For many years, Lewis, Rice & Fingersh, L.C. has been one of the leading law firms in Missouri. Throughout that period, the practice at Lewis, Rice & Fingersh, L.C. has regularly included legal services to health care clients.

In recent years, the Health Care Section of Lewis, Rice & Fingersh has expanded in response to the growing needs of its clients which include health insurers, integrated health systems and networks, hospitals, academic medical centers, managed care organizations (PPOs and HMOs), long-term care facilities, physicians and physician organizations, and ancillary service and medical equipment providers. Clients include for-profit, nonprofit and governmental organizations, and the special needs of each are addressed.

Our health care practice group has extensive experience with virtually every business and legal issue confronting the health care industry, including general corporate matters, regulatory compliance and corporate compliance programs, system and network development, managed care contracting and administration, medical staff organization and bylaws, third party billing and claims management, managed care and insurance law, defense of federal claims, policy development, labor and employment issues, antitrust law, information technology and operational issues. Legal services provided for our health care clients also include traditional corporate, real estate, tax, labor and litigation matters specific and unique to health care clients, including:

• Mergers, acquisitions and divestitures;
• Corporate reorganizations and joint ventures;
• Provider licensing issues;
• Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement;
• Corporate compliance program development and implementation;
• Health care vendor and service contracts;
• Certificate of need issues;
• Antitrust counseling;
• HIPAA and other privacy issues;
• Health care policy and procedure development;
• Medical consents, advance directives and other issues of patient care;
• Medical litigation;
• Risk management issues peculiar to health care institutions;
• Union organizing activities and negotiation of collective bargaining agreements;
• Managed care contracting;
• Insurance issues both for the coverage of medical costs and for protection; against general comprehensive, professional and D&O liabilities;
• Administrative hearings before health care agencies;
• Pension and compensation issues;
• Formation of hospital-sponsored and physician-owned single and multi-specialty physician group practices.

Lewis, Rice & Fingersh, L.C. maintains a significant library of current treatises and publications on health care law. Through modern computerized research capabilities, the Firm is kept abreast of not only prevailing laws and regulations, but proposed law, proposed regulations and agency positions still in their developmental stages, as well. Health care lawyers at Lewis, Rice & Fingersh, L.C. maintain their knowledge of current developments in health care law in the day-to-day resolution of client issues and through participation in health care symposia, local health care groups and continuing legal education programs.