Overview
Among the most complex and heavily regulated industries, the Health Care sector faces constantly changing laws and regulations, patient lawsuits, employment issues, heightened government scrutiny, and a host of other challenges. Those in the industry need lawyers with the knowledge and skills to help mitigate their risk exposure and protect their interests.
Combining real-world industry insight, transactional experience, regulatory acumen, and litigation skills, Gunster’s Health Care Group meets the many and varied legal, business and regulatory needs of health care industry clients.
Why Us
We’ve built a collaborative, cross-disciplinary team immersed in the industry and well-versed in the many issues and challenges our clients face. Members of our team include lawyers board certified in health law, transactional and regulatory counsel, litigators, individuals with medical and scientific backgrounds. Gunster attorneys and consultants serving this industry have also served in administrative and judicial positions, as well as legal and policy advisory roles at health care organizations and systems, and in government. We also have lawyers who are certified in corporate compliance (CHC) and CIPP/UP certified. With this depth of experience, we offer a 360-degree perspective, not just resolving an immediate problem but also providing guidance on the overall impact and future implications from regulatory, business and legal perspectives.
Our Clients
We represent health care providers and suppliers of all kinds from hospitals to physician practices, to long-term care providers, pharmacies, biotech companies, and medical device companies.
How We Help
Our team provides strategic business counsel, handles transactions, and represents clients in day-to-day matters, regulatory investigations, cybersecurity and data privacy, litigation, and alternative resolution forums. With a clear understanding of the complex array of federal and Florida regulations, we help clients anticipate and comply with the ever-evolving and growing number of laws and regulations impacting their industry.
Our lawyers are experienced in handling federal and state court trials and appeals, licensing issues, administrative inquiries, investigations and enforcement actions, and arbitration proceedings. We represent health care clients before the Florida Department of Health, Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, the Office of Insurance Regulation, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Food and Drug Administration, and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
From operations-related issues, business transactions, and risk avoidance strategies to data security, regulatory compliance and dispute resolution, clients rely on Gunster for cost-effective, comprehensive, and seamless service to address their legal challenges.
Our Services
We regularly represent clients regarding health care business operations and transactions, audits and investigations, regulatory matters and litigation.
Health Care Business Operations
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Labor, employment, compensation, benefits, immigration-related matters, and outsourcing arrangements
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Medicare and Medicaid services, billing and fraud
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Managed care payments
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Physicians, licensed professionals, and group practices
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Medical group/IPA organization structuring, formation and integration
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Patient and data privacy, cybersecurity, breach response, and crisis management
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Provider network issues
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Insurance coverage matters
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Intellectual property and technology acquisitions, licensing, rights and protection
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Peer review and credentialing
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Bioethics, advanced directives, guardianships and health care proxies
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Facility operations
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Foundation and nonprofit counsel
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Environmental challenges, including medical waste disposal
Transactions
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Health care and integrated delivery systems affiliations, mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures, and strategic alliances
- Medical practice purchases and sales
- Physician and other service provider agreements
- Outsourcing arrangements
- Managed care contracts
- Financing and leasing transactions
Audits & Investigations
- Internal audits and investigations
- Medicare and Medicaid audits, investigations and appeals
- HHS, DEA, OIG, CMS and other government agency reviews, investigations and enforcement proceedings
Regulatory Matters
- Licensure and certification
- Certificate-of-need
- Medicare and Medicaid compliance
- Americans with Disability Act compliance
- EMTALA and AHCA compliance/defense
- Policy and compliance programs
- Florida Patient Brokering Act, fee-splitting, and Patient Self-Referral Act compliance
- Federal and Florida regulatory inquiries, investigations and enforcement actions
- Stark Law, Anti-Kickback Law, Anti-Markup and False Claims Act compliance and defense
- Health care government affairs, advocacy, legislation, lobbying and reform
- Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), HITECH and other privacy issues
- Provider Reimbursement Review
- Department of Health and AHCA license matters
Health Care Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Antitrust, fraud and Qui Tam/whistleblower defense
- White collar crime/RICO cases
- Employee compensation-related disputes
- Medical malpractice defense and other patient-related lawsuits
- Vendor/supplier disputes
Arbitration, mediation and negotiated settlements
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Leaders in the Field
Our lawyers have served as:
- Appellate Judge, First District Court of Appeal, State of Florida
- Associate Deputy Attorney General, State of Florida
- Chief Appellate Counsel, State of Florida, Agency for Health Care Administration
- General Counsel of the Florida Department of Professional Regulation
- Outside General Counsel of St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa
- Risk manager and general counsel for a multi-location hospital system
- Secretary of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation
- Secretary of the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration
Our Experience
- Represented Medical Specialists of the Palm Beaches, Inc.’s physician shareholders regarding an investment by private equity firm Ascend Capital Partners. The deal involved a minority equity interest, future option, pre-closing restructuring, rollover equity, and the establishment of a medical services organization.
- Represented Trustbridge, Inc. in a strategic affiliation with Empath Health. Guiding the client through numerous state regulatory and licensure issues regarding the affiliation and employment and integration issues, we completed the deal making the combined organization the largest nonprofit post-acute care provider in Florida.
- Assisted a large medical equipment company in coordinating the response, regulatory reporting and recovery efforts following a cybersecurity attack by actors outside of the United States that could have bankrupted the company.
- Assisting a large primary care medical and pharmacy services provider in responding to a District U.S. Attorney’s Office in Florida’s civil investigative demand involving a review of Federal False Claims Act compliance actions.
- As lead counsel, representing four managed care plan clients in the arbitration of a multimillion-dollar reimbursement dispute involving thousands of claims for services rendered in Arizona, Florida, Michigan, South Carolina and Texas.
- Helped a statewide autism service provider in securing licenses for its facilities while avoiding sanctions so the client could sell its business.
- Assisted a primary care medical practice and pharmacy in its acquisition of a retail pharmacy location and compliance with applicable federal and state pharmacy rules.
- Represented a multistate operator of skilled nursing facilities owned by private equity interests in a $100 million-dollar-plus Florida Agency for Health Care Administration action to revoke the operating licenses of dozens of licensed nursing homes that had the potential to displace thousands of nursing home residents and force the company into bankruptcy.
