Virginia Medical Records Law: Issues of Privacy and Compliance in the Release of Patient Medical Records and Protected Health Information

John’s commercial litigation practice focuses primarily on healthcare and real estate with extensive experience in state and federal courts, administrative proceedings and mediations/arbitrations. John’s practice also includes serving as a hearing officer and mediator and as an adjunct professor of law. Prior to joining the firm, John served as a staff judicial law clerk for the Supreme Court of Virginia.

Healthcare

John routinely represents hospitals and health systems, advising various committees, hospital staff and MECs/governing boards on:

• Peer review, credentialing, and bylaw compliance;
• Fair Hearings/administrative proceedings pertaining to physician privileges/employment disputes;
• Compliance reviews/audits, regulatory appeals and related litigation;
• DMAS audits/administrative hearings; and
• HIPAA compliance, NPDB requirements, contracts/business associate agreements and contract disputes, and a variety of risk management issues including OSHA.

John’s Fair Hearing experience includes serving as counsel to various hospitals and their MECs, serving as counsel to the Fair Hearing Panel and serving as a Hearing Officer. John is also on the American Health Lawyers Association panel of neutrals as both a mediator and hearing officer.

In addition to hospitals and health systems, John represents medical practices, physicians and other healthcare professionals on a wide variety of matters, including physician office operations, HIPAA compliance, contracts and contract/employment disputes. 

He also represents physicians and other healthcare professionals in licensure and related administrative proceedings before various regulatory Boards.

John also represents manufacturers in the healthcare field in various types of product liability litigation. 

Real Estate

John’s real estate practice focuses upon a variety of leasing and related matters, representing regional and national shopping center/mall owners/developers, hospitals and health systems, long-term care facilities and national owners/developers of multi-family housing. With his extensive knowledge of the laws pertaining to landlord-tenant relationships, Stark and Anti-Kickback, creditor rights and bankruptcy, John is called upon to handle a variety of litigation matters and to assist in the development of non-litigation dispute resolution strategies. 

Representative Experience

Healthcare Litigation/Regulatory Matters

• Representation of various hospitals and health systems in Fair Hearings and related administrative/litigation matters. 
• Serving as a Hearing Officer and counsel to the Hearing Panel in Fair Hearings.
• Counsel to hospital executive staff and committees on a variety of operational, management, and physician privilege/employment issues. Examples include:
• Addressing issues arising during the credentialing process.
• Handling matters arising following precautionary and other physician suspensions/investigations.
• Preparing behavioral contracts relative to disruptive physicians.
• Providing guidance as to bylaw compliance, NPDB reporting requirements, HIPAA compliance, responses to medical records subpoenas, physician contracting, resolving physician disputes/employment issues.
• Representation of hospitals, health systems and other healthcare providers in internal investigations, compliance audits and related appeals/litigation. In one particular case, a challenge to the particular audit methodology employed by the governmental agency resulted in the withdrawal of a multimillion dollar assessment.

Real Estate/Landlord/Tenant Matters

• Representation of regional and national mall and shopping center developers and owners in hundreds of tenant disputes as well as slip and fall cases. In one particular suit arising out of a tenant’s default and a subsequent suit filed by the tenant challenging the owner’s sale of tenant’s restaurant furniture and equipment, a jury returned a verdict in favor of the owner following only 10 minutes of deliberation. 
• Representation of national apartment owners and developers in hundreds of tenant disputes as well as slip and fall cases.
• Representation of hospitals, health systems and long-term care facilities in real estate/tenant litigation.
• Representation of a locality following its decision to deny a particular subdivision request. The locality’s decision was upheld following a six-month long trial.

Product Liability

• Representation of manufacturers in various types of product liability litigation including prosthetic devices, asbestos, seat belts, swimming pools and food. Many of these cases arose in various federal courts and concluded with favorable summary judgment dismissals.