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Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    On-Demand

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

  • work Practice Area

    Health

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Thursday, August 27, 2020

  • schedule Time

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

  • timer Program Length

    90 minutes

Credit Information

  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.


  • Live Online


    On Demand

$297.00

This course is $0 with these passes:

CLE
ALL

This CLE course will guide healthcare counsel and providers on whistleblower and retaliation claims. Our speaker will examine compliance programs and will discuss the role of anonymous hotlines in compliance. The presentation will address whistleblowers and retaliation in light of the current political environment and statements made my leaders related to whistleblowers. He will explain qui tam actions and offer risk mitigation strategies for healthcare facilities.

Faculty

Robert A. Wade
Partner
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

Mr. Wade has more than 25 years of experience in the healthcare industry and counsels clients on fraud and abuse issues, fair market value, commercial reasonableness and developing, monitoring, and documenting effective healthcare compliance programs. He serves clients nationally as a compliance professional and assists in negotiating and implementing corporate integrity agreements and in documenting and defending financial arrangements being of fair market value and commercially reasonable between healthcare providers. Mr. Wade has represented healthcare providers, including hospitals, large health systems, and referring physicians in such matters and has also represented healthcare clients under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Office of Inspector General.

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Description

There has been an increase in retaliation lawsuits in the healthcare industry. Many cases are very fact-intensive and burdensome. As a result, healthcare facilities face the challenging dilemma of providing care and having adequate staff for patients and protecting themselves from whistleblowers and retaliation actions.

Having an option for employees to report concerns anonymously plays a vital role in a healthcare provider or facility's compliance program. Providers need to have in place a way to address and respond to these concerns.

Further, healthcare facilities should have risk mitigation strategies to reduce the likelihood of whistleblower litigation. While litigation may be impossible to avoid, mitigation strategies will put the facility in a better position as it defends itself in a lawsuit.

Listen as Robert A. Wade, Partner at Barnes & Thornburg, examines model compliance programs and will discuss anonymous hotlines and their role in the compliance program. He will also explain qui tam actions and will offer risk mitigation strategies for healthcare facilities to avoid litigation or be in a better position if the lawsuit goes forward.

Outline

  1. Compliance programs
    1. What is reported?
    2. How are the matters reported?
    3. To whom are they reported?
    4. Anonymous tips and hotlines
  2. Retaliation
    1. Impact of retaliatory acts
    2. How can retaliatory acts be prevented?
  3. FCA and qui tam actions
    1. Damages
    2. Fines
    3. Additional costs
  4. Risk mitigation
  5. Best practices

Benefits

The speaker will review these and other crucial issues:

  • What level of anonymity does the False Claims Act provide? What protection and penalties does the FCA provide?
  • What role do anonymous hotlines play in a compliance program? How should anonymous tips be handled?
  • What mitigation strategies should healthcare facilities employ to reduce the risk of litigation?