Steve focuses his practice in the areas of health law and disaster preparedness and response issues for critical infrastructure industries. He has represented hospitals and other health care providers for over 20 years in full spectrum of health care legal issues. Steve currently serves as the Health Care Practice Group Leader for Troutman Sanders.

Representative Experience

Health Care
Health Information Technology
Lead Author of the Data Use Reciprocal Support Agreement in support of interoperable health data exchange using the Nationwide Health Information Network

Lead and facilitate multiple national workgroups on complex issues related to the legal structure, trust agreements and governance issues of the Nationwide Health Information Network

Assist with the development of Health Information Exchanges including advising on the following:

• Legal structure
• Governance
• Privacy and security frameworks
• Operational policies and procedures
• Breach notification
• Data exchange agreements

Advise clients on e-health issues including HIPAA Privacy and Security, FISMA, ARRA and HITECH

Provide strategic advice on emerging issues around privacy and security, “meaningful use” and health IT developments

Health Care Mergers and Acquisitions
Successfully represented health care organizations in the acquisition and sale of health care facilities

Serve as regulatory counsel to acquisitions of multi-state health care companies

Serve as regulatory counsel on financing health care transactions

Successfully merged health care providers into new provider entities

Health Care Compliance

Represented major hospital providers in several multi million dollar federal Medicare fraud investigations negotiating successful settlements

Advise health care clients on internal investigations and voluntary disclosures

Serve as counsel to hospital compliance committees

Other Health Care
Advise clients on complex reimbursement and payment issues

Provide on-going advise on legal and regulatory aspects of hospital operations

Represented numerous hospital systems in significant, contested Certificate of Public Need cases involving new facilities, replacement facilities and initiation of major new clinical programs

Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness
Serve on Special Counsel for Emergency Preparedness and Response for the Virginia Office of Attorney General

Lead Author of comprehensive whitepapers on key emergency preparedness issues for health care providers related to :

• Continuity of Operations
• Human Resource Planning
• Liability and Altered Standards of Care
• HIPAA
• EMTALA

Serve as lead on an Essential Services Grant for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) resulting in a revised Critical Resource Shortage Planning Guide, a Critical Resource Shortage Implementation Guide and a set of Implementation Resources

Lead and facilitate multiple complex workgroups on legal and policy issues related to emergency preparedness and response including H1N1

Advise the Secure Commonwealth Panel, Health & Medical Sub-Panel on legal aspects of preparedness issues

Advise state hospital associations on multiple issues related to emergency preparedness and response

Coordinated multi-year initiative to update Virginia law on liability of health care providers during declared disasters resulting in passage of legislation in the 2008 Virginia General Assembly

Coordinated effort to update Virginia law to extend liability protection to volunteers of Medical Reserve Corps and Citizen Emergency Response Teams passed by the Virginia General Assembly in 2008

Coordinate, and principal author of, comprehensive rewrite of Virginia laws on quarantine and isolation which were unanimously passed by the Virginia General Assembly, 2004

Advise health care providers and public health officials on issues related to surge capacity and response to emergencies

Advise major electric utility on emergency preparedness issues for H1N1 and other public health emergencies

Serve as co-facilitator of CDC Foundation Toronto Workshop, SARS Lessons Learned by the Business Community; Toronto Canada - March 2005

Serve as Technical Advisor on numerous emergency preparedness table top exercises

Presentations
Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association Webinar series on legal issues related to H1N1 preparedness September – October 2009

Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association Annual Hospital Forum on Emergency Preparedness 2005 - 2009

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection, Workgroup on Healthcare Preparedness September 2009

19th Annual Executive Leadership Conference, American Counsel for Technology/Industry Advisory Council, October 2009

NACCHO Public Health Preparedness Summit, San Diego, CA – February 2009

Homeland Defense Journal Surge Capacity Conference, Washington, DC – October 2008

Indiana Hospital Emergency Preparedness Workshop – September 2008

Confronting the Ethics of Pandemic Influenza Planning: 2008 Summit of the States, Indianapolis, IN – July 2008

Henrico Doctors Hospital Medical Staff CME on Altered Standards of Care – May 2008

Catastrophic Event Resource Planning Workshop – May 2008

Virginia Health Care Association Legislative Conference, Richmond, VA – February 2008

Virginia Society for Healthcare Human Resources Association, Richmond, VA – October 2007

American Health Information Community: HIMSS 2008 Conference, Nationwide Community Health Information Network: Data Use and Reciprocal Support, February 2008

American Bar Association/CDC Conference on XDR TB, July 2007

American Nurses Association Quadrennial Policy Conference, Atlanta, GA – June 2007

CDC Legal Preparedness Summit, Atlanta, GA – June 2007

New Jersey Hospital Association Pandemic Influenza Preparedness, Princeton, NJ – June 2007, January 2008

EUCI Pandemic Influenza Conference for Electric Utilities, Seattle, WA – May 2007

Harvard School of Public Health/School of Business Symposium on Pandemic Influenza, Boston, MA –May 2007

Conference of Emergency Preparedness Coordinators, Altered Standards of Care, Savannah, GA – March 2007

Atlanta Bar Association CLE - Pan Flu Planning, Atlanta, GA – November 2006

EEI Pandemic Influenza Conference, Washington, DC – October 2006

Virginia Society for Hospital Risk Management Conference, Fredericksburg, VA – September 2006

American Bar Association Teleconference – Pan Flu Preparedness, June 2006

UVA Institute for Practical Ethics and Public Life, Hospital Bio-Ethics & Pandemic Influenza, Charlottesville, VA - May 2006

Commonwealth of Virginia - Pandemic Influenza Summit, Breakout Session on First Responders - March 2006

VDH Community Based Emergency Response (CBER) Program, Speaker on Communicable Disease Containment Issues - Multiple programs throughout state during 2006

Louisiana Hospital Association Hospital Law Symposium, Baton Rouge, LA - November 2005

American Bar Association, Health Law Section, Emerging Legal Issues Conference, Disaster Preparedness Legal Issues, Orlando, FL - February 2005

American Public Health Association 132nd Annual Meeting & Exposition, Public Health and the Environment, Washington, DC - November 2004

CDC Public Health & the Law Conference in the 21st Century, Atlanta, GA - June 2004, June 2006

Publications
Co-author, Whaley, Erin S., “The Next Step in Health Data Exchanges: Trust and Privacy in Exchange Networks,” Journal of Healthcare Information Management, Spring 2009.

Co-author, “Improving Cross-sectoral and Cross-jurisdictional Coordination for Public Health Emergency Legal Preparedness,” Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics, December 2007.

Co-author, Whaley, Erin S., “The Greatest Good for the Greatest Number: Implications of Altered Standards of Care,” American Health Lawyers Association, Hospitals & Health Systems Rx, December 2006.

Co-author, Whaley, Erin S., "Emergency Preparedness and Response: Legal Issues in a Changing World", Virginia Lawyer, June/July 2006.

Co-author, Whaley, Erin S., “Emergency Preparedness and Response: Legal Issues in a Changing World,” The Health Lawyer, June 2005.

Co-author, Whaley, Erin S., "Emergency Preparedness and Response: Legal Issues for In-House Counsel,” In-House Counselor, May 2005.

Co-author, Whaley, Erin S., “A Patchwork Of Protection: Sources Of Volunteer Immunity For Medical & Public Health Volunteers,” Health Lawyers Weekly, April 8, 2005.

Co-author, Whaley, Erin S., “Are Doctors At Risk When They Do the Right Thing?” Virginia Medical Law Report, March 2005.

Work Experience
Practice Group Leader, Health Care

Partner, Troutman Sanders LLP, 2000–present

Partner, McCandlish Kaine, 1987–2000

Partner, Seawell, Dalton, Hughes & Timms, 1984–1987

Law Clerk, Virginia Supreme Court, 1983–1984

Office of the Attorney General, Commonwealth of Virginia, Summer 1982

Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Commonwealth of Virginia, Summer 1981

Hospital Operations:
     Richmond Memorial Hospital, 1980–1982
     Southside Regional Medical Center, 1979–1980
     Blue Cross Blue Shield of Virginia, 1979 
     Riverside Hospital and Healthcare System, Newport News, VA, 1977–1978  
     Williamsburg Community Hospital, Williamsburg, VA, 1973–1977

Emergency Medical Services:
     Williamsburg Fire Department and Rescue Squad, 1973–1977