Hospitals and Hospital Systems

Hospitals, Hospital Systems and Related Healthcare Entities

Our Firm has a long history of working with hospital systems and their ancillary businesses across the state of Texas. This representation includes work in the formation and structure of the entity, regulatory matters, litigation, quality and risk management, business disputes and medicare / medicaid issues. We work with clients in the areas of:

Antikickback Laws
Stark Self-Referral Laws
EMTALA
IPAs, MSOs and PHOs
Gainsharing
HIPAA
Operations
Peer Review
Quality / Risk Management Initiatives

Joint Ventures
Associations Between Providers
Physician Recruitment
Insurance and Coverage Issues
Risk Assessment
Litigation and Litigation Prevention
Policies and Procedure
Medical Quality Investigations

Quality Improvement

The Firm has a proven track record with hospital based quality initiatives. We serve as advisors to General Counsel and quality team members, to develop methodology for sentinel event investigations. We are frequently asked to assist hospital personnel conduct the investigations, develop findings and implement strategies to help improve patient care. Our experience includes:

Unexpected outcomes
Defective medical devices
Equipment failures
Medication errors
Tainted solutions, blood and tissue
Hospital acquired infectious disease outbreaks

We tailor the design of root cause analysis, recommend strategies for prevention, prepare policies and conduct education to implement same. When indicated, our attorneys develop and implement look back programs offering advice on when and how to contact patients and health care personnel who may be affected, address their concerns, attain appropriate health screening, monitoring and treatment and handle individual concerns of care giver and patient alike.

Medicare Quality Investigations

We use our experience in Quality Improvement and litigation back round to assist health care systems and physician groups to review, analyze and respond to Letters of Concern from the Texas Medical Foundation (TMF) on behalf of Medicare investigating adverse outcomes. Our attorneys work closely with legal, administration and clinical personnel to provide a comprehensive coordinated Letter of Reply and follow up with TMF through additional correspondence and communication negotiating resolution for our clients to address quality concerns and assure their status as Medicare providers.

Patient Health Information

Patient Health Information (PHI) is designated “Confidential” by numerous state and federal laws. A variety of civil and criminal penalties are issued to those who do not handle PHI as prescribed by governing authorities. The move toward the Electronic Health Record (EHR) includes requirements to secure databases containing PHI; notice requirements in the event of unauthorized access and penalties for violations of both.

Our attorneys routinely advise our health care clients on these matters navigating the state and federal laws for compliance and respond to charges and claims seeking penalties when faced with allegations of mishandling PHI.

Risk Management

Serving as counselors to risk managers and their departments, we frequently conduct retrospective “lessons learned” audits of claims and litigation matters to help identify methods to improve patient safety and enhance risk management. Our attorneys work closely with all stake holders in the health care system to identify the issues, develop strategies for improvement, create the methodologies and implement same through policies and education. Our depth of litigation experience makes us uniquely suited to not only defend the institution, but assist in raising safety for all who practice and seek care there.

Peer Review

Our Firm understands the vital relationship between physician and hospital administration. Our advice is often sought to help maintain positive working relationships. We are sought by hospital counsel and physicians alike, to advise and help negotiate the terms of these relationships. When events give rise to “due process” and the medical staff hearing process, our attorneys have extensive experience as advocates for the parties or as impartial “Hearing Officers”. When litigation ensues, our depth of experience in the court room and knowledge of the health care system allow us to provide effective solutions, whether in negotiation or before Judge and Jury.

Litigation

The partners of Thiebaud Remington Thornton Bailey LLP combine more than 100 years of litigation experience, achieving results in thousands of contested matters. When litigation threatens the very survival of the institution, the institution turns to STR. Our experience includes medical malpractice, defective medical devices, drug errors, equipment failures, tainted solutions, blood and tissue, infectious disease outbreaks, premises liability, peer review matters, employment disputes, prompt pay/clean claims, vendor disputes and more. Simply, when litigation ensues, we find solutions.

Our Nurse Consultants

Our nurse consultants work with every area of our health care representation. With over 100 years combined clinical nursing and legal nurse consulting experience, the clinical experience of our legal nurse consultants is vast, including adult and pediatric medicine, surgery, neurosurgery and plastic surgery, PACU and open heart recovery, ICU, CCU, cardiovascular intensive care, renal disease, shock trauma, nursing management and epidemiology.