The healthcare industry in the United States continues to grow and is expected to add more employees than any other occupational group in upcoming years due to the nation’s aging population and increased demand for healthcare services. Workforce studies indicate that since 2014, more than 400,000 physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and nurse midwives will have been employed in new and existing positions by 2024. Hospitals in particular are expected to add a considerable number of new employees and will experience marked expansion during that period.

This growing need for medical expertise, personnel and facilities will continue to fuel debate about healthcare costs, infrastructure, practice and regulation.  These concerns, in turn, will require medical facilities and administrators to consult counsel regarding proper management of the healthcare workforce and anticipated shortages, changes in Medicare and Medicaid eligibility and regulation, issues involving malpractice liability, affordability and access to prescription drugs, and the enforcement of anti-kickback statutes and laws prohibiting fraud, waste and abuse in addition to physician self-referrals.

Because Primerus members are knowledgeable in so many diverse yet complementary areas of practice, their advice and counsel on healthcare matters normally involves advocacy across multiple disciplines.  For example, Primerus firms include litigators and corporate counsel well-versed in aspects of antitrust, mergers and acquisitions, as well as malpractice liability, bankruptcy, regulatory and administrative law, human resources, lobbying, healthcare policy, and a wide range of other legal matters.

The types of services offered by Primerus attorneys who work in healthcare include:

• Advice on healthcare financing including how to address insolvencies, corporate mergers, and the acquisition of state and federal funds to support growth, build infrastructure and address workforce shortages;
• Guidance on increasing healthcare access via e-Health and telemedicine, particularly in rural communities;
• Counsel on regulatory and legal compliance matters;
• Knowledge about the provision of resources to develop and sustain clinical research;
• Litigation to address malpractice and employment matters;
• Instruction on HIPAA, patient privacy and data protection;
• Lobbying on health policy before the U.S. Congress and State Legislatures; and
• Representation of non-profit medical providers, including hospitals, healthcare systems, academic medical centers, community-based providers such as Federally-Qualified Health Centers, non-profit professional associations, managed care organizations and many others.