Find a Health & Health Care Law Lawyer

Health care law encompasses a wide range of issues. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is the primary governmental agency responsible for legal aspects of U.S. health care. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration controls regulations surrounding pharmaceutical issues. The various states establish regulations applicable to financial guidelines and other factors that impact interaction among health care providers, third-party payors (insurance companies and managed-care groups) and patients. A state health board or a state department of health services exists in each state to oversee and enforce the regulations. Attorneys with health care practices most often represent plaintiffs or defendants on medical malpractice matters or on Medicare fraud and abuse cases. Health care lawyers also handle business/corporate law matters (such as purchase/lease of health care facilities) and regulatory compliance for physicians, medical clinics, nursing homes and hospitals or for payor groups. Issue: Bioethics With health care records and other business processes increasingly being transmitted over the Internet, patient privacy and confidentiality of records concerns triggered the enactment of several federal laws in recent years. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and now govern the sharing of research data and patient records. Continued... By Kathleen Goolsby