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Joanne divides her practice between two major areas of the law -- health care law and private adoptions and surrogacies.
Experience
Health Care Law Practice
Joanne represents health systems, hospitals, nursing homes, homes for the aged, assisted living facilities, hospices and home health agencies regarding:
State and Federal Regulatory Compliance
Licensure and Certification
Medicare/Medicaid
Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA)
Americans with Disabilities Act, Fair Housing Act, Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Civil Rights Regulations
Vulnerable Adult Abuse Act
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
Deficit Reduction Act
Human Subject Research and Clinical Trials
Mental Health Code
Medical Records Access and Retention
Facility Opening and Change of Ownership
State and Federal Administrative Litigation and Hearings
Michigan Administrative Tribunal
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Departmental Appeals Board
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Provider Reimbursement Review Board
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Medicare Appeals
Michigan Peer Review Organization quality review hearings
Patient Rights and Provider Ethics
End of Life decision-making
Surrogate decision-makers
Medical privacy
Recipient rights
Minors and Legally Incapacitated Individuals
Risk Management and Contract Negotiation
Examples include:
Drafting a comprehensive Medicare compliance manual for a national health professional trade association
Drafting a comprehensive HIPAA compliance manual for a national health professional trade association
Defending nursing homes and nursing home professional staff against criminal charges of patient abuse/neglect
Defending nursing homes and hospitals against Medicare/Medicaid, EMTALA, and licensure deficiency citations, civil money penalties, ban on admissions, loss of license, imposition of temporary manager, denial of payment for new admissions, Medicare/Medicaid de-certification, special focus facility designation, or closure.
Informal meetings with MDCH and CMS
Drafting plans of correction and credible allegations of compliance
Drafting information deficiency review requests
Administrative hearings
Defending nursing homes against Medicare recoupment of paid claims
Defending hospital clinical research programs against FDA investigations and deficiency citations
Assisting providers to implement and use electronic medical records
Serving as legal advisor to a hospital's Ethics Committee
Serving as legal advisor to a mental health provider's Recipient Rights Advisory Board and Appeals Board
Private Adoptions and Surrogacy
Joanne handles all aspects of adoption, surrogacy and assisted reproductive technology, including:
Newborn adoptions (within Michigan and interstate)
Intra-family adoptions
Guardian adoptions
Step-parent adoptions
Foster parent adoptions
Adult adoptions
Gestational surrogacies
Traditional surrogacies
Egg donations
Embryo "adoptions"
Examples include:
Representing birth parents, surrogate mothers, married and gay/lesbian adoptive couples, and single individuals in adoptions and surrogacies
Defending against adoption revocations, rehearings and appeals
Defending against birth father challenges to adoption
Involuntary termination of birth parent's parental rights due to child neglect or abuse and adoption fraud
Counseling adoption agencies about difficult adoption issues
Counseling hospitals about their adoption responsibilities, and drafting a comprehensive adoption and surrogacy compliance manual for a national hospital system
Defending adoption agencies against licensure deficiencies
Seminars and Speeches
10/22/2007 Outbreak! What Happens When Robin Cook Isn't Fiction Any More?, AAHSA Annual Meeting, Orlando, Florida
4/30/2007 Avian-Pandemic Influenza: Are Long Term Care Providers Prepared?, MAHSA 39th Annual Conference and Trade Show, Dearborn, Michigan
2/21/2007 Catastrophic Disease Preparedness & Response, American Health Lawyers Association Long Term Care and the Law Conference, Orlando, Florida
10/18/2006 Regulatory Update - Issues and Initiatives for Skilled Nursing Providers - Deficit Reduction Act, Michigan Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, East Lansing, Michigan
5/9/2006 CMS SNF/NF Survey and Certification Update, Michigan Association of Homes and Services for the Aging Annual Conference, Lansing, Michigan
2/15/2006 Treatment of Sex Offenders in Nursing Homes, American Health Lawyers' Association, Long Term Care and the Law Conference, Dallas, Texas
10/2005 Confidentiality of Mental Health, Substance Abuse and HIV information: HIPAA and beyond, Michigan Department of Community Health Office of Recipient Rights, 12th Annual Conference, Detroit, Michigan
5/2005 Long Term Care Survey and Certification Overview, Michigan Association of Homes and Services to the Aging Annual Conference, Battle Creek, Michigan
2/2005 Long Term Care Survey and Certification Overview, American Health Lawyer's Long Term Care and the Law Conference, San Diego, California
10/25/2004 Panel discussion of elder abuse, American Association of Homes and Services to the Aging Annual Member Conference, Nashville, Tennessee
2/19/2004 Legal and Clinical Approaches to Managing Disruptive Long Term Care Residents and Families - Suggestions for Avoiding Sanctions and Liability, American Health Lawyers Association, Long Term Care and the Law Conference, Orlando, Florida
10/23/2003 Hipaacolypse Now: Confidentiality of Mental Health Information in the Age of HIPAA - Michigan Department of Community Health, Office of Recipient Rights, 10th Annual Recipient Rights Conference, Midland, Michigan
10/18/2003 "Adoption Process, Procedure and Pitfalls", Lorman Educational Services, Southfield, Michigan
10/16/2003 "Practical Law" Adoption in Michigan, Bloomfield Cable Television, Channel 15
7/20/2003 "Due Process Panel Discussion on HIPAA", WDIV, Channel 4, Detroit, Michigan
6/17/2003 "HIPAA and Marketing", Lorman Education Services, Flint, Michigan
5/12/2003 "Attorney Assisted Adoption", William Beaumont Hospital Fertility Center, Royal Oak, Michigan
3/19/2003 "HIPAA and Medical Billers", MPAA Region 2 Billers' Task Force, Warren, Michigan
10/5/2002 What Every Optometrist Should Know About The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, American Optometric Association, Medicare Carrier Advisory Committee, Baltimore, Maryland
10/3/2002 Confidentiality of Mental Health Treatment Records, Michigan Department of Community Health, Office of Recipient Rights, Lansing, Michigan
9/27/2002 Will Your Marketing Department Be Ready To Comply With HIPAA?, American Hospital Association, Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development, Atlanta, Georgia
9/19/2002 What Every Hospital Should Know About The Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act Of 1996, North Oakland Medical Center, Pontiac, Michigan
6/28/2002 What Every Optometrist Should Know About The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, American Optometric Association Annual Congress, New Orleans, Louisiana
5/2002 HIPAA Compliance: Understanding and Implementing the Privacy, Security and Portability Regulations, Lorman Education Services, Detroit, Michigan
2/22/2002 HIPAA Compliance: Understanding and Implementing the Privacy, Security and Portability Regulations, Lorman Education Services, Dearborn, Michigan
12/6/2001 Legal Developments in Long Term Care, Dykema Gossett PLLC, Detroit, Michigan
11/2001 Attorney Assisted Adoptions in Michigan, William Beaumont Hospital Fertility Center, Royal Oak, Michigan
10/2001 HIPAA Privacy Rules, Michigan Alliance of Healthcare Access Professionals, Frankenmuth, Michigan
5/2001 When is a Nursing Home Quality of Care Incident More Than Just a Quality of Care Problem?, Michigan Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, Grand Rapids, Michigan
2/2001 Developments Under EMTALA and the Skilled Nursing Facility Consolidated Billing Rules, Healthcare Financial Management Association, Midland, Michigan
2/2001 Criminalization of Long Term Care Quality Issues, American Health Lawyers Association Long Term Care and the Law, Las Vegas, Nevada
8/2000 Health Care Compliance, Lorman Education Services
6/2000 Long Term Care: An Industry Under Siege, Grand Rapids, Michigan
5/2000 Long Term Care: An Industry Under Siege, Detroit, Michigan
11/1999 Health Care Compliance, Midland, Michigan
4/1999 Health Care Compliance, Novi, Michigan
9/1998 Legal Issues in Community Mental Health, Detroit East Community Mental Health, Detroit, Michigan
10/1997 Confidentiality and Medical Records, Michigan Department of Community Health Office of Recipient Rights, Annual Recipient Rights Conference
9/1997 Direct Placement Adoption in Michigan, William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, Michigan
10/1996 Confidentiality and Medical Records, Michigan Department of Community Health Office of Recipient Rights, Annual Recipient Rights Conference
9/1996 Adoption Options in Michigan, Jewish Community Center, West Bloomfield, Michigan
8/1996 Clinical Pathways and Professional Documentation, William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, Michigan
10/1995 Understanding Medical Advance Directives, Providence Hospital, Southfield, Michigan
6/1995 Update on Health Care Reform and Reforms to the Medicare and Enforcement Regulations, Lorman Education Services
6/1995 Understanding and Surviving HCFA's New Nursing Home Survey and Enforcement Regulations, Lorman Education Services
5/1995 Confidentiality and Medical Records, Health Information Managers, Michigan Department of Corrections
1995 Role of Physicians and Hospital Staff in Adoptions Under the Revised Adoption Code (P.A. 222 of 1994), Bon Secours Hospital, Crittenton Hospital, Alpena General Hospital, North Oakland Medical Center, Hutzel Hospital, William Beaumont Hospital, Borgess Medical Center, Providence Hospital, Newborn Nurse Professionals of SE Michigan
Publications
8/2004 American Optometric Association, "Medicare Compliance Manual"
6/2003 Health Care Weekly, "The Sword and the Shield - Using and Surviving Litigation in Long-Term Care"
12/2002 American Optometric Association, "HIPAA Compliance Manual"
10/2002 Optometry, "The Modified HIPAA Privacy Rule: Final"
9/2002 Optometry, "Privacy Rule Offers Limited Data Set Options"
8/2002 Optometry, "Dipping Into The HIPAA Question Box"
7/2002 Optometry, "Getting to the HIPAA Finish Line on Time and In Control"
6/2002 Optometry, "Decide Now Whether to File for Extension on HIPAA EDI Compliance"
5/2002 Optometry, "HIPAA - the Government's Work in Progress"
5/2002 Optometry, "Proposed Privacy Rule Changes"
8/2001 Optometry, "HIPAA Privacy Rules: What They Are and What They Mean For Optometrists"
9/1996 Health Care Records Retention Manual, State Bar of Michigan - Contributor
7/1996 Michigan Psychiatric Society Newsletter, "What Should You Do If the Professional Licensing Ax Falls On You?"
2/1996 Podiatric Profiles, "What Should You Do If the Professional Licensing Ax Falls On You?"
1/1996 The Michigan Optometrist, "What Should You Do If the Professional Licensing Ax Falls On You?"
Oakland County Medical Society, "What Should You Do If the Professional Licensing Ax Falls On You?"
Professional Associations
Ms. Lax is active in many organizations related to health care law and adoptions and surrogacy law. These include:
State Bar of Michigan (1978 - present)
Health Care Law Section
2007-2008: Secretary, Health Care Law Section
2005-2008: Member Health Care Law Section Council
2004-2005: Chair, Provider Subcommittee of the Substantive Law Committee
2003-2004: Co-chair, Technology Subcommittee of the Substantive Law Committee
Family Law Section
Adoption Law Subcommittee
Michigan Association of Homes and Services for the Aging
2004-2005 Member, Professional Development Committee
American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging
2006-2009 Member, Core Legal Committee
American Health Lawyers Association.
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