Hospital and health care system boards have a fundamental, legal responsibility to provide oversight and accountability for the organization. Often referred to as the board’s fiduciary duty (the Duty of Care, Duty of Loyalty and Duty of Obedience), the board’s responsibility is to foster resources to its constituents and follow legal and ethical standards. Join health care lawyers Jeff Lane (Reed Smith, LLP) and Scott Taebel (Hall Render) in conversation with Texas Hospital Association’s general counsel, Steve Wohleb, to learn about a board’s accountability – and repercussions – surrounding compliance.
CHT: 1 hour
Speakers: Jeff Layne, J.D., Partner, Reed Smith LLP; Scott Taebel, J.D., Attorney, Hall, Render, Killian, Heath & Lyman, P.C.; and Steve Wohleb, J.D., General Counsel, Texas Hospital Association.
Jeff Layne, J.D., is partner in Reed Smith LLP’s Life Sciences Health Industry Group and Managing Partner of the firm’s Austin office. He is a seasoned litigator, representing clients in complex government and internal investigations and related litigation. Layne is well-respected by governmental investigators and accustomed to managing complex disputes. Equally important, outside of the courtroom he and his team help companies build compliance and monitoring programs to mitigate risks inherent to their business operations.
Scott Taebel, J.D., is an attorney with Hall, Render, Killian, Heath & Lyman, P.C. He represents clients nationally regarding a broad range of regulatory compliance matters including false claims, anti-kickback- and Stark-related concerns. He serves as the primary Compliance Counsel for many of the firm’s clients. Taebel has extensive experience working with clients regarding investigations coordinated through numerous federal and state enforcement agencies. He also regularly assists clients in taking proactive strategies to identified compliance concerns and further counsels firm clients regarding the functions of their corporate integrity programs, including coordinating internal investigations of compliance-related concerns, recommending corrective action, reviewing program effectiveness and providing compliance education and training of provider staff and Board members.
Steve Wohleb, J.D., has served as General Counsel for THA since 2018, advising the organization on a wide range of operational and governance issues, supporting THA’s advocacy efforts in several policy areas, and serving as a resource to members on a wide range of issues. Prior to joining THA, he spent his entire 25-year legal career primarily representing hospitals and other health care providers in a wide range of legal, regulatory, and transactional issues. Areas of practice included: health care transactions, including joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, and contracts; general and professional liability litigation; medical staff, credentialing and peer review issues; Medicare reimbursement and other federal healthcare program issues; HIPAA; hospital licensing, regulatory, and enforcement issues; behavioral health licensing, regulatory, and enforcement issues; bioethical issues; and many other aspects of the healthcare legal and regulatory framework.