Our law firm represents healthcare providers, closely held businesses and professionals, principally throughout the States of Georgia and South Carolina, in the Communities We Serve, including Dekalb County, Georgia. Our typical clients include business owners, doctors, federally qualified health centers, elder care facilities, ambulance services, pharmacies and other healthcare businesses.
Our Business is Helping Healthcare Providers
We represent healthcare businesses in Dekalb County in the following types of matters:
- Formation, Ownership Agreements and Joint Ventures
- Staffing and Employment Law
- Physician Employment Agreements
- STARK LAW/Self-Referral/Anti-Kickback
- Concierge Medicine
- Medical Practice Sales
- Business Dissolutions
- Contracts and Transactions
- HIPAA/HITECH Privacy and Security
- Affordable Care Act
- Accountable Care Organizations
- Compliance Programs
- Medical Audits
- Reimbursement and Third Party Payer Contracting
- Medicare Reimbursement
- Litigation, Administrative Hearings and Alternative Dispute Resolution
Dekalb County, Georgia lies just east of the City of Atlanta and Fulton County, Georgia. Decatur is the county seat for Dekalb. Dekalb is one of the five counties that compose the Atlanta metropolitan area. Dekalb’s population is approximately 700,000.
Concierge Medicine: One Solution to Reform Our Third Party Payer Healthcare System
With much talk about the need for “healthcare reform,” it is important that the conversation be directed at what actually needs to be reformed. The healthcare is not the problem. Much of the complication and difficulty in the U.S. healthcare system derives from its dependence upon the third party payer.
Some doctors are finding smart ways to remove insurers and other third party payers from the healthcare business equation. For example, doctors are establishing what are referred to as “direct pay,” “retainer,” “concierge” or “cash-based” medical practices, which involve a fixed monthly (or annual) fee for access to a menu of doctor services. By removing (or reducing the involvement of) third party payers, some doctors find they can reduce waiting times for patients and spend more time with them during consultations, facilitating opportunities to develop an emphasis on wellness rather than treating acute conditions and greatly enhancing patient access to care. The absence of insurer paperwork and red tape is welcomed relief for physicians, who may be fed up with insurer involvement in how they practice medicine. Concierge medicine is a new trend that is expanding rapidly and promises to be an effective solution for many patients and doctors to problems created by the third party payer.
Our law firm has experience in helping doctors set up concierge practices, which involve special regulatory issues, depending upon the details of the business model. We have experience that can help physicians transition from existing practice models to concierge medicine, or begin a concierge practice from the ground up. We expect to see many physicians pursue concierge medicine in the years to come and believe both doctors and patients alike will benefit from this practice model.
Our law firm’s practice is focused on representing business interests, particularly healthcare providers. Our attorneys have extensive experience and are rated “AV” by Martindale Hubbell (the highest rating). To schedule a consultation, you may email us info@hamillittle.com or contact us at our office nearest you.
