AHLA's Speaking of Health Law
AHLA's Speaking of Health Law
Conversation with 2018-2019 AHLA President Marilyn Lamar
Hear from AHLA leaders as they discuss important developments in health law and how AHLA meets the needs of its members as the the nation’s largest, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) educational organization devoted to legal issues in the health care field. Sponsored by Coker Group.
To learn more about AHLA and the educational resources available to the health law community, visit americanhealthlaw.org.
Hello, welcome to today's American Health Lawyers Association, speaking of health Law podcast series. I'm your host, Craig Hunter, senior Vice President with Coker Group, a national healthcare advisory firm, and I'm here today with Marilyn Lamar, ALA's, incoming president for 2019. Marilyn, thank you for taking time with us while attending the 2018 A H L A Fundamentals and Health Law Conference here in Chicago. For those of you who don't know Marilyn, she attended the University of Illinois for her undergraduate degree and graduated from the University of Chicago Law School. She then served as a law clerk in the US Court of Appeals here in Chicago and had a distinguished career McDermott Will and Emory before starting her own firm of LIS and Lamar in 2006, where she focuses on all aspects of HIPAA privacy and security compliance, other technology related services, as well as mergers and acquisitions. Marilyn, first of all, congratulations on being named president of A H L A for 2019. That's quite an honor. Out of curiosity, how did you originally get into health law?
Speaker 2:Thanks very much, Craig. It's great to be practicing health law, and it's a bit ironic to have ended up in this area. My parents wanted me to be a doctor primarily so they would have someone to take care of them in their old age<laugh>, and I was squeamish thinking about cadavers, so I thought the law would be a much better alternative. So my ending up in health law seems like coming full circle.
Speaker 1:It's funny, I can tell you that your parents weren't the only ones hoping that their child became a
Speaker 2:Physician. Oh, you too.
Speaker 1:<laugh>. Yeah. As the incoming president of A H L A, what excites you the most about working with A H L A and its members?
Speaker 2:I think the most exciting aspect for me is the way that A H L A brings together more than 13,000 talented health law professionals in a very collegial way. As you know, some aspects of the practice of law and consulting are highly competitive, and of course, litigation is adversarial in nature, but in their ALA activities, members seem to put that aside for the greater good of understanding complicated areas of health law and working towards constructive solutions, as well as contributing to public interest projects. And I see this in so many activities of the association. Members gladly share their expertise, whether it's through in-person programs, written publications and webinars, as well as developing free public interest resources. They are thought leaders who contribute in-depth materials that really distinguish the A H L A from other organizations. Right? It's only possible due to the countless hours spent by our authors, speakers, and other volunteers. Another significant volunteer effort is the A H L a's Dispute Resolution service, which includes both arbitration and mediation. Many volunteer attorneys with expertise in ADR work on this service together with our expert, A H L A staff. The dispute resolution service provides enormous benefit to the industry by identifying arbitrators and mediators with an in-depth knowledge of health law to more effectively resolved disputes.
Speaker 1:Wow. Those are important. Any others come to mind?
Speaker 2:Sure. Uh, I've been able to call on the expertise of practice group leaders and speakers in my own practice to ask follow up questions or bounce novel ideas off of them, and they're very willing to talk to people like me who call and the A H L A communities offer another way to get insights from other professionals. These have been great resources to me as a lawyer in a very small firm, and I have to note it's wonderful for all of us to be supported by the professional staff of the A H L A who have such a deep knowledge of health law, as well as expertise in publications, programs, dispute resolution, as well as actually running an association, right, including finance. They're all critical to the A H L A and we can't thank them enough.
Speaker 1:Oh, I would agree with that. The staff and the organization have been tremendous benefit for our firm associates and clients as well. I know it's traditional for the incoming A H L A president to establish a few specific goals for their term. Can you please give us a little insight into the goals you've selected and why they're important to you and the membership? Let's start with your first goal technology, including artificial intelligence.
Speaker 2:Well, as a tech lawyer, I certainly have a warm spot in my heart for all things technology, and it's critical to how we bring news, insightful analysis, and networking opportunities to our members, most importantly in the form that is most convenient for them. And I really wanna stress that we want this to be very customized to how the members like to receive their information. This requires a continuing investment in technology. The A H L A, in fact, was an early adopter of some technology-based member services, including webinars and the archive of the ALA's educational materials. We continued to look for ways to improve those resources as well as developing new ones. I believe that AI presents great opportunities for innovation as well as being a disruptive force in the legal environment. One benefit will be just automating repetitive legal and compliance tasks to free up professionals for more challenging work. But there are some concerns about applying AI to legal services, including questions of quality, ethics, and possible bias. We will try to help our members explore those innovations while also looking at how AI might be able to harness the vast knowledge and resources of the ALA's content.
Speaker 1:That's great. And your second goal is diversity and inclusion?
Speaker 2:Right. The A H L A has made diversity and inclusion a priority for many years, and we're seeing great progress in our practice groups, in-person programs and webinars. We have trained literally hundreds of a H L A leaders and provided them with tools to help with these efforts. My goal is to cement the progress we've made and make sure that A H L A sustains these efforts across the entire organization.
Speaker 1:I know this one is important to you as well. Your third goal is improving the learning experience.
Speaker 2:We are fundamentally an educational organization, and we know that some people have different learning styles and that more interactive learning may be better for some of us than a presentation in a traditional lecture format. Recent research has also shown that attention spans of most audience members are shorter than might have been expected. Generally no more than 20 minutes, and traveling to meetings may also present challenges. So we're encouraging more interactive presentations by speakers at our in-person programs and looking at alternatives for those who cannot travel. We want our content to be easy to absorb and readily available for the broadest group of our members.
Speaker 1:Finally, your fourth goal is balancing governance changes, member services and collegiality.
Speaker 2:As many of you know, collegiality and a high level of service to members or hallmarks of the A H L A, that must remain front of mind While we work on many specific initiatives. For example, a committee of the board and non-board members has been studying the A H L a's corporate governance structure, and the board may adopt some changes within the next few months, but any internally focused review has the potential to be a distraction from an organization's core mission and values. Therefore, one of my goals is to make sure that we continue to have high levels of member service and collegiality while the corporate governance review moves forward.
Speaker 1:Well, those are very significant goals for the organization. Marilyn H how have you personally benefited from A H L A over the years?
Speaker 2:Well, one of the main benefits for me, in addition to the educational content and things like that, have been the close friendships I've made with many members of the A H L A across the country. And that goes well beyond legal issues because they've been a great source of personal support. As I faced issues with children and aging parents, we often share our challenges in any tips and resources we found along the way. And having my A H L A community was especially important after I moved from a large law firm to work in a two attorney office 12 years ago. Another benefit has been my exposure to some of our best speakers, and I would like to share something surprising that I hope will encourage those who would like to speak but have not yet taken the plunge. It is that even some of our best speakers get butterflies before they present. I learned this once, walking back from an event with two of our most renowned and seemingly calm speakers. I don't think they realized that I was hanging on their every word as they talked about their jitters. I remember that one of them wondered whether having anxiety might actually make him better in the moment. So their candor made me feel much more at home in this wonderful organization and a lot less stressed about speaking myself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's great. I, I too would encourage other A H L A members to submit speaking abstracts for the future. There are so many great conferences like the Fundamentals Conference we're at this week, and the Physicians and Hospital Law Institute coming up in February and San Antonio, which represent a real spectrum of attendees and knowledge levels. And A H L A has always looking for relevant, interesting topics.
Speaker 2:That's absolutely right.
Speaker 1:What, what advice would you give others so that they could get the full benefit of participating in and belonging to the A H L A?
Speaker 2:Well being willing to volunteer obviously will make a huge difference in how much a member gets out of A H L A. First of all, you get to meet great people on a personal and professional level and be recognized for your contributions. Second, at least for me, the actual writing or speaking makes me dig in even deeper on a topic which leads to new insights. And then going to the networking events is also important so you can relax and socialize with your peers. But being an introvert myself, sometimes I have to move past my comfort level to get the most out of these A H L A experiences. So even though it can be challenging, I've met folks who became close friends and I never would've met them, but for A H L A events. And I've been surprised that when I've confessed my introverted nature to other members, many of them, including leaders, have shared that they are also introverts, right? So to anyone who feels a bit anxious about walking into an A H L A reception or volunteering, I want you to know you are not alone.
Speaker 1:I think it's also important to state that once you've been to a few of the A H L A programs, you start to see friends and colleagues over the years, and it's just tough to replace good friends who may at some point be helpful for you in your own practice from time to time with issues that you may need a little jumpstart with Grant. When you consider the extensive compliance requirements, whether legal, financial, regulatory, et cetera, uh, for healthcare provider organizations, what are your thoughts on the linkages between attorneys and consultants and working with mutual clients such as hospitals, health systems, and medical groups?
Speaker 2:I think that consultants are really essential partners with lawyers in reducing the risks that our clients face. In this complicated healthcare environment. Consultants often have much more data than lawyers do and can use data analytics to identify trends among similar organizations that are very helpful to clients. They also provide just a different perspective and can help identify both problems and when more education is needed in order to avoid problems. Of course, consultants continue to play a critical role by assessing fair market value, but their role can and should be much broader than that. I
Speaker 1:Agree,
Speaker 2:And everyone should be aware that the A H L A welcomes consultants, regardless of whether they are lawyers, as well as other non-lawyer professionals who are active in health law, their multi-dimensional expertise really adds a great deal to the association.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would agree with that. And from our perspective, uh, through the variety of compliance related services that we provide, fair market value, commercial reasonableness, opinions, uh, compliance audits, uh, HIPAA reviews, physician community needs assessments, et cetera. Our relationship with A H L A has been tremendous as we're able to interact more closely with the attorneys we work with, whether they're at a private firm, uh, such as yours or whether or not they're general or in-house counsel at one of our clients. What do you believe the key issues in today's healthcare marketplace, specifically as it relates to A H L A members and their respective clients? Since A H L A represents all areas of healthcare providers, physicians, health plans, long-term care, you name it.
Speaker 2:Right? Well, that could be a long list because a h e members, as you mentioned, are active in all aspects of the industry. But here are some thoughts from trying to look across the entire landscape. Leading the list is healthcare policy, which may lead to substantial changes in the ACA or its administration as well as funding for Medicare and Medicaid addressing the opioid crisis and drug pricing fraud and abuse issues continue to be important in the aftermath of Escobar in the 60 day rule. And there's even been speculation that will get some changes in stark. Another key issue is the rapid pace of change on many levels, including shifting reimbursement and payment strategies and new technologies that are changing how healthcare is provided at the patient level. Then there are changes at the demographic level. I myself am a boomer, but I know that the millennials now outnumber boomers, which is a huge change. Um, also the cost shifting to patients with higher deductibles and copays and consumerism with a rising tide of patient expectations about healthcare can, how healthcare can be delivered
Speaker 1:Some view. Much of healthcare as being ripe for disruption with non-traditional companies coming into healthcare from mergers and joint ventures. Can you give us a few examples of those that you're seeing?
Speaker 2:Sure. We're seeing a lot of physicians actually who are becoming entrepreneurial, informing their own companies, developing technology and so forth. Then we have some gigantic technology companies that are really focusing on healthcare such as Apple and Facebook. Another example overall of this is the joint venture between Amazon, JP Morgan and Berkshire Hathaway. That's going to bring something very new to us and the merger of CVS and Aetna, which I think most of us did not expect, but is undoubtedly going to lead to some real changes. All of these involve numerous legal issues, many of which require cutting edge analysis. The A H L A is committed to providing its members with news and insights on all issues relevant to members regardless of their practice area.
Speaker 1:Thank you, Marilyn. That's quite a list. As we prepare to wrap up today, do you have any final thoughts that you'd like to share as we close out our time?
Speaker 2:The A L A is a robust and thriving organization due to its members, its dedicated volunteers, and its wonderful staff. We welcome everyone with an interest in health law regardless of the role they play or the particular aspect of health law that has captured their interest. And having celebrated the A H L a's 50th anniversary a year ago, we are embarked on what I trust will be at least another 50 years of educational and public interest service with an extremely friendly and helpful group of professionals. Craig, thanks so much for letting me share these thoughts with you. We very much appreciate all that you and Coker have done for the A H L A and your continued participation with us.
Speaker 1:Thank you, Marilyn. This has been great and I appreciate your time as well. I look forward to working with you and a H L A throughout your term as president in 2019. For our audience, that concludes this episode of the A H L A, speaking of Health Law Series podcast, sponsored by co group business advisors to the healthcare industry.