HEALTH & LIFE SCIENCES NEWS
HEALTH & LIFE SCIENCES NEWS
Exploring critical business and legal issues across the healthcare and life sciences industries
HEALTH & LIFE SCIENCES NEWS
Exploring critical business and legal issues across the healthcare and life sciences industries
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Five Questions with a Health Lawyer: Justin P. Aiello

by | Jan 21, 2021 |

Justin P. Aiello
Practice Focus Area: Healthcare M&A
Office: Miami
Years at Firm: 7

What is your favorite part about practicing healthcare law at McDermott?
The wealth of knowledge maintained by our more than 120 attorneys who are dedicated to practicing healthcare law. Healthcare law comprises dozens of subspecialties and most of our client matters require a broad understanding of multiple subspecialties to provide exceptional advice. No single person can be knowledgeable in every subspecialty. It is our group’s collective practice, in nearly every healthcare subspecialty, that enables our attorneys to provide comprehensive, seamless advice regarding our clients’ healthcare investments.

What is the biggest opportunity and greatest challenge facing clients in your area of focus today?
The biggest opportunity still seems to be consolidation—perhaps the simplest and most reliable investment thesis. Despite all of the consolidation in the healthcare industry over the last couple of decades, the physician practice space remains highly fragmented with ample opportunity for gaining competitive advantages and cost savings through scale while still delivering excellent patient care. The biggest challenge (and perhaps also an opportunity) may come with the shift from fee-for-service to value-based reimbursement and its potential impact on the financial modeling on which many investment decisions have been based.

What kind of client work gets you most excited when it comes across your desk?
I enjoy representing our private equity clients in their initial platform investments in physician practice [...]

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Hospital and Health System Innovation Summit: Pandemic to Partnership: The Impact of Covid-19 on Innovation

by | Nov 20, 2020 |

In this interactive discussion, health system innovation leaders addressed the impact of COVID-19 on health systems’ plans to pursue innovation efforts; the lasting implications of the pandemic; and the prioritization of innovation efforts and investments post-COVID-19. McDermott Will and Emery’s Partner Kerrin B. Slattery moderated this discussion featuring insights from Lisa Prasad, Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer at Henry Ford Health System; Damon Broyles, Vice President of Clinical Innovation at Mercy Technology Services; Anders Brown, Sr. Vice President and Managing Director at Tegria (founded by Providence); and Chris Coburn, Chief Innovation Officer at Mass General Brigham and President of Partners HealthCare International.

Below are the top takeaways for Hospital and Health System Innovation Summit: Pandemic to Partnership: The Impact of Covid-19 on Innovation, click here to access the full webinar.

Access the PDF here.

Innovation Efforts have Accelerated
In the face of the pandemic’s vast and varied challenges, health systems have prioritized their efforts to adapt and innovate strategically. COVID-19 has accelerated innovation efforts and should be extracted to other areas moving forward. “An enormous part of innovation is recognizing the unmet need,” Mr. Coburn said. “In a sense, seven billion people now recognize at least one unmet need. For our providers and the folks supporting them, the issue became [...]

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HPE New York 2020: The Impact of COVID-19: What’s Hot, What’s Not

by | Nov 6, 2020 | , , ,

In the wake of COVID-19 some health sectors have emerged as hot while others are troubled. Our panel of active investors discussed where the dollars are going and offered insights on why in relation to the events of 2020. McDermott partner Jerry Sokol moderated this dynamic panel featuring Paige Daly, partner at Harvest Partners; Chris Gordon, global head of healthcare and co-head of North America private equity at Bain Capital; Geoff Lieberthal, partner at Two Sigma Impact; and Rob Wolfson, executive managing director and head of H.I.G. Advantage Fund and U.S. Healthcare.

Below are the top takeaways for HPE New York 2020 half day session: The Impact of COVID-19: What’s Hot, What’s Not, click here to access the full webinar.

Access the PDF here.

COVID-19 has revealed weaknesses in the healthcare system and in healthcare delivery in particular. “One of the most fundamental things that we as healthcare investors all should be thinking about is investing in businesses that are making things better for the entire system—for patients, for providers and for payors,” Ms. Daly said. “That means we should be both raising quality and lowering costs.” These principles are driving some of the most exciting innovation today, particularly in payor services, physician practice management (PPM) and healthcare IT.

Healthcare IT generally and telemedicine specifically are areas of major investment. Dramatically accelerated patient and payor adoption of telehealth has created [...]

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HPE New York 2020: Healthcare Private Equity Pioneers

by | Nov 5, 2020 | , ,

An illustrious group of healthcare private equity pioneers discussed how healthcare investing has evolved from inception to current state and what the future holds. Moderated by Michael Lewis, author of The Big Short, Moneyball, The Blind Side and Liar’s Poker, it featured insights from Senator Bill Frist, MD, founder of Frist Cressey Ventures; Annie Lamont, co-founder and Managing Partner of Oak HC/FT; Curtis Lane, founding partner of WindRose Health Investors; and Ira Coleman, Chairman of McDermott Will & Emery.

Below are the top takeaways for HPE New York 2020 half day session: Healthcare Private Equity Pioneers, click here to access the full webinar.

Access the PDF here.

Investment in healthcare private equity continues to accelerate, even amid disruption. In the past, healthcare made up only a small portion of private equity funds, but pioneers helped make it mainstream. “The amount of infrastructure, commitment and capability focused exclusively on healthcare is becoming commensurate with the size of healthcare relative to the economy,” Mr. Lane said. “I think that’s changed pretty significantly and is continuing to change very quickly.”

One of the most dramatic changes in the field of healthcare private equity since its inception is the ongoing transformation of the healthcare system and the opportunities that transformation has created for entrepreneurs outside of traditional healthcare roles. As virtual health companies and other digital-focused [...]

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After the Curve Podcast: Focus on Health Policy

by | Oct 6, 2020 | ,

COVID-19 led to major policy changes impacting how healthcare is delivered and reimbursed, but only some of these new policies will endure in coming years. On this episode of the After the Curve podcast, our colleagues from McDermott+Consulting join us to discuss how the pandemic has changed the conversation leading up to the November presidential election and how key policy issues will evolve in the months and years to come. McDermott’s Chief Marketing Officer Leslie Tullio is joined by Eric Zimmerman, Mara McDermott and Jessica Roth to discuss topics surrounding the pandemic-induced policy shifts, including:

  • The most impactful regulatory telehealth changes that have resulted from COVID-19
  • A look beyond telehealth to a paradigm shift in the broader digital health landscape
  • The impact that a more refined data exchange pathway could have on treatment during the next wave of COVID-19 or future pandemics
  • Meaningful collaborations that are currently happening in the digital health space
  • A look at innovations that are emerging from the demands of post-COVID-19 healthcare
  • Legal and regulatory compliance steps that still need to be taken to allow these telehealth programs to continue in the future

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5 Questions with a Health Lawyer: Steven J. Schnelle

by | Sep 17, 2020 |

Steven J. Schnelle
Practice Focus Area: Healthcare
Office: New York
Years at Firm: 2.5 years

What is your favorite part about practicing healthcare law at McDermott?

Without a doubt, the people! Every day I have the pleasure and honor of working with brilliant and unique colleagues that recognize and appreciate one another’s contributions to our team, both personal and professional. And I’m not just talking about my colleagues with signatures bearing the McDermott logo—our clients are doing amazing things and give us the opportunity every day to engage creatively and collaboratively to make a difference. There’s nothing better than celebrating an achievement with people you care about!

What is the biggest opportunity and greatest challenge facing clients in your area of focus today?

I think they’re one and the same—the dynamism of the healthcare system in the United States. With constantly evolving laws, regulations, interpretive guidance, enforcement priorities, judicial precedent, industry players and trends, there’s never a slow moment in healthcare. Companies that can anticipate and respond to these changes enjoy tremendous tailwinds, while those that become entrenched in the status quo stand to lose out. Our clients benefit from McDermott’s deep bench of accomplished healthcare attorneys who often play a central role in these changes, giving our teams highly developed insights as these changes happen.

What kind of client work gets you most excited when it comes across your desk?

Work that involves existential issues, or issues that implicate entire business lines, is particularly exciting for [...]

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5 Questions with a Health Policy Specialist: Rodney L. Whitlock of McDermott+Consulting

by | Aug 20, 2020 |

Rodney L. Whitlock, Ph.D
Vice President, McDermott+Consulting
Focus Area: Healthcare Policy
Years at M+: 1.5 years

What is your favorite part about your health policy work at McDermott+Consulting?

Healthcare policy, politics and process is complicated. It is a constant challenge to discern and anticipate the future of healthcare policy for clients. It is the constant intellectual challenge of operating in healthcare policy that I enjoy most about what I do. Specifically, I like that I can bring my 21 years of experience in Congress to my clients, move from subject matter to subject matter and play at a high level. For example, I can go from talking about prescription drugs in the morning then later on in the day dealing with an issue very specific to a client. It’s the challenge of having to be in different spaces at different times of the day that I actually enjoy.

What is the biggest opportunity and greatest challenge facing clients in your area of focus today?

The current global pandemic has significantly impacted healthcare. All of the pressures on pricing and value that existed before the pandemic are now accentuated by the response to the crisis. The recovery from the loss of revenue experienced by providers throughout the year 2020 will be felt for a long time to come. The way practices have changed to accommodate the pandemic will also impact the provision of healthcare services and how they are reimbursed for a long time [...]

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More Than a Decade at the Top; McDermott Earns 11th Chambers USA Band 1 Healthcare Practice National Ranking

by | May 6, 2020 |

We are pleased to announce that our Healthcare Group received a national Band 1 ranking for the eleventh year in a row in the 2020 edition of Chambers USA. After more than a decade at the top, we are once again the only one to rank Band 1 nationally. The Health team also earned Band 1 state-level rankings for its healthcare practices in California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts and Washington, DC. Additionally, the team also earned the national Spotlight Table ranking for the Privacy and Data Security: Healthcare category. In addition, nearly half of the Healthcare Industry Advisory group partners were individually ranked.

Click here to view the full announcement.



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Five Questions with a Health Lawyer: Matt Perreault

by | Feb 14, 2020 | ,

Matt Perreault
Office: Boston
Years at Firm:  2

What is your favorite part about practicing health care law at McDermott? 

As so many of my colleagues have expressed throughout this series, my favorite part of practicing healthcare law at McDermott is being a member of a collaborative and collegial team that is advising our diverse clients on their most critical and pressing issues.  Having spent much of my career in-house, I have experienced firsthand how McDermott’s approach to client service, anchored in humility, empathy and practicality, consistently delivers differentiated value and results for our clients.

What is the biggest opportunity and greatest challenge facing clients in your area of focus today? 

I believe that the transition to value-based arrangements will continue to accelerate. Collaborative Transformations will proliferate and present both tremendous opportunities for, and challenges to, traditional healthcare providers. Hospitals, health systems and other providers who embrace the challenges and opportunities presented by this paradigm shift will reap the benefits of their investments.  Those who resist this cultural change risk losing ground and market share to their competitors.

What kind of client work gets you most excited when it comes across your desk? 

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Five Questions with a Health Lawyer: Jeremy Earl

by | Dec 16, 2019 | ,

Jeremy Earl
Partner
Office: Washington, DC
Years at the Firm: 10

What is your favorite part about practicing healthcare law at McDermott?

My favorite part about practicing at McDermott is the challenging and constantly evolving nature of the work. Our clients put trust in us to advise them on their toughest legal questions and business challenges. I don’t take that trust lightly and it is exciting to come to work every day to meet and exceed the high expectations clients rightly have for us.

What is the biggest opportunity and greatest challenge facing clients in your area of focus today?

I represent managed care companies, which has traditionally meant health insurers and health maintenance organizations (HMOs). Due to legislative and competitive factors, healthcare financing and delivery is rapidly evolving and new models are being introduced to compete with traditional health insurers and HMOs. In 2012, Ezekiel Emanuel and Jeffrey Liebman boldly predicted in the New York Times that “[b]y 2020, the American health insurance industry will be extinct” and replaced by ACOs. That this has not happened is, at least in part, due to innovation by health insurers through such efforts as expanding value-based payment models.

At the same time, the traditional roles of providers and health insurers are blurring and providers and risk-bearing intermediaries are introducing innovative ways to finance healthcare delivery that [...]

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