The multidisciplinary healthcare law attorneys at Hodges, Doughty & Carson, PLLC provide legal services to a wide variety of service providers and healthcare entities, including physicians and surgeons, hospitals, diagnostic centers, and nursing homes.

Our health law practitioners understand the day-to-day administrative and clinical issues and related legal dilemmas associated with the modern practice of medicine. We are well-equipped to provide management, transactional, regulatory, and litigation advice and representation for the broad range of healthcare professionals in the region. We have extensive experience defending healthcare providers in matters ranging from medical malpractice actions to professional business litigation and regulatory actions.

Our firm also offers assistance to industry providers in healthcare employment issues, healthcare transactions and individual, and entity regulatory issues.

Meet The Healthcare Law Team

Contact Our Knoxville, Tri-Cities, and Chattanooga Healthcare Law Attorneys

We represent clients throughout middle and eastern Tennessee. Call us today at 865-292-2307 to schedule an initial consultation. We offer free initial consultations in some practice areas. We also offer flexible rates and billing arrangements in many of our practice areas. Contact us for more details.

Our attorneys who practice in these areas include:

Meeting Operational Healthcare Challenges Head-on

Operational challenges, left unaddressed, can threaten the stability and future of a medical practice.

For specialty practices, including outpatient surgical facilities and diagnostic, testing, and imaging centers, finding comprehensive legal representation may present a challenge. This is where Hodges, Doughty & Carson, PLLC excels on our clients’ behalf.

Our firm’s legal knowledge spans a variety of fields, in addition to the essential foundations of transactional and management matters. Our attorneys work together in a synergistic environment, to ensure we meet the unique needs of both general and specialty healthcare clients.

Among the operational and transactional services we provide are practice formation, mergers, acquisition, and dissolution, as well as licensing and credentialing. We are also available to assist with administrative, staffing, and policy matters.

Our administrative and operational healthcare legal services are appropriate for individual, group, and institutional medical practice concerns.

Healthcare Law’s Evolving Regulatory Landscape

Because the healthcare industry is one of the most complex and highly regulated sectors today, Hodges, Doughty & Carson, PLLC is committed to staying up-to-date on emerging issues that may potentially affect our clients’ interests.

Patient safety and quality improvement issues remain at the forefront of the healthcare industry. However, managed care and insurance issues present a growing challenge for medical practices and individual practitioners.

Our legal team is versed in corporate compliance matters related to state and federal programs, including Medicaid and Medicare. We also provide advice regarding HIPPA and HITECH requirements, standards, and compliance, to help protect practices from costly violations.

We can also assist with developing and implementing compliance-focused processes and systems, perform gap assessments, and make recommendations for process improvement.

Healthcare Law Litigation and Malpractice Defense

Although we work proactively to help our clients manage risk, litigation is often unavoidable in the field of healthcare law.

Medical malpractice claims present an ever-present legal risk for physicians, surgeons, dental professionals, nursing and residential care facilities, hospitals, and specialty providers. As our society grows ever more litigious, we assist our healthcare clients in developing proactive strategies designed to minimize risk.

Our medical litigation attorneys understand how distracting and draining a medical malpractice lawsuit can be on a physician’s time and energy. We direct our efforts toward minimizing the detrimental effects that malpractice claims and healthcare litigation can have on the business of practicing medicine.

Our other focus areas of healthcare litigation include regulatory matters, in-practice disputes, compensation and reimbursement matters, credentialing, and management contract disputes.

We are committed to dedicating our firm’s collective resources to resolve our clients’ healthcare disputes as expeditiously as possible, to minimize the impact on the practice.

Healthcare Entities and Physician Practice Representation

The complexities of organizing, managing and growing a medical practice often require the assistance of a professional legal team that focuses on healthcare law. Hodges, Doughty & Carson, PLLC provides a comprehensive suite of legal services related to the operational aspects of providing medical care, diagnostics, and treatment services.

Our healthcare law division draws on business, human resources and healthcare knowledge to provide advice and representation for healthcare providers of all sizes and scopes. Services include assistance with practice creation, administration and operation, establishing and implementing policy and procedure structures, and electronic medical records systems. We also provide assistance with physician extender and medical staff issues, including contract negotiation, counseling, and problem resolution.

Other practice representation services include:

• Medical Practice Creation, Administration, and Operation
  • Creation, administration, compliance, and operation of policies and procedures, including physician extender care providers
  • Electronic medical records (including creation, administration, compliance and operation)
• Medical Practice Contracts
• Medical Practice Separation
• Hospital/Medical Staff Counseling
• Hospital/Medical Staff Issues
• Hospital Policies and Procedures
• Healthcare Licensure and Institutional Privileges Advocacy
• Certificates of Need and Other State Licensing Matters
• Medical Practice Mergers and Acquisitions, Sales, Expansions and Financing
• Specialized Medical Enterprises/Ventures such as Diagnostic Imaging Centers, Ambulatory Surgery Centers
• Contract Review and Negotiation, including Institutional, Individual and Physician Practices
• Healthcare Fraud and Abuse/Compliance
• Healthcare Real Estate Transactions
• HIPAA Compliance
• Labor and Employment
• Medical Recalls and Liability
• Patient Safety and Quality Assurance

Healthcare Litigation

Today, practicing medicine requires an unflinching commitment to the laws and regulatory guidelines that govern the healthcare industry. This commitment, when guided and supported by the healthcare litigation team at Hodges, Doughty & Carson, PLLC, frees our clients to focus on the overarching mission of their practice.

Additional areas of focus include regulatory and privacy violations; contract disputes with providers, suppliers and vendors; managed care agreements; antitrust suits; Stark, anti-kickback, and false claims.

Other healthcare litigation services include:

• Defense of Medical Malpractice Claims of all types, including:
  • Hospital and Nursing Home Malpractice
  • Physician Malpractice
  • Dental Malpractice
  • Physician Extender Malpractice
  • Institutional Malpractice
  • Mental Health Provider Malpractice
  • Individual Healthcare Practitioner Malpractice
• Physician Practice Disputes including Separation, Compensation and Unfair Practices
• Regulatory/Administrative Representation for Physicians, Entities and Licensed Healthcare Professionals
• Medical Staff Credentialing Disputes
• Management and Service Contracts
• Reimbursement/Recoupment Claims
• Practice Restriction Disputes

Medical Malpractice Defense

Medical malpractice claims can affect individual physicians and medical practitioners, dentists, physician extenders, hospitals, nursing homes and other healthcare practitioners. In addition, nurses, therapists, psychiatrists, osteopathic doctors, and chiropractors may face malpractice claims as well as disciplinary action and sanctions from licensing entities.

The medical malpractice defense lawyers of Hodges, Doughty & Carson, PLLC understand the importance of protecting our clients’ interests and legal rights in malpractice and related tort litigation.