Lianne Ankner

Anker & Levy helps clients create and maintain the corporate structure necessary to operate businesses in the health care industry, and helps them to structure, negotiate, and document business transactions, including:

• Strategic Alliances, Joint Venture Arrangements and Other Types of Collaborative Arrangements
  • Regulatory risk analysis for joint venture parties
  • Negotiation of terms and conditions and letters of intent
  • Drafting and negotiating joint venture documents
• Sales/Acquisitions/Mergers
  • Regulatory due diligence and risk analysis
  • Drafting and negotiating transactional documents, including representations, compensation terms, conditions to closing, and restrictive covenants
• Disaffiliations, Separations and Unwinds
• Contractual Arrangements
  • Employment and independent contractor agreements, consulting contracts, medical director agreements, and other professional service agreements (including physician recruitment agreements), with focus on different compensation methodologies and performance metrics
  • Accountable Care Organization, Physician Hospital Organization and Independent Physician Association eligibility, formation, and participation agreements
  • Shareholder buy-sell agreements and shareholder and employee dispute settlement agreements
  • Management agreements, shared office space agreements, space and equipment leases, billing and collection agreements
  • Exclusive hospital-based services agreements
  • Third party payor contracts
  • Vendor and supplier agreements, including software and licensing agreements
• Formation of Start-Up and Affiliated Companies
  • Professional corporations
  • Limited liability companies
  • Business corporations
  • Limited liability partnerships
  • Non-profit organizations
• Governing Documents (Articles, Bylaws, Stockholders and Buy/Sell Agreements, and Operating Agreements)
• Medical Staff Bylaws
• Private Issuances of Securities
• Financings
  • Publicly offered tax-exempt bond financing
  • Tax-exempt capital leases
  • Pooled capital loans
  • Working capital loans and lines of credit
  • Venture capital
  • High-yield and senior debt
• Real Estate Matters

Ankner & Levy assists clients by analyzing the regulatory issues confronting their health care businesses, including in the following areas:

• HIPAA and Other Federal and State Privacy Laws
  • Privacy policies, procedures and forms
  • Compliance programs and audits
  • Breach analysis, notification and reporting
  • Ownership, use and sharing of data
  • Analysis of Part 2 (Substance Use Disorder) requirements
  • Risk analyses and self-assessments
  • Government investigations
• Health Care Fraud and Abuse (Federal and State)
  • Physician Self-Referral Law (Stark Law)
  • Anti-Kickback Law
  • False Claims Act
  • Unfair Trade Practices Act
  • Compliance programs and policies
• Licensure, Accreditation and Health Care Oversight
  • Federal and state payment program participation and opting-out
  • Facility regulation (initial surveys and licenses, determination of need, Health Policy Commission review, changes of ownership, statements of deficiencies)
  • Health care provider oversight (state boards of registration, prescription monitoring, professional organizations)
  • Accreditation compliance (Joint Commission and AAAHC standards)
  • Third party payor obligations and compliance
• Credentialing and Disciplinary Matters
  • Fair hearing processes
  • Peer review protections
• Tax-Exemption Matters
  • Formation of tax-exempt organizations
  • Application for tax-exempt status
  • Maintenance of tax-exempt status
• Digital Health and Telehealth
  • EHR system integration
  • Telehealth licensing requirements
  • Regulatory oversight of health-care related software and applications
• Patient Care Matters
  • Informed consent, patients’ rights, and medical records issues
  • Risk management of adverse events
  • Policy drafting and interpretation
• Other Regulatory Issues
  • State and federal incident reporting
  • Reimbursement Issues (including incident to rules, surprise billing and Medicare opt-out matters)

Anker & Levy assists healthcare organizations in the following areas of employment law:

• Auditing employment practices
• Consulting on personnel matters
  • Employee leaves of absence
  • Wage-hour issues
  • Termination of employment
  • Employee performance issues
  • Employee relations matters
• Discrimination and Harassment Prevention Training
• Drafting and Review of Employment Applications, Employment Agreements and Separation Agreements
• Drafting and Review of Employee Manuals and Policies
• Workplace Investigations

Founded in 2005, Ankner & Levy is a women-owned and operated boutique law firm specializing in helping clients in the health care industry. Since 2010 it has been recognized as a Chambers-ranked Healthcare Law Firm, and in 2021 it was recognized by U.S. News and World Report as a Massachusetts Tier 1 Healthcare Law Firm.

Ankner & Levy attorneys counsel our health care clients on a broad range of legal issues: business formation and maintenance, transactional matters (such as strategic alliances, acquisitions, mergers, joint ventures, affiliations and disaffiliations, contractual arrangements, leases and financings), regulatory matters (such as fraud and abuse, general corporate and regulatory compliance, governmental reporting, tax exemption requirements, licensing and accreditation), health information privacy, employment matters and patient care issues.

Ankner & Levy attorneys have been entrusted to handle the legal affairs for clients across the health care spectrum, including hospitals, single and multi-specialty physician group practices and individual physicians, life science and health technology companies, accountable care organizations, ambulatory surgery centers, clinics, behavioral health and other allied health providers, post-acute and long-term care providers, medical device and pharmaceutical companies, college and university health services and self-insured group health plans. Because Ankner & Levy focuses its practice on the health care industry, our attorneys understand the unique legal framework within which the health care industry operates, and the need for responsiveness when legal questions arise. Ankner & Levy attorneys also appreciate how critical it is for health care clients to keep their operational costs, especially legal costs, as reasonable as possible. Ankner & Levy was specifically created to accomplish these goals, and we have proven that exceptional and cost-effective legal services are not mutually exclusive.