Government regulation of health care at the federal and state level continues to accelerate in scope and complexity. Beahm & Green provides strategic legal counsel to every segment of the health care industry in all phases of transactions, operations, litigation and regulatory enforcement.

Our firm represents a wide range of health care entities, including hospitals and hospital systems, physician groups, home health and hospice providers, managed care organizations, long-term care and assisted living providers, nursing homes, physical therapy providers, ambulatory surgery centers, pharmaceutical companies, psychiatric and rehabilitation facilities, and other health care companies and organizations.

Our firm counsels and advises health care providers and professionals under investigation by state and federal agencies and works closely with our clients to design and implement in-depth, comprehensive compliance programs to ensure ongoing compliance with fraud and abuse laws, Stark and anti-kickback laws, and other litigation matters surrounding our clients. We also assist our clients in performing internal audits and regulatory reviews to identify any potential wrongdoing in its infancy, as well as preparing voluntary disclosures of potential statutory and regulatory violations to government agencies.

Franklin D. Beahm has represented clients in cases involving HIPAA and other laws regarding privacy and patient confidentiality and is available to assist with EMTALA compliance training. Mr. Beahm has tried cases in district court and appellate court of Louisiana. He also tried cases in Tennessee and Georgia and arbitrated cases in Georgia, South Carolina and Louisiana. He tried cases before the LSBME, Dental, RN, LPN and Pharmacy Boards.

Our law firm dedicates itself to the unique needs of insurance companies and the people and businesses they insure.

Our attorneys believe less is more – that a small, specialized firm will provide a higher level of personal service and attention. We have over 85 years of combined experience handling insurance defense claims and all of our attorneys are experienced trial lawyers who are prepared to take a case to trial. We have defended cases with small values to cases involving millions of dollars in claims.

However, we are also well aware that a trial might not necessarily be the best way to resolve a particular case – that our client's needs is not always best served by taking their claims to trial. In those instances, we encourage the companies we represent to consider the full range of alternative forms of dispute resolution – including mediation and arbitration – to minimize the cost and allow for more control over the resolution of their legal matters.

Beahm & Green represents insurers and insureds in a wide spectrum of claims ranging from the simple to the complex. We have represented cases involving:

• Motor Vehicles
• Business & Commercial Litigation
• Casualty
• Catastrophic Event
• Insurance Coverage
• Premises
• Products
• Professional Liability - Medical and Legal
• Reinsurance
• Legal Malpractice/Professional Negligence
• Construction Law & Defects
• Product Liability Defense
• D & O and Fiduciary
• Transportation & Truck Product Liability
• Insurance Coverage & Bad Faith
• Food Product Liability
• First Party Property

The 1980s were a turning point for the Health Care Industry. In addition to managed care insurance companies (PPOs, HMOs, etc.), the health care industry started to come under federal regulation. It became more closely regulated and more controlling of what providers could and could not do. A significant law known as the Stark Law was passed. The three phases of Stark Law regulates a physician’s self-referral for Medicare and Medicaid patients. Stark I, found in the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989, effective January 1, 1992, restricted self-referrals under certain circumstances of Medicare patients. Stark II, found in the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, expanded the restriction of self-referrals and applied it to both Medicare and Medicaid patients. In response to the reaction to Stark II, Stark III reduced the regulatory burden on the health care industry through interpretations of the statutory exceptions and modifications under the previously enacted Stark regulations.

Separate and distinct to Stark, is the federal anti-kickback law. This law prohibits health care providers from receiving remuneration, directly or indirectly, in exchange for referrals.

Our attorneys have a long history of providing legal advice when it comes to these regulations, and we are ready to assist businesses in the health care industry.

Hospital medical staff bylaws are crucial to promoting quality medical care to patients and managing the relationship between the hospital, the hospital's governing body, the medical executive committee (MEC), and the organized medical staff. Clear and comprehensive bylaws help define the process for credentialing and medical staff appointment and re-appointment, the peer review process, the fair hearing and appeals process, the scope of the medical executive committee (MEC), the scope of all standing and ad hoc committees of the medical staff, and outline the process for managing issues between the organized medical staff and governing body of the hospital or health care entity.

Beahm & Green assists hospitals and medical staffs in reviewing their bylaws and advising of recommended provisions to ensure complete compliance with federal and state laws and regulations. Our attorneys have extensive experience drafting medical staff bylaws for our health care clients.

Medical professionals are subject to medical peer review when their quality of medical care has been called into question by patients, other physicians or other health care professionals, including disruptive behavior. Penalties associated with medical peer review range from reprimand, temporary suspension of a physician's hospital staff privileges and medical staff membership to permanent loss of a physician's hospital staff percentages. Furthermore, the results of a physician's unsuccessful medical peer review will be reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB).

For over 30 years, Franklin D. Beahm has represented health and hospital systems, physicians and physician groups, managed care organizations, nurses and nursing groups, dentists, pharmacists, and health care professionals during the peer review process, including the fair hearing and appeal. Mr. Beahm has acted as the hearing officer during the fair hearing, which is regulated by the Health Care Quality Improvement Act (HCQIA), the primary statute regarding standards for professional review actions. Our firm provides comprehensive legal support for all peer review issues affecting our clients and is ready to advise as necessary.

Consider Beahm & Green a boutique health care firm – different in that we are the specialized health care section in a large law firm without the collateral lawyers.

Since 1980, Franklin D. Beahm has been involved in providing litigation defense for health care providers made defendants in a professional negligence or professional health negligence case. Mr. Beahm has represented a wide number of health care providers including, but not limited to, physicians, hospitals, nurses, dentists and pharmacists.

Beahm & Green counsels hospitals and hospital systems on operational issues such as contracting, credentialing, medical staff bylaws, medical staff peer review, health professional licensing, fraud and abuse, contracts, premise liability, curator appointment, insurance coverage, intellectual property protection, and other operational matters.

Our firm also represents health care clients in transactional matters involving corporate financing, corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, reorganizations, joint ventures, divestitures, formation of new entities, contract negotiations and enforcement of contracts, breach of contract defense, outsourcing agreements, real estate lease agreements, and other areas of corporate transactions. Our attorneys are experienced in handling complex health care transactional matters involving Stark and anti-kickback laws, and state regulatory issues affecting health care transactions.

Beahm & Green has significant experience representing health care clients in jeopardy of losing their professional licensure from disciplinary actions taken by the licensing board. We have successfully defended a wide variety of licensed health care professionals, including physicians, nurses, dentists and pharmacists, among others. Our firm is built to provide our clients specialized, individual care in guiding them through the license defense process and protecting their rights before professional boards. We are available to counsel clients on how to remain in compliance with the statutes and regulations governing their specific licenses.

Franklin D. Beahm has represented clients when they are in jeopardy of losing their license due to activities deemed to violate the practices act of the particular discipline in question, such as the medical practice act if one is a physician.