Jessica A. Ellel

• Served as outside general counsel to physician practices throughout the region
• Successfully defended client against HIPAA complaint filed with the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights
• Negotiates exclusive contracts between physician practices and hospitals
• Assists medical practices with succession planning and cultivating strategies for maintaining an independent practice
• Assisted physician practice in securing support from a community hospital for recruitment arrangements for new physicians
• Drafted EMTALA policies and protocols for a community hospital
• Oversaw formation of a small non-profit corporation and assisted in the entity obtaining recognition as a tax-exempt entity by the IRS

• First Settlement is a Wake-Up Call for Business Associates Working With Health Care Providers
• New CMS Payment Models Imminent
• Rules on Returning Medicare Overpayment Finalized
• Executive Action Amends HIPAA: Allows More Reporting to Criminal Background Check System
• New Year, New Delays for ACA Reporting Requirements
• New DOJ Compliance Counsel Underscores Need for Compliance Plans
• Security Risk Analysis is Key to Passing Healthcare Audits
• New HIPAA Rule Bring Changes to Breach Notification Rules – Western Pennsylvania Healthcare News | 3.2013
• Incorporating hospitalists into your practice – Physician News Digest | 7.13.08
• Big Changes Coming for ASC Reimbursement – Allegheny County Medical Society Bulletin | 2.2008
• Pennsylvania Act 169: What Every Physician Needs to Know – Allegheny County Medical Society Bulletin | 10.2007

• University of Pittsburgh, J.D., Certificate of Health Law, Topics Editor for The Pittsburgh Journal of Technology Law and Policy
• Cornell University, B.S.

In order to navigate the complicated and ever-changing laws surrounding health care and your business, you need attorneys who understand your challenges. The Pittsburgh health care lawyers at Houston Harbaugh, P.C., have the knowledge and experience to help you manage everyday issues, as well as plan for the future.

We know the increased challenges tied to changes in regulations, insurance protocols, cost management and revenue management that you face. Houston Harbaugh has counseled thousands of doctors in Pennsylvania and throughout the nation on:

• Clinical trials and research compliance
• Compensation and reimbursement analysis
• Contract negotiations with hospitals and payors
• Employment contracts, labor, and human resources
• Federal and state regulatory compliance, including HIPAA, ACA, fraud and abuse
• Medical office real estate matters
• Medical staff, credentialing, disciplinary and peer review matters
• Medicare, Medicaid and third-party payor reimbursement and audits
• New practice start-up
• Physician buy-ins and buy-outs
• Physician joint ventures with hospitals and other health care entities
• Practice management issues
• Practice mergers, sales and acquisitions
• Professional licensure and disciplinary proceedings
• Restrictive covenant issues

The changing health care landscape has resulted in significant changes to all models of health care delivery. Our health law attorneys have worked with numerous hospitals and other provider entities in providing health law counsel, as well as business counsel, critical to supporting the operations of institutions in matters such as:

• Employment and labor law
• Federal and state regulatory compliance, including HIPAA, ACA, fraud and abuse
• General counsel, corporate governance, board support
• Licensing and regulatory approvals
• Merger, acquisitions, joint ventures, and other affiliations
• Physician matters, including credentialing, peer review, medical staff issues and provider contracts
• Risk management and corporate strategy
• Tax-exempt and non-profit matters

For 50 years – Houston Harbaugh has offered individualized solutions and the highest quality, client-driven and cost effective legal services. Houston Harbaugh, P.C., is a well-known law firm in Pittsburgh, serving Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio.

Our diverse practice areas include Business Law and M&A Transactions, Outside General Counsel Services and Corporate Transactional Work, Business Litigation, Estate and Succession Planning, Intellectual Property Litigation and Prosecution, Trade Secret Misappropriation (DTSA) Litigation, Employment and Labor Counseling and Litigation, Employee Benefits, Oil and Gas, Landowner and Property Dispute Counseling and Litigation, Health Care Counseling and Corporate work, Environmental Law, Real Estate, Construction, Complex Tort and Catastrophic Injury Litigation, Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Law, Mediation, Arbitration and Special Master appointment work. As one of the 20 largest law firms in Pittsburgh, our lawyers serve clients on a regional and national basis.

We regularly represent regional, national and international insurance carriers in defense, insurance coverage, unfair trade practices and bad faith matters, and we issue opinions letters and coverage analyses for insurers. We defend designers, manufacturers and sellers in pharmaceutical, products and medical products liability matters and we litigate and try cases involving catastrophic injuries, industrial accidents, toxic torts, professional, engineering and architectural negligence, and agent and broker claims and lawsuits.

The firm has also developed a strong, forward looking focus on legal issues that reflect the growing benefits and threats of a rapidly changing legal and business frontier due to high technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and alternative energy. We provide corporate counsel to clients and litigate for them in cutting edge areas related to data breach, cybersecurity, computer fraud and abuse act, UAS/UAV drone law, trade secret theft, DTSALaw®, patent prosecution and infringement litigation, AI, renewable energy, land use, employment restrictive covenants, and health care technology.