Schedule/Sessions

Breakfast

Keynote - A Piece of the Puzzle: Eight Traits of a Quality Teammate

• Speakers:

• Kevin Kush, Boys Town

How well do the members of your organization or team work together? Are you a smooth, well-oiled machine or a fractured collection of in-it-for-yourself individuals? In a straight forward no-excuses style, Kevin Kush discusses eight traits that can turn any group or organization into a cohesive, high-performing team. Including; respecting everyone, handling adversity, adapting to change, and the importance of having high energy and being accountable. Coach Kush’s passion for performance is contagious and will help lead your team to greater productivity and success!

SESSION 1 - Brave New World - Medicine in the Digital Age

• Speakers:

• Geri Luebeck, Providence Saint John's Health Center

• Kathleen Lyons, AXIS Reinsurance

• Samuel Shapiro, Aaronson Rappaport Feinstein & Deutsch, LLP

The Health Care industry is on the precipice of a brave new world. The Affordable Care Act has challenged the medical industry to find effective and cost efficient ways of providing medical treatment. The advent of innovation in medical technology has already changed the face of medicine with telemedicine leading the charge. Telemedicine has the potential to create efficiencies in healthcare and extend the reach of existing providers but can create issues of safety and privacy.
The panel includes representatives from underwriting, claims and the defense bar and they will examine the benefits and potential issues associated with the use of telemedicine including the various applications. They will discuss potential claim drivers, underwriting questions, regulatory considerations and litigation concerns. Additional topics will include the potential for data security, fraud & abuse and HIPPA issues.
 

Break

SESSION 2 - The Pros & Cons of an ACA Defense: Jurors' Views and an Insured's Perspective

• Speakers:

• Gina Harris, ProAssurance Corporation

• Mandy J. Kamykowski, Kamykowski & Taylor, P.C.

• John W. Muir, Ringler

• Laura Zehner, Zehner Trial Consulting

While the law is still unsettled in many states regarding the Affordable Care Act (ACA), there is no doubt that life care plans based on the ACA are dramatically different than traditional life care plans and, if jurors accept these newer life care plans, damages may be greatly reduced in states allowing testimony on the ACA. However, do jurors accept arguments regarding the ACA? And if the law is so unsettled and the jurors may not accept ACA arguments, does it make sense from an insured’s perspective to pay for the discovery and experts associated with the ACA?
This presentation will briefly examine the state of the law surrounding the ACA, the differences in life care plans with and without the ACA, and jurors’ comments and reactions to the ACA using clips from mock trials and focus groups. In addition, a claims industry representative from a national insurance carrier will give her perspective on when it makes sense to pay for the costs associated with an ACA defense.
 

Break

SESSION 3 - Healthcare Mega Breach - Information Security

• Speakers:

• Constance Endelicato, Wood Smith Henning & Berman LLP

• Lee McMullin, Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc. and Mutual Protection Trust

• Anthony Peterson, FBI

• Jonathan Romvary, Self Employed

The session explores the progression of breaches in healthcare IT security, leading to recent cyber attacks in major medical facilities across the United States. The mega breaches of today are devised by criminal masterminds and include the threat of violation of patient privacy affecting millions of patients; the tampering of critical medical equipment to provide false readings, leading to life-threatening medical mismanagement; to the recent trend in monetary ransom attacks, causing a lockdown of computers and patient files, forcing the closure of healthcare facilities. This session will focus on theories lodged as to the weaknesses in security, creating vulnerability to these cyber attacks; the target groups of such attacks; the ways to improve security for prevention; how to respond to and defend against a hacker; and the legal ramifications to the victimized institution. 

Lunch

SESSION 4 - The Affordable Care Act: Palliative Care vs. Hospice Services - A Claims and Litigation Perspective on Today's Cost of Dying Comfortably

• Speakers:

• Michael Bruyere, Self Employed

• Karen Salmon, GB Healthcare

• John Stanford, Atlas Settlement Group

There is an upcoming election, but the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is here to stay.  The ACA has the potential to provide mediators, arbitrators and courts enough objective information to cap a Plaintiff’s future medical needs to the recovery of premiums and out-of-pocket expenses.  Such an application may eventually create an overall reduction in indemnity payments for medical malpractice carriers, and their insureds.  This presentation will provide an overview of the ACA, obstacles within litigation, summaries of recent defense favorable case law and orders, and initial recommendations for how to develop an affirmative defense for those complex medical malpractice cases which involve extensive palliative care.  Although laws vary amongst states we recommend making similar, continuous and consistent efforts across state lines in order to reach the ultimate goal of all courts automatically allowing and applying the objective costs provided by the ACA as evidence towards mitigation of Plaintiff’s future damages.  
 

Break

SESSION 5 - Whistle While You Work: How to Prevent Activity Leading to Whistleblowing Actions and Protect the Healthcare Organization

• Speakers:

• Jacqueline Bloink, Saddleback College

• Anthony Pacheco, Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP

• Linda Taetz, Mariner Health Central, Inc.

• Christine Zack, The AMD Card

While Ralph Nader is frequently credited with coining the phrase "whistleblower" in the 1970’s, informants have been a part of the justice system in the U.S. since at least the Civil War, when the government embraced whistleblower information relating to government contracts. That trend has increased exponentially since then, and it is not expected to slow any time soon. To the contrary, the government has greatly enhanced rewards to whistleblowers in a number of areas and the perception of whistleblowers has sometimes turned from that of a snitch to an American hero.

Whistleblowers, both real and purported, have become a part of everyday business life. Failing to prepare for complaints about illegal and/or unethical activities, and ignoring or minimizing these complaints is a recipe for disaster. This presentation is intended to help organizations identify whistleblowers generally, identify the sources of whistleblower complaints, handle complaints appropriately, manage the substantial risks associated with responding to complaints and make recommendations for steps companies can take to prepare and protect the organization before a complaint is made.

Networking Cocktails