status and Impact on Hospitals and Medical Staffs
As most of you are aware, The Joint Commission created a Task Force composed of hospital and physician industry representatives to address its controversial and evolving standard on medical staff bylaws and medical staff governance. A June 2007 "final" rule generated a strong negative reaction from hospitals because it would have required the consolidation of most substantive governance, credentialing, and hearing requirements into the bylaws rather than allow the common practice of utilizing separate policies, manuals, and rules and regulations to reflect these procedures. The rule also dramatically changed the relationship between the organized medical staff and the Medical Executive Committee.
After almost two years since the rule was issued, the Task Force has developed a "consensus" draft which now has been circulated to various industry constituencies for their reaction. The goal is for this draft to be submitted to The Joint Commission Board of Trustees in October 2009 for review and approval before sending out for field review. The effect of this new standard, in whatever final form, will likely require an exploration of how each hospital will address the medical staff governance principles reflected in the recommended revisions, as well as a revision of most hospitals' medical staff bylaws to fully effectuate these principles.
We are fortunate to have as the Medical Staff, Credentialing, and Peer Review (MSCPR) Practice Group Annual Luncheon speaker on Wednesday, July 1st, Ann O'Connell. Ann is a partner with Nossaman LLP, is former Chair of the MSCPR Practice Group and was a member of The Joint Commission Task Force representing the California Hospital Association. She will share her insights regarding the process which led up to this proposed standard and, more importantly, will be discussing the proposed standard as part of a side-by-side comparison with the existing rule so that the attendees will have a clear understanding as to how the standard would affect their hospitals and medical staffs. We hope you can join us for this important, timely, and what will prove to be an engaging discussion.
Presenter:
Ann O’Connell, Esq.
Nossaman LLP, Sacramento, CA
Title: What's Up on the Hill
Join us for a discussion of the current state of legislative proposals for change for exempt organizations. A particular focus will be the status and prospects for change in the community benefit standard for federal income tax exemption for hospitals and alternative proposals.
Presenter:
Theresa Pattara
Tax Counsel for the Minority
U.S. Senate Finance Committee, Washington, DC