Healthcare Law

Healthcare Law

SAPG’s Healthcare practice is focused on assisting clients in the most challenging, regulated, and impactful industry. We focus on helping our healthcare companies and practitioners navigate the complex ever changing regulatory environment, where in addition to taking the law into consideration, we focus on our clients achieving their business goals.

The practice focuses on physicians establish their practice, work with administrative agencies, build comprehensive compliance programs, and perform the requisite legal work for practice mergers and acquisitions.

We work with physicians during their most difficult situations when their livelihood is at risk by representing them in professional license defense and Medicare/Medicaid overpayment audits.

doctor signing prescription

Practice Formation

A medical practice is different than any other business type. The practice needs to be examined to determine the legal and regulatory impact of choosing the correct professional entity. Improperty forming and structuring a medical practice can result in delays in being able to treat patients and in worst case scenarios accusations of fraud. Medical professionals seeking to open a practice are advised to consult with a professional healthcare attorney at SAPG Legal.

Representation of Hospitals and Centers

The practice of Medicine is drastically changes and is encouraging practices to merge to be part of integrated networks, large scale hospitals, urgent care treatment centers, and ambulatory surgery centers. As with other medical practices, hospitals and Article 28 practices are heavily scrutinized by regulatory and administrative agencies, which requires comprehending and complying with constantly changing laws, rules, and regulations. SAPG Legal represents Hospitals, Article 28, and independent diagnostic testing facilities (“IDTFs”) in structuring, expansion, mergers and acquisitions, and joint-ventures deals. SAPG Legal’s attorneys represent clients with administrative regulatory agency matters, Medicare/Medicaid compliance, and entering into financial relationships with third-parties.

Professional License Defense

No industry is more regulated in the United States than medical practice. The biggest challenge for any medical business is compliance and comprehension of different laws, rules, regulations, and the political climate. Issues with medical licenses can occur even for a diligent medical practitioner. Licensing issues place the doctor’s, or medical practitioner’s career, reputation, and livelihood at risk. Ignoring any accusations, or summons from a regulatory agency can lead to heavy fines, exclusions from participation with insurance companies, revocation of Medicare/Medicaid billing privileges, suspension or revocation of your medical license, and other potential penalties. Medical practitioners are well advised to retain a healthcare attorney for ANY investigation or summons from an administrative regulatory agency. SAPG Legal’s knowledgeable and qualified attorneys work with medical practitioners to resolve and adjudicate disciplinary investigations and actions by a criminal investigation, state board licensing agency, a hospital or medical staff peer-review committee.

Office of Professional Medical Conduct and Office of Proffessional Discipline Representation

The Office Medical Professional Conduct (“OPMC”) must investigate all complaints against physicians that can come from angry patients, ex-employees, Health Maintenance Organizations (“HMOs”), law enforcement agencies, and anyone that can have cause to complaint about a physician. These complaints may be meritless, but only matters the OPMC investigator deems meritorious will cause a physician inquiry. SAPG Legal’s healthcare attorneys assist medical practitioners with handling matters concerning medical license suspension or revocation, investigations to avoid adverse findings, which gets posted on the OPMC’s website, searched by patients, managed care companies, insurance panels, and malpractice carriers. From determining the true intent of the initial request for information through the comprehensive review of the file, to the best way to submit the information demanded by OPMC, SAPG ensures that the investigation has a minimum impact on the medical practitioners right to practice medicine.

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