Industry

Hospitals and Health Systems

Strategic Counsel for Hospitals and Health Systems

Sheppard offers one of the nation’s most experienced hospital-focused legal teams, advising hospitals and health systems of every size.

We combine decades of regulatory and transactional experience with a practical understanding of how hospitals and health systems operate, compete and deliver care in today’s complex healthcare environment.

Comprehensive, Results-Focused Representation

Our counsel spans independent community hospitals, integrated health systems, academic medical centers, children’s hospitals, specialty hospitals and faith-based providers.

Sheppard Healthcare lawyers advise on transformative projects—including mergers and acquisitions, affiliations, physician integration strategies and population health initiatives—as well as value-based arrangements, managed care contracting, campus planning, financing and tax-exemption matters.

We also deliver daily operational support, guiding hospitals with respect to:

Federal and state regulatory compliance, including Stark and anti-kickback compliance
Licensure, accreditation and graduate medical education
Reimbursement and payor contracting
Artificial intelligence, data privacy and cybersecurity
Clinical research
Physician, employee and vendor contracts

Areas of Focus

We partner with clients to lead and close healthcare transactions with speed, certainty and a comprehensive understanding of all related business and regulatory issues. Named a Top 10 healthcare M&A firm by Healthcare M&A News in 2025, we have completed more than 120 health plan affiliations, 140 hospital M&A and joint ventures, and dozens of private equity transactions in recent years for clients ranging from regional hospitals and plans to the largest health systems and private investors in the nation.

Our regulatory work spans the full range of managed care and insurance regulations. We counsel on state and federal oversight, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and state agency interaction, product design, provider and vendor contracting market conduct, coverage determinations, utilization management and claims administration. With deep experience in Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, Part D and the ACA, we help clients navigate regulatory complexities swiftly and confidently. We advise plans on risk adjustment, quality programs, audits, marketing compliance and enforcement matters that require practical judgment and responsiveness. Many of our lawyers previously served in government, allowing us to offer clients insight into how agencies interpret and enforce regulatory requirements.

When the stakes are high, healthcare organizations trust us to protect their interests with bold advocacy and strategic problem-solving. Our team’s decades of courtroom and arbitration experience, combined with deep industry insight, enable us to resolve all types of disputes—from commercial disputes and business torts to regulatory enforcement actions to sensitive employment matters. We relentlessly pursue your goals, delivering creative, practical solutions that safeguard your future.

Accelerate transformation and capture value while minimizing risk. We are a proven leader regarding value-based arrangements, having completed more downstream global risk projects than any U.S. law firm. With our extensive real-world experience, clients can turn innovation into durable revenue and achieve better population health while minimizing enforcement risk.

We design, negotiate and implement alignment structures between health systems and physician groups that drive coordinated care while meeting strict regulatory requirements. Our experience spans California medical foundation models under Section 1206(l), integrated delivery systems (IDS), accountable care organizations (ACOs), clinically integrated networks (CINs), physician–hospital organizations (PHOs), co-management and professional services agreement (PSA) models, and service line joint ventures.

When government scrutiny intensifies, leading healthcare organizations turn to Sheppard for defense in complex False Claims Act (FCA) litigation. With experience in over 100 FCA matters and a team that includes more than a dozen former Assistant U.S. Attorneys, we deliver innovative strategies and proven results. We routinely secure declinations and favorable outcomes in cases involving kickbacks, upcoding, HCC coding, services not rendered, Stark Law and Medicare Part D fraud.

Sheppard advises health systems, providers and investors on complex healthcare and real estate transactions nationwide. We structure and execute joint ventures, acquisitions, financing (including sale-leasebacks), M&A and developments that navigate Stark, Anti-Kickback, tax and other regulatory constraints. Our integrated healthcare real estate team delivers efficient, compliant and commercially sound solutions that support growth, protect mission and drive long-term value.

Supporting one of the largest, fastest-growing multisector healthcare practices, we represent companies facing federal and state antitrust investigations and litigations. We provide pragmatic and strategic counseling to get transactions cleared and investigations closed quickly by antitrust enforcers. We help healthcare companies complete mergers, joint ventures, provider-network collaborations and other strategic initiatives while reducing antitrust exposure—structuring deals, managing HSR filing obligations and navigating clients through the antitrust review process, including the evolving landscape of state antitrust enforcement regimes.

Our award-winning healthcare privacy team includes former DHS Deputy GC, HHS/OCR investigator, a data breach book author, a former FBI Special Agent, EU data protection experts, and IAPP certified lawyers. Our team provides end-to-end support for data privacy and cybersecurity needs, from proactive privacy and data security counselling to incident response, regulatory investigations and civil litigation.

We guide healthcare organizations and technology companies through the legal complexities of telemedicine, AI and data-driven care. Our team delivers practical counsel to help companies build, protect and scale technology-enabled solutions, ensuring compliance and confident growth in a rapidly changing healthcare landscape.

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Sheppard empowers medical groups to thrive in a complex healthcare landscape. With decades of experience, we provide practical, responsive counsel on corporate, regulatory, and operational challenges. From structuring compliant models to guiding mergers and growth, our integrated approach helps physician groups navigate change, align with regulations, and achieve business goals—ensuring success in a competitive market.

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Experience

Orchestrated concurrent expansions for an academic health system, integrating acquisitions and affiliations to strengthen market presence and capacity, resulting in an additional 2,000 beds and eight hospitals and related assets.
Advised on a $4 billion ambulatory surgery center company acquisition across multiple states, obtaining licensing, certificate of need (CON), regulatory and antitrust approvals and navigating associated corporate restructuring, real estate, divestiture and litigation matters.
Advised an academic health system on a landmark affiliation with a financially distressed public hospital district, using a Joint Powers Authority structure to keep essential services available and reduce bankruptcy risk.
Secured a landmark $45 million settlement in a dispute over a failed hospital acquisition, ending years of litigation, providing vital capital, and clearing the path for the hospital’s future.
Transformed distressed healthcare assets into strategic value through a coordinated restructuring that navigated parallel bankruptcy, regulatory, and public scrutiny issues—showcasing cross‑disciplinary leadership.
Negotiated a system–payer renewal that avoided broad coverage disruption and aligned patient‑facing communications underscoring deep experience in managed care contracting and stakeholder engagement to secure reliable access for communities.

Hospitals and Health Systems

Comprehensive, Results-Focused Representation Our counsel spans independent community hospitals, integrated health systems, academic medical centers, children’s hospitals, specialty hospitals and faith-based providers.

Areas of Focus

Strategic Transactions

Healthcare Regulatory and Compliance

Healthcare Litigation and Government Enforcement Actions

Value-Based and Global Risk Arrangements

Health System–Physician Group Affiliations and Alignment Models

Healthcare False Claims Act Investigations and Litigation

Healthcare Real Estate

Healthcare Antitrust

Data Privacy and Security

Healthcare Technology & Innovation: Digital Health, AI and Telemedicine

Physician and Medical Groups

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Experience

Representative Matters

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Areas of Focus

Strategic Transactions

Healthcare Regulatory and Compliance

Healthcare Litigation and Government Enforcement Actions

Value-Based and Global Risk Arrangements

Health System–Physician Group Affiliations and Alignment Models

Healthcare False Claims Act Investigations and Litigation

Healthcare Real Estate

Healthcare Antitrust

Data Privacy and Security

Healthcare Technology & Innovation: Digital Health, AI and Telemedicine

Physician and Medical Groups

Experience

Representative Matters

Comprehensive, Results-Focused Representation

Our counsel spans independent community hospitals, integrated health systems, academic medical centers, children’s hospitals, specialty hospitals and faith-based providers.