Arnall, Golden Gregory – A Firm at the Center of Healthcare Convergence

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Sidney Welch and Jason Bring

Massive industry shifts mean massive growth opportunity for professional services firms. Right now, the big shift is most evident in the healthcare market. We talked to one of the leading healthcare law practices in the country about how they are readying themselves and their clients for the coming growth.

And, as our guests Jason Bring and Sidney Welch noted in the beginning of the broadcast, it is an exciting time to be involved in Healthcare and the changes in that industry are happening almost daily. While those changes may be challenging for many, they also provide growth opportunity for trusted advisors who, like our guests, make a commitment to being well-informed and aptly prepared to help their client’s navigate through the changes.

We invited Jason Bring and Sidney Welch, both Partners in the Healthcare Practice of Arnall, Golden Gregory (AGG), a provider-focused healthcare group, to join us to talk about the industry, the changes and their role at the center of the healthcare convergence.

As Sidney noted, she joined AGG and their Healthcare Practice because of the depth and breadth of the healthcare expertise that the firm has attracted, noting that it is the largest Healthcare Practice in the Southeast and has a national reputation. In growing the practice, AGG has attracted physical therapists, Government regulators, MS in Public Health so they know the industry, not just the laws.

In explaining the idea of “healthcare convergence”, Jason and Sidney discussed how the breadth and depth of their Firms’ practice has helped them to be on the forefront of the movement. Essentially, the reform initiatives are focusing on breaking down the barriers and silos typically found in healthcare to provide a better continuum of care and a continuum of quality.

Jason noted the AGG Healthcare Convergence Symposium that they have launched, noting that AGG is assembling a roundtable that will bring together a diverse group of professionals and leaders in the industry. The Symposium will make AGG the place where healthcare converges and will provide a platform for industry thought leaders.

Download the complete podcast to hear more about this innovative new initiative as well as other insights on how AGG has grown their premier Healthcare Practice and has solidified it’s position at the epicenter of the healthcare convergence movement.

Our guests:

Jason Bring

Jason Bring is a partner in Arnall, Golden Gregory's Healthcare Group, where he leads the firm's long-term care litigation defense practice. He represents nursing homes, hospitals, and physicians in litigation, governmental investigations, regulatory compliance, and administrative disputes. His practice covers four primary areas:

• defending nursing homes against liability claims throughout the southeast
• representing providers in certificate of need (CON) matters in Georgia and South Carolina
• defending providers in False Claims Act (qui tam) cases and investigations nationally
• pursuing administrative appeals on behalf of providers to recover and maximize reimbursement under the Medicare and Medicaid programs

The majority of Mr. Bring’s defense work is on behalf of nursing homes, where he capitalizes on AGG’s decades of experience in representing long-term care facilities in reimbursement, survey, regulatory, and transactional issues. Recent successes include obtaining several rulings compelling the arbitration of plaintiffs’ claims, obtaining a voluntary dismissal of a nursing home defendant from a multi-defendant action, and significantly lowering a client’s claims experience.

On the certificate of need front, Mr. Bring counsels and represents hospitals and other institutional providers in obtaining or challenging CONs. He has participated in many of the more significant CON cases in Georgia in the last ten years and has helped obtain several important decisions in the Georgia Court of Appeals. For example, for an imaging provider facing CON revocation proceedings by the state, Mr. Bring and his colleagues defended the action for three years through several administrative and judicial layers and crafted a strategy that allowed the provider to remain operational the entire time. More recently, he represented an existing ambulatory surgery center insuccessfully challenging a competitor’s application for a Certificate of Need (CON) to develop an orthopedic surgery center.

Jason Bring, Partner, Arnall, Golden Gregory, LLP, Atlanta, GA
Phone: 404.873.8162
Email: jason.bring@agg.com
Website: http://agg.com/


Sidney Welch

Sidney S. Welch is a partner with Arnall Golden Gregory LLP's healthcare practice. Ms. Welch concentrates on representing physicians and physician practices in all legal aspects of their practices on a national basis. This expertise includes the following:

• Advising clients on federal and state regulatory matters, including the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, Stark I, II & III, the False Claims Act, privacy and security issues under the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act, state self-referral laws, fee splitting and the corporate practice of medicine
• Working with physicians and hospitals on physician-hospital relationships, including joint ventures, on-call programs, Medical Staff Bylaws, Medical Staff hearings and disciplinary matters, credentialing, and recruitment
• Structuring business relationships from a corporate and regulatory perspective
• Negotiating business and contractual relationships with other physicians, hospitals and third parties
• Representing physicians in litigation and administrative matters, including: Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement issues; investigations, audits and appeals; medical licensure issues; and disputes with insurance companies, other physicians and hospitals

While in law school, Ms. Welch clerked with the University of Alabama-Birmingham Medical Center and the Office of General Counsel for the American Medical Association. Ms. Welch is a frequent speaker on health care issues and regularly addresses the Medical Association of Georgia, the American Medical Association, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Medical Group Managers Association, American Society of Medical Association Counsel and Georgia Medical Group Managers Association.

Sidney Welch, Partner, Arnall, Golden Gregory, LLP, Atlanta, GA
Phone: 404.873.8182
Email: sidney.welch@agg.com
Website: http://agg.com