His area of focus involves corporate and regulatory health care matters, including Stark and Anti-kickback and False Claims Act compliance, facility and professional licensure matters, HIPAA, physician practice formation, joint venture arrangements, mergers and acquisitions, certificate of need issues, Medicare and third-party audits and investigations, corporate compliance and contract negotiations. Howard represents a variety of health care clients including: hospitals, surgery centers, clinical labs, physician practices, medical staffs, nursing homes, academic medical centers, imaging centers, and other health care providers.

Howard serves as the firm’s Chief HIPAA Compliance Officer to oversee the development, implementation, maintenance of, and adherence to privacy policies and procedures regarding the safe use and handling of protected health information (PHI) in compliance with federal and state regulations.

He is the current President of the Alabama Bar Health Law section serving a 3 year term. The Health Law section focuses on the interface between law and health care, including various state and federal issues such as Medicare fraud and abuse, payment problems, merger and acquisition of health care entities, antitrust, fiscal management, peer review, provider malpractice, individual rights and Supreme Court actions.

Howard is the author of Legal Strategies for Health Care Providers, published by Aspatore Books in 2005, co-author of Legal Guide for Physicians in Alabama, published by the Medical Association of the State of Alabama in 2000, revised in 2002, and is a regular writer for the Birmingham Medical News. Howard is also a frequent speaker on various health care topics both locally and nationally.

Burr & Forman LLP

Burr & Forman’s experienced legal team serves clients with local, national, and international legal needs. With particular industry strengths in the financial institutions, health care and manufacturing sectors, our attorneys draw from a diverse range of backgrounds and experience to serve as trusted business advisors and legal counsel to help clients achieve their goals. Burr & Forman is a Southeast, regional firm with 360 attorneys and 19 offices in Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

We invest our time and talents in our Clients, Colleagues and Communities. It is not just hard work, knowledge and experience that are integral to the quality and delivery of our legal services, it is also a diverse, creative and forward thinking approach that enables us to achieve exceptional results that matter:

• To our Clients. We learn our clients’ businesses, how they think and what they need. We keep up with industry and legal trends in order to adapt to the challenges of the present and future needs of the clients we serve.
• To our Colleagues. We mentor our associates and support each other, bringing a tradition of shared purpose and vision as leaders in our ever-changing profession.
• To our Communities. We serve as volunteers and leaders to improve the quality of the legal profession and the quality of life enjoyed in our communities.