Baker Donelson's Academic Medical Centers (AMCs) and Teaching Hospitals practice brings together an interdisciplinary team of lawyers to help organizations navigate the complexities of health care delivery, educational training, and clinical research. Housed within one of the leading health law practices in the country, our AMC practice offers a full range of services including:
Baker Donelson's Health Law practice brings together an interdisciplinary team of lawyers with the knowledge and experience to help academic medical centers and teaching hospitals navigate the complexities of health care delivery, reimbursement, regulatory compliance, and clinical research.
We regularly provide guidance and counseling related to structuring affiliations and funds flow arrangements between academic medical center components, obtaining graduate medical education (GME) payments, entering joint ventures, and navigating the numerous reimbursement and regulatory considerations that can arise in the context of pursuing the tripartite mission of teaching, research, and clinical care.
The Medicare program is the largest source of federal funding for resident education and teaching hospital missions, with aggregate estimated payments to teaching hospitals exceeding $12 billion per year. Understanding the complex regulations and requirements pertaining to Medicare GME payments is critical when providers and institutions of higher education partner to establish, operate, or expand residency programs.
Baker Donelson advises hospitals, academic medical centers, health systems, medical schools, and dental schools on Medicare GME payment rules and regulations. Our team counsels hospitals and affiliates starting new teaching programs, including how to navigate the rules for establishing their GME caps and per resident amounts (PRAs). We advise hospitals on the rules governing the transfer of temporary GME cap slots for displaced residents and applying for GME cap slots pursuant to Section 5506 of the ACA, Section 126 of the CAA, 2021, and Section 4122 of the CAA, 2023.
We also regularly represent providers in appeals involving GME, IME, and nursing and allied health payment issues before the Provider Reimbursement Review Board (PRRB) and in federal courts.
Our team of professionals focused on serving academic medical center clients has served in various leadership positions. Several of our shareholders have held positions in the American Health Law Association's Academic Medical Centers and Teaching Hospitals Practice Group, including chair and co-chair positions. We also have a shareholder who worked at the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) prior to joining Baker Donelson, and several of our attorneys have written articles and spoken extensively on graduate medical education issues and other AMC-related topics.