Health regulations not a hindrance for Gingerich

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Lisa M. Gingerich, the leader of von Briesen & Roper’s Health Care Practice Group, describes the group as “regular business lawyers, but with a heavy overlay of regulations.”

Gingerich joined the health care practice at the firm in 1997, after two-and-a-half years with Legal Action of Wisconsin, handling mostly family law and CHIPS cases.

“If I was going to do something different and learn a new area of the law,” Gingerich says, “I wanted something that would always be changing, and always be marketable.”

“Health care is always changing,” Gingerich says. “And because it is a huge percentage of gross domestic product, I knew it would always be in demand.”

The health care field has definitely provided that for her and will likely provide even more in the wake of the recently enacted health care reforms.

Much of her practice focuses on physician compensation. Unlike other employees, doctors can’t simply be hired based on arms-length negotiations. Instead, fair market value is dictated by federal regulations, and a hospital found to be overcompensating a physician suffers heavy penalties for noncompliance.

A finding of noncompliance can result in strict liability fines, the forfeiture of fees, and exclusion from Medicare.

A significant part of her practice thus consists of reviews to strike a balance so the hospitals she represents can pay a salary competitive with other offers the doctor may receive, without incurring those penalties.

“Managing doctors’ expectations with what the regulations say they can be paid is a delicate balance,” she said.

Besides helping health care providers navigate heavy regulation, Gingerich’s practice also sometimes involves desperate phone calls in the middle of the night. “When there is a conflict between a “do not resuscitate” order, and the family’s wishes, you have to be available for 4 a.m. calls,” she said.

As the leader of the firm’s health section practice group, Gingerich also does a lot of mentoring to young associates, something she finds rewarding and stimulating. “We’re not so far apart in age, but we look at things so differently.”

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