Science. Commerce. Technology. Ethics. Where these and many other disciplines intersect, lies health care.

Despite addressing—or perhaps because it addresses—such a fundamental human need, health care is almost universally acknowledged as one of the most highly regulated and complex industries in the country.

What’s more, few industries are as dynamic as health care. Whether conducting basic research, educating students, structuring insurance plans or engaging in any number of other activities directly or peripherally related to the ultimate goal of providing quality patient care, companies and organizations face a dizzying array of constantly evolving issues. For example:

• New Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) provisions have recently come into force; still others will become effective over the next few years.
• Medical malpractice awards continue to increase, while classaction product liability cases are growing in size and number.
• Costs, for both providers and users, show no signs of easing.
• Hospitals face significant anti-growth pressures.
• Fraud and abuse, Stark law and anti-kickback enforcement actions are on the rise.
• New technologies are developing well beyond the pace of legal and ethical consideration.
• Licensed professionals and facilities face greater scrutiny than ever before.

Now more than ever, forward-thinking companies need legal counsel with the knowledge, experience, resources and long-term perspective necessary to effectively and safely negotiate the health care maze.

The Difference
The Health Law Group of Quarles & Brady LLP is one of the most respected health care practices in the country, with a national reputation for excellence in both the quality of our counsel and the delivery of our services. Few law firms of any size have the varied experience, resources and in-depth legal and health care knowledge that can be found within our group. While we’re justifiably proud of our standing in the health care community, what is of primary importance to our clients is not our placement on a “Top 10” list. Our clients demand and deserve something more lasting; in other words, solid legal counsel with a difference.

Broad, Varied Experience
Since the inception of the Health Law Group, our attorneys have represented clients on nearly every health care issue imaginable. Given the broad range of business, medical, regulatory, scientific and technological complexities inherent in the industry, a complete list of our cases and matters would be overwhelming indeed. However, they can be broadly categorized under the following headings:

• Bioethics and related matters
• Business planning and management for institutions
• Human Resources issues
• Pharmacy matters
• Physician and medical staff matters
• Regulatory/administrative management and compliance
• Reimbursements
• Fraud/Abuse
• Licensing Issues

In-Depth Knowledge
In addition to their broad, general health law background, our attorneys have extensive industry experience in specific areas such as technology, Medicare/Medicaid, antitrust, finance, tax, employment, intellectual property and commercial law. Many also have advanced training and expertise outside of the traditional legal community, including pharmacy, accounting and business, holding leadership positions in a variety of leading corporations and health-related organizations.

This real-world, practical experience enables us to understand both the legal and business ramifications of our clients’ short-term goals and the steps they must take to achieve strategic objectives. The result is legal counsel that effectively balances the need to minimize risk while maximizing opportunities for success.

Resources
From our offices in Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Wisconsin we have represented clients located across the country and overseas. This geographic coverage is matched by our own in-house resources, including online and print libraries, electronic databases and other information technology, and highly trained paralegals. Our large-firm resources hardly mean that our clients are subject to large-firm anonymity. More than anything, we know that effective legal solutions require effective client-attorney relationships. As such, we are committed to providing direct access to lead attorneys and timely responses to client inquiries.

From products liability to malpractice, white collar crime and Medicare fraud and abuse, health care litigation trends are often as symptomatic of the times and prevailing attitudes as they are of actual events. Our health law attorneys have significant experience defending, litigating and resolving disputes, often teaming with the Firm’s other experienced litigators and outside experts in order to mount a rapid and effective defense.

In the highly regulated and highly competitive health care marketplace, most of our clients are justifiably concerned with costs. Over the years we have developed streamlined methodologies, focused staffing solutions and creative fee arrangements to address these concerns without sacrificing quality of representation. With our broad resources, geographic coverage and varied experience, we match attorney assignments with client matters in order to create excellent result and excellent value—in many cases becoming the cost-effective equivalent to maintaining in-house counsel.

Extensive Client Base
The Health Law Group has represented clients in virtually every field within the health care industry. In doing so, we have built up a wealth of knowledge regarding the unique regulatory, ethical and competitive issues they face on a regular basis. What’s more, this extensive experience enables us to apply lessons learned in one discipline to the emerging challenges faced by clients in another area.

Our client base is as broad and diverse as the industry itself. We provide legal counsel to private, university and research hospitals; physician practice groups; mental health providers; long-term care facilities and nursing homes; pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies; medical-device manufacturers; home health care companies; charitable foundations; HMOs; insurance companies; pharmacy benefits management companies (PBMs); selfinsureds; retirement communities; boards of directors and trustees; individual practitioners and many other businesses and institutions.

Long-Term Perspective
Our history is, quite frankly, an important component of our practice. More than just a record of success, our knowledge of how issues and markets evolve over time enables us to consider business objectives and strategies from a long-term point of view. We help our clients understand the immediate and future ramifications of their own initiatives, and determine strategies for influencing, commenting upon and incorporating changes in regulatory policy.

Health care is complex, costly and not without substantial risk. Few industries offer as much opportunity to improve the human condition, or labor under such intense public and regulatory scrutiny.

Given this environment, it is critical that health care companies and organizations seek out the most effective and experienced legal representation available. The Health Law Group at Quarles & Brady LLP is just such a practice; our experience, knowledge and commitment to high-quality delivery of effective legal solutions is virtually unmatched.

For more information regarding the Health Law Group and how we can help you negotiate the challenges facing health care providers and users, please contact Sarah Coyne at (608) 283-2435 / or speak with your local Quarles & Brady attorney.