Texas Medical Center NEWS


Vol. 22, No. 3		February 15, 2000

Legal Aspects of Practicing Medicine,
March 8-April 12

The Health Law and Policy Institute, University of Houston Law Center, is offering a unique new program for physicians that explains legal aspects of practicing medicine. The program will be held on six successive Wednesday evenings, March 8-April 12, from 6:15-9:15 p.m. at the Houston Marriott Medical Center.

This seminar is intended to provide Texas physicians with an understanding of legal and ethical aspects of practicing medicine. The course will address state and federal regulations and court decisions governing managed care, utilization review, bankruptcy, fraud and abuse, medical records, licensing and credentialing, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Highly qualified faculty will present each of the six programs.

J.D. Epstein will begin the program March 8 with a presentation on group practice issues including non-compete agreements, ownership of group medical charts, dissolution of agreements, and organizing to avoid later conflicts. He will also discuss permissible corporate forms, choice of entity, business transactions of health care entities, the corporate practice of medicine doctrine, collective bargaining by physicians, antitrust, unionization of physicians, and peer review. Mr. Epstein is a partner at Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. and is chairman of the firm's Health Industry Group. He is an adjunct professor teaching health care finance at the University of Houston Law Center, and is a member of the Health Law and Policy Institute's Advisory Board. Mr. Epstein concentrates his practice on health issues and has represented numerous hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies, HMOs, group practices, medical staffs and non-health care industry corporations with health care benefit concerns.
On March 15, Dr. Ann James will discuss managed care, payment issues, bankruptcy, and reorganization issues. She will cover managed care regulations, utilization review, the appeal process for denial of care, patient's rights, and continuity of care. She will also cover statutory provisions governing prompt payment, an understanding of contract issues, typical structure of contracts, things to avoid, compliance with audit requests, and how physicians file claims against a bankrupt entity. Dr. James received a Ph.D. in medical microbiology and immunology from Baylor College of Medicine, and a J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center. She practices with Holmquest & Associates, and is an adjunct professor teaching business aspects of health law at the University of Houston Law Center. She is the founder of Women at Risk, Inc., a breast imaging/diagnostic company. A substantial portion of Dr. James' practice is in the area of provider integration.
On March 22, Donna Clark will cover fraud and abuse, including federal and Texas laws that impose criminal and civil penalties on health care providers for such activities as paying for referrals and submitting false claims, illegal remuneration statutes, federal civil monetary penalty and exclusion laws, and barratry (physicians referring legal cases for suit). Ms. Clark is Of Counsel to Vinson & Elkins, L.L.P., and is a member of the firm's health industries practice group. She is an adjunct professor teaching fraud and abuse at the University of Houston Law Center. Her primary practice orientation is the representation of health care providers in federal and state regulatory matters, with a focus on Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement and compliance with referral laws. She also structures and evaluates joint ventures and contractual and other relationships between health care providers.
On March 29, Dr. Donald Holmquest will cover a variety of miscellaneous practice issues, including medical records (charge for providing, custody, how long must they be kept, sharing among physicians in a group practice - and who keeps the record if the group is dissolved or an individual physician leaves, confidentiality issues). He will also discuss how to terminate the physician-patient relationship, and consent issues in the treatment of minors. In addition, he will cover agency issues (who is responsible between physician or hospital, access to medical charts, malpractice issues), the Natural Death Act (validity of documents, duties of a physician to verify documents), and delegation of duties (can physician's assistant write prescriptions, can CNA do certain acts, limits of supervision, location issues). Dr. Holmquest is an attorney and physician and a principal in his own firm of Holmquest & Associates. Formerly a senior partner at Wood, Lucksinger & Epstein of Houston until its dissolution, Dr. Holmquest practices general health law with an emphasis on the complex regulatory and organizational interface between physicians and health care institutions. After completing his internship in internal medicine, he served as a scientist astronaut with NASA and has also served as chief of nuclear medicine at Ben Taub General Hospital.
On April 5, Dr. Bruce Levy will present a program on licensing and credentialing, including the role of the State Board of Medical Examiners, license revocation and discipline, staff privileges, peer review, and prescribing drugs/practicing medicine via the Internet. Dr. Levy is a physician and attorney, and executive director of the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners in Austin. In addition, he is a member of the Health Law and Policy Institute's Advisory Board.
On April 12, Laura Rothstein will cover the Americans with Disabilities Act, including ADA compliance, legal issues affecting persons with disabilities with particular attention to access to health care, physical accommodations, and the use of translators. She will also discuss discrimination against physicians with disabilities, impaired physicians and their rights and liabilities. Professor Rothstein is the Law Foundation Professor of Law and associate director for development of the Health Law and Policy Institute at the University of Houston Law Center. Her primary health law teaching and research interest is law and disabilities. In addition to teaching and lecturing in this area, she has served on numerous local, state, and national committees on disabilities rights. She has written several law review articles on the topic as well as five books, most recently, Disability Law: Cases, Problems, and Materials.

This program has been reviewed and is acceptable for up to 16.25 Prescribed credit hours by the AAFP. AAFP Prescribed credit is accepted by the AMA as equivalent to AMA PRA category 1 credit for the AMA Physician's Recognition Award. When applying for the AMA PRA, Prescribed credit hours earned must be reported as Prescribed hours, not as category 1.

The total course registration fee is $800. For more information, or to register for the course, contact Cathy Rupf at 713-743-2106 or e-mail to crupf@uh.edu.

- From the University of Houston Law Center Health Law & Policy Institute

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