Online Graduate Certificate Programs
The next sessions for the Seton Hall Law Online Graduate Certificate Programs will commence in February 2012. These 8-week non-degree programs are designed for individuals who seek a greater understanding of key aspects of the health care field.
The Pharmaceutical & Medical Device Law & Compliance Program will begin on February 12, addressing the legal, regulatory and ethical issues related to the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. Priority application deadline is January 26.
The Health and Hospital Law Program will commence online on February 26 and offers an exploration of the legal, regulatory and ethical issues regarding health care delivery. Priority application deadline is February 2.
Click here to learn more about these programs and apply. For information, please contact Helen Cummings, Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs, at helen.cummings@shu.edu or call 973-642-8380.
Livestream Podcast, Seton Hall Law Review ACO Symposium
Filed under: Accountable Care Organization, Seton Hall Law
In conjunction with the Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law & Policy, this year’s SETON HALL LAW REVIEW Symposium explored recent changes in the structure of health care delivery, in particular the rising popularity of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs).
Legal scholars and practitioners from around the country presented in panel discussions on structural development, public health implications and lessons learned from state ACO programs. The luncheon keynote speaker was Dr. Jeffrey Brenner, founder of the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers.
Streaming Audio Podcasts of Each Panel are Below, Beside the Radio in Blue–Just Click and Listen
Panels & Panelists
Introduction to Accountable Care Organizations
Introduction to ACOs Panel, Seton Hall Law Review_Symposium_1.asx
Jorge Lopez (Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP): Promise and Pitfalls: Health Reform’s Medicare ACO Shared Savings Program
Hal Teitelbaum (CEO and Managing Partner, Crystal Run Healthcare): The Prospect of Being Hanged: Focusing the Physician Mind on ACOs
Michael Kalison (Chairman of Applied Medical Software, Inc.; Of Counsel, McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney, & Carpenter): The Lessons of Gainsharing
ACOs in Theory: Issues Raised by Integrated Delivery
ACO Theory: Issues, Seton Hall Law_Review_Symposium_2.asx,,
Jessica Mantel (Co-Director, Health Law & Policy Institute, University of Houston, Law Center): ACOs: Can we have our cake and eat it too?
Priscilla Keith (Adjunct Professor and Director of Research and Projects, Hall Center for Law and Health, Indiana University School of Law - Indianapolis): The Impact of Accountable Care Organizations on Public Health
Tara Ragone (Research Fellow, Seton Hall Law School): The Role of Competition in Integrated Delivery: ACOs, Federal and State Antitrust Law, and the State Action Doctrine
Dr. Brenner, Seton Hall Law_Review_Symposium _Keynote.asx
Jeffrey Brenner, M.D., Founder & Executive Director, Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers
Jeffrey Brenner is a family physician and has practiced in Camden for eleven years as a front-line primary care provider for patients of all ages. Having owned a private practice in Camden, he has experience in implementing electronic health records and running a paperless office, open-access scheduling, as well as first-hand knowledge of the various challenges facing primary care in the current health system.
He currently serves full-time as the Coalition’s Executive Director, where he spends much of his time meeting with stakeholders and policymakers, advocating for the models of care the Coalition has developed and demonstrated through data centric results. Jeff is a faculty member of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in Camden and is also a former resident of Camden, having lived in the city for over 8 years. He is a graduate of Vassar College and the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
ACOs in Practice: Research on Current Implementation of ACOs
ACOs in Practice, Current Implementation Research, Seton Hall Law_Review_Symposium_3.asx
Louise Trubek (Adjunct Professor of Law, Seton Hall Law, Clinical Professor Emerita, University of Wisconsin Law School), Barbara Zabawa (Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek, S.C); Felice Borisy-Rudin (University of Wisconsin Law School): Accountable care organizations in two states: A preliminary analysis
Sallie Sanford (Assistant Professor of Law, University of Washington - School of Law & School of Public Health): State-based ACO and Medical Home Pilots: Early Lessons from the Other Washington
John Jacobi (Faculty Director & Dorothea Dix Professor of Health Law & Policy, Seton Hall University School of Law), Lessons from ACO Implementation in New Jersey.
Thomas Greaney (Chester A. Myers Professor of Law and Director, Center for Health Law Studies, Saint Louis University School of Law), Accountable Care Organizations: A New New Thing with Some Old Problems.
A Symposium Law Review with papers from the event is forthcoming. For more information regarding the Symposium, please contact Gianna Cricco-Lizza, Symposium Editor, at gianna.criccolizza@student.shu.edu
Introducing Professor Zack Buck to Health Reform Watch
Filed under: Seton Hall Law, Uncategorized
We are pleased to introduce and welcome Professor Zack Buck to Health Reform Watch. He is a Visiting Assistant Professor here at Seton Hall Law and specializes in various health law topics, focused primarily on issues surrounding mental health law and public health law. Professor Buck teaches health law courses, including mental health law and healthcare fraud and abuse. He holds a J.D. from the University Pennsylvania Law School (2009), a Masters of Bioethics from the University of Pennsylvania (2009), and a B.A. with highest distinction, in Political Science and Journalism, from Miami University (2006). Prior to joining Seton Hall, Professor Buck was a litigation associate at Sidley Austin LLP in Chicago. He is a member of the bar of Illinois (2009) and is a former legal writing instructor at Penn Law (2008-09).
His first post, ACA Litigation, Implications for Medicaid and Mental Health Care, may be found below.
ACO Symposium: Professor Louise Trubek, Barbara Zabawa, Felice Borisy-Rudin to Present: Accountable care organizations in two states: A preliminary analysis
Filed under: Accountable Care Organization, Seton Hall Law
Louise Trubek, Adjunct Professor of Law, Seton Hall Law School, and Clinical Professor of Law Emerita, University of Wisconsin Law School
In conjunction with the Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law & Policy, this year’s Seton Hall Law Review Symposium on October 28, 2011, will explore recent changes in the structure of health care delivery, in particular the rising popularity of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). For more information or to register, click here.
The keynote speaker will be Dr. Jeffrey Brenner, founder of the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers, and legal scholars and practitioners from around the country will present panel discussions on structural development, public health implications and lessons learned from state ACO programs. A trio of such distinguished presenters are Louise Trubek, Adjunct Professor of Law, Seton Hall Law School, and Clinical Professor of Law Emerita, University of Wisconsin Law School; Barbara Zabawa, Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek, S.C; and Felice Borisy-Rudin, University of Wisconsin Law School. They will take part in the panel on “ACOs in Practice: Research on Current Implementation of ACOs,” and will be presenting Accountable care organizations in two states: A preliminary analysis.
Louise G. Trubek is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Seton Hall Law School and an Emerita Clinical Professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin and the Yale Law School, Louise is an active scholar and teacher in the fields of health law, public interest law, and regulation and governance. She is publishing three articles in 2011. The recent articles are: “Improving Cancer Outcomes Through Strong Networks and Regulatory Frameworks: Lessons from the United States and the European Union” Journal of Health Care Law and Policy spring 2011 (with others); Public Interest Law: Facing the Problems of Maturity, University of Arkansas/Little Rock Law Review 2011; New Roles to Solve Old Problems: Lawyering for Ordinary people in Today’s Context” New York Law Journal 2011(with Marsha Mansfield). Louise is a co-organizer of a Law and Society sponsored International Research Collaboration on Reflective Practitioners/Public Interest Law.She is coordinating the IRC with Scott Cummings (UCLA) and Frank Munger (New York Law School). She is teaching a seminar on Health Law and Governance at Seton Hall in 2011.
Barbara Zabawa, Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C.
Barbara Zabawa is an attorney in the Madison, Wisconsin, office of Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C. Ms. Zabawa practices business and intellectual property litigation. From 2003-2005, Ms. Zabawa clerked for the Honorable Barbara B. Crabb in the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin and worked on numerous litigation matters, including patent infringement, civil rights, employment and contract matters. She also was a Skadden Fellow through the Skadden Fellowship Foundation, working on private health insurance issues from 2001 to 2003.
In addition to her valuable litigation experience and skills, Barbara has almost 20 years of experience in the health care field, first receiving her Master’s in Public Health from the University of Michigan before attending law school at UW Madison.
Barbara’s passion for improving health care and coverage is unmatched and is demonstrated through her representation of stakeholders across the spectrum of health care stakeholders throughout her career. Her depth and breadth of experience provides her clients with an important understanding of all sides of the pressing issues facing health insurers and providers today.
For example, Barbara clerked for the Wisconsin Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, helping prosecute Medicaid fraud cases. She maintains contact with the current Medicaid Fraud Control Unit Director, and develops continuing legal education programs regarding Medicaid and Medicare fraud cases. In private practice, Barbara has defended health care providers against investigations by the Wisconsin Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, investigations by the US Attorney’s Office and the Office of Inspector General and qui tam actions.
In addition, Barbara is adept at drafting and reviewing provider and insurer contracts, federal and state reimbursement and fraud and abuse rules, and advising on HIPAA and HITECH privacy and security requirements. She has been at the helm of health care reform in Wisconsin, being appointed to the Legislative Study Committee on Health Care Reform. She also currently serves as Chair of the State Bar Health Law Section and has taught Health Law at the UW Law School. Barbara has written and spoken on Medicaid expansion initiatives, health information privacy concerns and the impact of health reform on various health care stakeholders.
Felice Borisy-Rudin, Wisconsin University School of Law
Felice Borisy-Rudin holds a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a B.S. in Biology from Caltech. Felice is a third year law student with special interests in patent law, emerging biomedical technologies, and health law. Pursuing this interest, she has taken courses in: Administrative Law, Antitrust, Business Organizations, Health Law & Administration, Intellectual Property, Patent Law and Tax Law. Felice has interned at Clean Wisconsin and at the Center for Patient Partnerships and is a Managing Editor for the Wisconsin Law Review. Felice is currently serving her third term as Trustee for the Village of Shorewood Hills. She enjoys long walks, science fiction and spending time with her family and friends.
ACO Symposium: Michael Kalison, Chairman of Applied Medical Software, Inc.; Of Counsel, McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney, & Carpenter, LLP to Present The Lessons of Gainsharing
Filed under: Accountable Care Organization, Seton Hall Law
Michael Kalison, Chairman of Applied Medical Software, Inc.; Of Counsel, McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney, & Carpenter, LLP
In conjunction with the Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law & Policy, this year’s Seton Hall Law Review Symposium on October 28, 2011, will explore recent changes in the structure of health care delivery, in particular the rising popularity of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). For more information or to register, click here.
The keynote speaker will be Dr. Jeffrey Brenner, founder of the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers, and legal scholars and practitioners from around the country will present panel discussions on structural development, public health implications and lessons learned from state ACO programs. One such distinguished presenter is Michael Kalison, Chairman of Applied Medical Software, Inc.; Of Counsel, McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney, & Carpenter, LLP. He will take part in the panel concerned with the “Introduction to Accountable Care Organizations,” and will be presenting The Lessons of Gainsharing.
Michael Kalison is Chairman of Applied Medical Software, Inc., which successfully worked with the New Jersey Hospital Association to commence a CMS approved 3 year pilot project approved in 2009 called “Gainshairing.” As Healthcare Finance noted at the time, “Under gainsharing, physicians may share a portion of the savings that are realized by working with the hospital to make a patient’s stay more efficient. The overall savings could ultimately benefit the Medicare program.”
In addition, Mr. Kalison is Of Counsel at McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, LLP. He is a graduate of the Wharton School of Economics (B.S., 1967) and the University of Pennsylvania School of Law (J.D., 1973). He has served as Law Secretary to the Hon. Nathan L. Jacobs of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, 1973-1974. Mr. Kalison concentrates his practice in health and hospital law, healthcare reimbursement, finance, administrative law and general corporate law. His current focus is aligning provider incentives, including the Medicare Physician-Hospital Collaboration Demonstration involving hospitals in New Jersey and New York.
In 1976, Mr. Kalison led the development of a prospective payment system for acute care hospitals, based on patient case mix, for the New Jersey Department of Health. This system, which used Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs) as the basis of payment, became the model for the Medicare Prospective Payment System (PPS). Mr. Kalison also co-authored the methodology for prospective capital payment that was incorporated into PPS. He has published many articles and has been a frequent lecturer on the financial and corporate issues affecting hospitals. He has consulted to Congressional committees and individual members of Congress. Mr. Kalison is consistently named to the “Best Lawyers in New Jersey” list in New Jersey Monthly Magazine, and to “The Best Lawyers in America,” published by Woodward / White.
Mr. Kalison is admitted to practice in New Jersey and to practice before the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. He is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association (Member, Board of Trustees, 1990-1996) and is certified by that organization as an Alternative Dispute Resolver.
ACO Symposium: Tara A. Ragone to present: The Role of Competition in Integrated Delivery: ACOs, Federal and State Antitrust Law, and the State Action Doctrine
Filed under: Accountable Care Organization, Seton Hall Law
In conjunction with the Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law & Policy, this year’s Seton Hall Law Review Symposium on October 28, 2011, will explore recent changes in the structure of health care delivery, in particular the rising popularity of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). For more information or to register, click here.
The keynote speaker will be Dr. Jeffrey Brenner, founder of the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers, and legal scholars and practitioners from around the country will present panel discussions on structural development, public health implications and lessons learned from state ACO programs. One such distinguished presenter is Tara Adams Ragone, Research Fellow & Lecturer in Law at Seton Hall Law School’s Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law & Policy; she will take part in the panel concerned with “ACOs in Theory: Issues Raised by Integrated Delivery,” and will be presenting The Role of Competition in Integrated Delivery: ACOs, Federal and State Antitrust Law, and the State Action Doctrine.
Tara Adams Ragone joined the Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law & Policy as a Research Fellow and Lecturer in Law in 2011. Her research and writing for the Center focus on implementation of health care reform, accountable care organizations, health care access, bioethics, and issues related to the representation of health care professionals. Ms. Ragone also advises the health law moot court team and regularly contributes here at Health Reform Watch.
Ms. Ragone came to Seton Hall Law from the State of New Jersey, Office of the Attorney General, Division of Law, where she served as Deputy Attorney General in the Professional Boards Prosecution Section. She primarily prosecuted licensing actions before the State Board of Medical Examiners and the Office of Administrative Law and represented the State in federal civil rights actions brought by licensees. Before joining the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, Ms. Ragone served as a law clerk to the Honorable Allyne R. Ross of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York and the Honorable Robert A. Katzmann of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Symposium: Implementing the Affordable Care Act: What Role for Accountable Care Organizations?
Filed under: Accountable Care Organization, Health Law, Seton Hall Law
In conjunction with the Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law & Policy, this year’s SETON HALL LAW REVIEW Symposium will explore recent changes in the structure of health care delivery, in particular the rising popularity of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs).
Legal scholars and practitioners from around the country will present panel discussions on structural development, public health implications and lessons learned from state ACO programs. Luncheon keynote speaker will be Dr. Jeffrey Brenner, founder of the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers.
Scheduled Panels & Panelists include
Introduction to Accountable Care Organizations
Jorge Lopez (Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP): Promise and Pitfalls: Health Reform’s Medicare ACO Shared Savings Program
Hal Teitelbaum (CEO and Managing Partner, Crystal Run Healthcare): The Prospect of Being Hanged: Focusing the Physician Mind on ACOs
Michael Kalison (Chairman of Applied Medical Software, Inc.; Of Counsel, McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney, & Carpenter): The Lessons of Gainsharing
ACOs in Theory: Issues Raised by Integrated Delivery
Jessica Mantel (Co-Director, Health Law & Policy Institute, University of Houston, Law Center): ACOs: Can we have our cake and eat it too?
Priscilla Keith (Adjunct Professor and Director of Research and Projects, Hall Center for Law and Health, Indiana University School of Law - Indianapolis): The Impact of Accountable Care Organizations on Public Health
Tara Ragone (Research Fellow, Seton Hall Law School): The Role of Competition in Integrated Delivery: ACOs, Federal and State Antitrust Law, and the State Action Doctrine
Keynote
Jeffrey Brenner, M.D., Founder & Executive Director, Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers
Jeffrey Brenner is a family physician and has practiced in Camden for eleven years as a front-line primary care provider for patients of all ages. Having owned a private practice in Camden, he has experience in implementing electronic health records and running a paperless office, open-access scheduling, as well as first-hand knowledge of the various challenges facing primary care in the current health system.
He currently serves full-time as the Coalition’s Executive Director, where he spends much of his time meeting with stakeholders and policymakers, advocating for the models of care the Coalition has developed and demonstrated through data centric results. Jeff is a faculty member of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in Camden and is also a former resident of Camden, having lived in the city for over 8 years. He is a graduate of Vassar College and the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
ACOs in Practice: Research on Current Implementation of ACOs
Louise Trubek (Clinical Professor, University of Wisconsin Law School), Barbara Zabawa (Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek, S.C); Felice Borisy-Rudin (University of Wisconsin Law School): Accountable care organizations in two states: A preliminary analysis
Sallie Sanford (Assistant Professor of Law, University of Washington - School of Law & School of Public Health): State-based ACO and Medical Home Pilots: Early Lessons from the Other Washington
John Jacobi (Faculty Director & Dorothea Dix Professor of Health Law & Policy, Seton Hall University School of Law), Lessons from ACO Implementation in New Jersey.
Thomas Greaney (Chester A. Myers Professor of Law and Director, Center for Health Law Studies, Saint Louis University School of Law), Accountable Care Organizations: A New New Thing with Some Old Problems.
The event will take place at Seton Hall Law School with luncheon served at The Newark Club, One Newark Center, 22nd floor. There is no charge for Seton Hall Law alumni; cost for all others, $25. Four NJ/NY CLE credits will be available. Visit http://law.shu.edu/lawreviewsymposium to register. For more information regarding the Symposium, please contact Gianna Cricco-Lizza, Symposium Editor, at gianna.criccolizza@student.shu.edu.
Distinguished Guest Practitioner Mark Swearingen Lectures on Trends in Healthcare Law Enforcement
On Wednesday, September 21, 2011, Distinguished Guest Practitioner Mark Swearingen spoke at Seton Hall Law School on a number of healthcare law enforcement topics that were of keen interest to the audience of health lawyers and health lawyers-in-training. Mr. Swearingen, who graduated from Seton Hall Law in 1998, is a shareholder at Hall, Render, Killian, Heath & Lyman, P.C., a large healthcare law boutique based in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Among other things, Mr. Swearingen discussed two recent Stark Law cases: United States v. Tuomey Healthcare System, in which a jury award of $49.4 million is currently on review in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, and United States v. Bradford, a summary judgment decision from the Western District of Pennsylvania that also largely favors the government.
As the court in Bradford explains, the case involved two physicians, Kamran Saleh and Peter Vaccaro, who leased a nuclear camera so that they would no longer have to refer their patients to the local hospital, Bradford Regional Medical Center, for nuclear imaging. Faced with the prospect of losing over a third of its $2,274,094 in annual gross nuclear medicine revenues, the hospital responded by threatening to revoke the doctors’ admitting privileges. Lengthy negotiations ensued, at the end of which the hospital agreed to sublease the camera from the two physicians; the camera remained at the physicians’ offices but other physicians with privileges at the hospital could use it.
Four local physicians who “provide[d] the same or similar services to patients as Drs. Saleh and Vaccaro” brought a qui tam action alleging that the sublease violated the Anti-Kickback and Stark Acts and that the defendants falsely certified compliance with those laws in connection with claims submitted to Medicare in violation of the False Claims Act. The court agreed that the defendants violated the Stark Act, because the amounts the hospital paid under the sublease were inflated to account for the referrals the hospital lost as a result of Drs. Saleh and Vaccaro’s decision to lease their own camera. The court deferred on the Anti-Kickback and False Claims Act charges, because it was unable to conclude at the summary judgment stage that the defendants acted knowingly.
As Mr. Swearingen commented, even if the sublease arrangement in Bradford was, on paper, above approach, the facts leading up to it were not good for BRMC and Drs. Saleh and Vaccaro. That the hospital responded to losing business to the two physicians by first threatening to revoke their privileges and then entering into a financial arrangement that brought them back into the fold suggests that the sublease was about more than the use of a camera. The facts in Tuomey were in several key respects similar to those in Bradford. Tuomey, too, involved a hospital faced with the prospect of a group of physicians performing outpatient procedures elsewhere, which would have meant a loss to the hospital of $6-9 million in annual revenues. To keep the physicians in the fold, the hospital entered into part-time employment contracts with them. The government alleged– and the jury presumably found–that the contracts would have been money-losers for the hospital but for the associated facility and other fees that the hospital was able to bill in connection with the physicians’ services.
Mr. Swearingen also highlighted the fact that the hospital in Bradford lost the case despite having obtained an expert opinion that the amount it paid for the camera under the sublease was fair market value. The defendant hospital in Tuomey similarly lost despite having obtained not one but two valuation analyses and multiple legal opinions. The hospital in Tuomey relied on an advice of counsel defense and, notably, attorney-client privileged communications were entered into evidence at trial. Going forward, Mr. Swearingen emphasized, fair market value and legal opinions “will be scrutinized” and “may not be dispositive.”
Congratulations Jordan Cohen ‘11 and Katherine Freed Matos ‘11
Filed under: Health Law, Health Policy Community, Seton Hall Law
Tonight just a fond farewell and congratulations to two of our finest student bloggers: Jordan Cohen and Katherine Freed Matos, both of whom have graduated from Seton Hall Law, with each receiving the much vaunted Health Law Award. They are both now hard at work studying for that fiendish quiz they offer each year at the end of July to see if would be lawyers were paying attention (it is a horrible exercise, I assure you, and if someone you know is studying for the Bar– bring them some food, and leave them alone– they’ll reemerge into the land of the living soon enough). As such, it will be awhile until we hear from them (at least on this blog) again.
After the Bar Exam, Jordan Cohen will be off to employ in the law offices of Brach Eichler, LLC., a preeminent law firm in the New Jersey metro area and a recognized leader in the field of healthcare law.
Katherine Matos has been named to the Office of the Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where she will work in the Office of Counsel to the Inspector General, Administrative and Civil Remedies Branch.
You will both be missed. It was a pleasure to work with you, and this blog is better for your having been here. Can’t thank you enough, or wish you enough luck– I expect great things– as it is simply the usual for you both.
Health Reform Watch Welcomes Tara Adams Ragone
Health Reform Watch is pleased to welcome Tara Adams Ragone, Research Fellow and Lecturer in Law here at The Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law & Policy at Seton Hall Law. Ms. Ragone’s research and writing for the Center will focus on implementation of health care reform, accountable care organizations, health care access, and issues related to the representation of health care professionals. Ms. Ragone comes to us from the State of New Jersey, Office of the Attorney General, Division of Law, where she served as Deputy Attorney General. She handled the prosecution of licensing actions before the State’s professional boards and the Office of Administrative Law. Prior to her work with the Attorney General of New Jersey, Ms. Ragone served as clerk to The Honorable Robert A. Katzmann, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Her first post for HRW can be found immediately below.
Develop Your Lawyering Skills Now and Your Health Law Job Will Follow
Filed under: Health Care Employment, Health Law, Seton Hall Law
On Friday I attended the Fourth Annual Student Health Law Conference: Taking the Health Law Career Path co-sponsored by Seton Hall Law School and the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics (ASLME). Originally I planned to attend only the morning session — both for my own benefit as a possible health law practitioner and because I’m a research assistant at the law school’s Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law & Policy — but I found the panelists to be so engaging that I stuck around for the afternoon session and the networking reception.
Despite some recent good news concerning the job prospects for law students, especially for those in New Jersey, recent graduates and third or fourth year law students don’t need a Magic 8-Ball to tell them that compared to the hiring fests of 2005 and 2006, the present “outlook [is] not so good.” So what about health law jobs? There are regular reports on how the healthcare industry has weathered the economic storm better than others (see Michael Ricciardelli’s blog posts on the continued growth of the healthcare industry here and here). Peter Leibold, Executive Vice President & Chief Executive Officer of the American Health Lawyers Association, delivered a great keynote speech at the Conference emphasizing, among other things, how the field of health law is growing and, in particular, which areas of health law are flourishing.
Still, in the current clime finding a job as a health law practitioner fresh out of law school can seem like a rather daunting challenge. But should it be? Not so, said the panelists.
I attended five panels (out of 18) addressing the career opportunities available for those interested in “When a Medical License is at Stake,” “Health Information & Technology Practice,” “In-House Counsel: Pharmaceutical Companies,” “Government Enforcement of Health Care Fraud, and “Hospitals & Medical Groups: Compliance & Risk Management.” The panelists represented a variety of employers, including the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, the New York State Office of the Medicaid Inspector General, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, Bristol-Myers Squibb, sanofi-aventis, Saint Peter’s University Hospital, and Saint Barnabas Health Care System. Three panelists had worked for boutique or large firms but eventually branched out on their own.
Many of the panelists relayed a mixture of humor and frankness in their discussions about the current job market and their own past experiences in job searching. Several noted that their current job came from prior work experiences that had built upon one-another. Others outlined networking strategies and urged students to apply for internships. However, one piece of advice could be heard over and over again: develop your lawyering skills now and your health law job will follow.
Maybe you want to work for a law firm specializing in health law. Maybe you want to be in-house counsel for a pharmaceutical company. Or maybe you want to work for the government. Regardless of which career path appeals to you, a recent law school graduate may hit a wall with potential employers looking for experienced candidates. Both in-house counsel panelists acknowledged that pharmaceutical companies tend to prefer people with a few years of work experience. So if it’s in-house pharma you really want, you’ll just have to work your way there.
So while you search for a health law job, focus on developing a solid set of skills by taking that first job — even if it isn’t in health law — and learning how to be an effective lawyer. That way you will have a marketable set of skills at the ready when a health law job does come your way. Always working towards the goal.
If you’re a recent graduate but you haven’t found a job, it’s suggested that you try the small firms, solo or dual practitioner offices– where you’re as likely as not to have complex files and entire cases dropped in your lap– amounting to invaluable and marketable experience. Barring that, look for freelance work or volunteer your legal services with an organization. It’s better for you to have some legal experience on your resume than none at all. For example, the Division of Law within the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General has a Volunteer Associate Program which enables recent graduates, deferred associates, and similarly-situated attorneys to hone their skills. Participants must commit to 20 hours per week for 3 months. Search around the internet or contact your career services office to find other organizations and government agencies offering similar programs.
Below are some other tidbits of information I gathered from the Conference.
Make yourself an expert and then use social media to market yourself. It is never too early to start making yourself an expert in a particular area of health law. As a health law student or as a recent graduate, you can write articles on topics covered in class and then get your name “out there” by submitting those articles to blogs and other health law news sources. If your articles are published, make sure to maintain a portfolio that you can present to prospective employers and update your resume accordingly. If your articles are published online, you also can create a Twitter account and then make links to those articles. If you doubt the value in that, look up in the right hand corner of this blog and see in “Places Cited” where articles from Health Reform Watch have been cited– everything from the Health Care Blog to the New York Times and Washington Post and Maggie Mahar’s Health Beat. In addition, Seton Hall Law student Jordan Cohen presently holds one of the top rated google searches in America for “Accountable Care Organization.” Not a bad accolade or writing sample to bring a prospective employer.
Intern while you’re in school. Internships are key in this economy. Internships help you develop lawyering skills, add work experience to your resume, provide work references, and give you additional contacts for your job search. Note: if you are interested in working for the government, focus on internships with state and local agencies as well as federal agencies.
Remember your cover letter. To get your foot in the door for an interview, pay attention to your cover letter as well as your resume. This is especially so if your background does not exactly match the position to which you’re applying (e.g., person with public interest background applies for a hospital compliance officer position). Your cover letter presents the best opportunity to answer any questions that might arise in a prospective interviewer’s mind. Be sure to check for typos.
Fourth Annual Student Health Law Conference To Be Held at Seton Hall Law on October 22nd
Filed under: Health Care Employment, Health Law, Seton Hall Law
The American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics (ASLME) and Seton Hall University School of Law will co-sponsor the Fourth Annual Student Health Law Conference: Taking the Health Law Career Path on Friday, October 22, 2010, in Newark, New Jersey.
This conference, which is attended by law students from law schools throughout the country, seeks to expose law students to the myriad career paths for attorneys in health and life sciences. The conference provides an introductory session on health law, panels on a variety of employment opportunities in health law, and a networking reception with the conference speakers. Career paths that will be represented include academia, compliance, private firms, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, drug and device companies, health insurers, and hospitals. Speakers for this year’s conference have been chosen for their health law expertise and background.
The format of the conference is a series of panels focused around a particular kind of health law career. Each panel is approximately one hour long and comprised of two to four panelists. Students will have the opportunity to explore nontraditional employment opportunities across the health law spectrum, receive support and guidance from professionals familiar with the experience needed for various careers as well as recruitment and hiring processes, and network with health law attorneys.
Interested in learning more about career paths for attorneys in health and life sciences? Click here for information on attending the conference.
Seton Hall University School of Law Launches European Healthcare Compliance Certification Programme in Paris
Filed under: Compliance, Health Law, Seton Hall Law
Press Release: Seton Hall University School of Law Launches European Healthcare Compliance Certification Programme in Paris
Co-presented by:
Seton Hall School of Law and Sciences Po
June 21 - 25, 2010- Sciences Po, Paris, France
- www.sciences-po.fr/spf/healthcare
PRESS RELEASE
Phone: 973.642-8863
E-mail: simone.handler-hutchinson@shu.edu
Website: law.shu.edu/Paris OR www.sciences-po.fr/spf/healthcare
The Healthcare Compliance Certification Programme, co-organized by Sciences Po Executive Education (Paris, France) and Seton Hall University School of Law (Newark, N.J) to be held from June 21-25, 2010 on the Paris campus of Sciences Po today announced its 2010 topics and faculty.
FEATURED FACULTY:
CURRENT & FORMER REGULATORY & ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS:
Paul McNulty, Partner, Baker & McKenzie, LLP (DC) Former U.S. Deputy Attorney General
Kirk Ogrosky, Partner, Arnold & Porter LLP (DC), Former Deputy Chief, Health Care Fraud, Criminal Division, U.S. Dept. of Justice
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Alex Conte, Senior Legal Analyst, Anti-Corruption Division, OECD
Dr. Guitelle Baghdadi-Sabeti, Team Leader, Good Governance for Medicines, World Health Organization
Marie-Claire Pickaert, Deputy Director General, European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA)
COMPANY COMPLIANCE PROFESSIONALS:
Dirk Brinckman, Assistant General Counsel, Johnson & Johnson (Brussels)
Roeland Van Aelst, Vice President, EMEA & Canada, Office of Health Care Compliance & Privacy, Johnson & Johnson
KEYNOTE & ACADEMIC SPEAKERS:
Paul Benkimoun, Healthcare Journalist, Le Monde
Claude Le Pen, Professor, Université Paris-Dauphine
Kathleen Boozang, Professor of Law, Seton Hall Law School (Newark, NJ)
LEADING LEGAL AND COMPLIANCE COUNSEL AND ADVISORS:
Peter W.L. Bogaert, Managing Partner, Covington & Burling (Brussels)
John Rupp, Partner, Covington & Burling LLP (London)
Karolos Seeger, Partner, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP (London)
Susie Smith, Bevan Brittan LLP (UK)
Ted Acosta, Leader, Life Sciences & Corporate Compliance Fraud Investigation & Dispute Services, Ernst & Young LLP
Jill Deal, Partner, Venable LLP (DC)
Kristof Van Quathem, Data Protection Advisor, Covington & Burling LLP (Brussels)
Carolyn Lindsey, Director of Member Services, TRACE International
Owen Bevan, Director, Legal & Compliance Practice, Corporate Executive Board
PROGRAMME CURRICULUM:
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Seton Hall Law Announces Frank Pasquale as the Schering-Plough Professor in Health Care Regulation and Enforcement
Seton Hall University School of Law has announced the appointment of Frank Pasquale as the Schering-Plough Professor in health care regulation and enforcement. Professor Pasquale has been a member of the Seton Hall Law Faculty since 2004 and is the Associate Director of the Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law & Policy. He has distinguished himself as an internationally recognized scholar in health, intellectual property, and information law. He has made numerous academic presentations at universities across North America and at the National Academy of Sciences. A prolific writer, Professor Pasquale’s work has been featured in top law reviews, books, peer-reviewed journals, and online blogs, including Health Reform Watch, of which he is Editor-in-Chief. A frequent media presence, he has appeared in the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Financial Times, and on CNN, WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show, and National Public Radio’s Talk of the Nation.
Professor Pasquale has testified before Congress and before the New York City Broadband Advisory Commission. He has presented before the Task Force on Competition Policy and Antitrust Laws of the House Committee on the Judiciary, appearing with the General Counsels of Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo.
At Seton Hall Law, Professor Pasquale has taught courses in health care finance and regulation, intellectual property law, and administrative law. He received his J.D. from Yale Law School, his M.Phil. from Oxford University, and his B.A. summa cum laude from Harvard University.
As the Schering-Plough Professor in Health Care Regulation and Enforcement, Professor Pasquale will contribute scholarship which will include public policy analysis of issues related to administrative law, the regulatory and enforcement concerns of providers and patients, FDA law, and drug and device innovation.
This Professorship was made possible by a $2.5 million endowment from the former Schering-Plough Corporation and the Schering-Plough Foundation. The Schering-Plough Foundation supported the advancement of health, education, public policy, and community initiatives.
Online Graduate Certificate Program in Health & Hospital Law to Launch in April 2010
Seton Hall Law School’s Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law & Policy is set to launch a new online program in Health & Hospital Law. The new Graduate Certificate in Health & Hospital Law is a non-degree program designed for individuals who seek in-depth knowledge about legal, regulatory, and ethical issues related to health care delivery. Taught exclusively online, it offers students nationwide a targeted immersion in key substantive issues along with the practical skills necessary to research and communicate effectively about the law.
The intensive program is geared to busy professionals who want to cover a significant amount of material in a relatively short period of time. The program is open to students who have earned a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university. It is specifically designed to meet the needs of mid- to senior-level professionals in the health care industry, but highly motivated students from other backgrounds are also welcome to apply. It is not necessary to have prior academic or work experience in health care in order to do well in the program.
The first class begins April 18, 2010 and applications are being accepted now. Additional information is available at: law.shu.edu/onlinecertificate
Posts from Health Reform Watch have been cited by media sources throughout the country, including The New York Times, Washington Post, L.A. Times, Kaiser Health News, The Health Care Blog, NPR's Planet Money Blog, Duke Univ. Med. Center News, American Health Line Alerts, BusinessWeek.com, Concurring Opinions, Balkinization, The New England Journal of Medicine, Harvard's Nieman Foundation for Journalism, Las Vegas Sun, Maggie Mahar, Ezra Klein, Tom Geoghegan, and the official homepage of the Office of the Democratic Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Steny Hoyer.
