At Copeland Thompson Farris, our healthcare practice is focused on serving physicians and other healthcare providers. We have over twenty-eight years of experience helping the practices of physicians and other healthcare providers prosper in a highly regulated atmosphere. We have worked through, and are therefore experienced in, the cycles that have dominated modern healthcare, including the acquisition of specialty practices by hospital systems, the hospital systems' divestiture or those practices, the growth of larger physician practice groups including the integration of formerly competing practice groups, the development of physician-owned ancillary service facilities such as surgery and imaging centers, the more recent acquisition of primary care practices by hospitals and now the move by hospital systems to own and operate complete multi-specialty medical groups aiming to offer healthcare products and services to compete with HMO's and traditional health insurance providers. Through all of this our dedication is to the independence of the physician and, when that independence is not possible, to obtaining the best possible employment and service arrangements between hospital systems and physicians.
We have taken physician practice groups through every element of challenge and growth including the addition of employee physicians, the addition of partner-level physicians, the nurturing of group founders from the start of their practice through their retirement, including the sale or other transition of their practice to new physicians. We believe we have been at the forefront of developing models for physician practices to grow through integration with former competitors. We help physicians maximize their lifetime of work upon the sale of their practice and we help physicians purchasing practices obtain equitable arrangements that form a foundation from which they grow and prosper. Since the inception of physician's owning and operating facilities such as surgery centers, imaging centers and research facilities, we have created those facilities, sold them, brought in new investors and analyzed facility investment opportunities for individual physicians and groups. Again, we have provided these services throughout decades of cyclical change in the position of the physician in the healthcare delivery system. We pride ourselves on having developed strong working relationships with practice managers that enable us to assist them in addressing issues that arise in the day-to-day operation of practices.
We provide the full range of regulatory compliance needs of our healthcare provider clients including Medicare Compliance Plans, HIPAA Privacy Notices, Privacy Authorization forms, HIPAA Privacy Plans, Business Associate Agreements, effective intake forms, narcotic medication contracts, and Red Flag Rule programs. We also provide staff training in all of these areas. When regulatory problems arise, we provide effective defense against Medicare fraud actions (both civil and criminal) brought by the federal government, licensing sanctions brought by state agencies and credentialing challenges brought by hospitals.
A partial listing of the services we provide includes representation in:
- Practice formations and purchases
- Practice transitions, sales and break-ups
- Practice integrations and other alliances among providers
- Employment Agreements
- Physician compensation formulations
- Retirement planning
- Stock Restriction Agreements (Buy-Sell Agreements)
- Governance documentation
- Nurse Practitioner, Advanced Practice Nurse and Physician Assistant Agreements (Collaborative Practice Agreements)
- Compliance consulting (Anti-kickback, Stark, HIPAA, Physician Recruitment and others)
- All compliance documentation and plans
- Compliance and credentialing hearing representation (Medical Staff issues)
- Ancillary service facility formation
- Ancillary service facility investment-related services
- Disputes with other providers
- Disputes with payors
- Hospital relations and employment arrangements
- Research arrangements and agreements
- Non-compete disputes
- Staff employment issues
- Workers' Compensation issues
- Malpractice insurance issues (claims made, occurrence based and tail insurance)
- Office ownership and leasing arrangements
- Equipment ownership and leasing arrangements
- Day-to-day medical practice issues
