Karen C. Owens

Karen represents health care systems, hospitals, clinics, and other providers in matters of quality management, medical staff credentialing and peer review, medical staff structures, bylaws and confidentiality, as well as National Practitioner Data Bank, state professional board, and other government reporting. She also regularly assists health care providers with state licensure and Medicare certification, survey compliance, Joint Commission accreditation, EMTALA compliance, patient consent, end-of-life, and many other regulatory matters touching clinical operations. Karen advises health care clients in antitrust, contracting, negligent credentialing, and other disputes related to hospital/medical staff relationships. She has substantial experience handling contested matters before administrative bodies including hospital, surgery center and managed care peer review panels, Medicare QIOs, The Joint Commission, and many state professional boards and, when possible, resolving such matters short of hearing. Karen also regularly works with the firm’s litigators on litigation involving negligent credentialing, patient consent, end-of-life, and other issues within her expertise. Karen spends each spring immersed in state legislative issues affecting providers. In all these areas, Karen works with a wide range of providers including urban, academic, community, and rural hospitals, clinician practices, outpatient clinics, and surgery centers.

Representative Matters

• Counseling medical staff leaders on peer review procedures and options with respect to individual medical staff members.

• Handling medical staff hearings, appeals, litigation, settlement and state and federal reporting; Karen has represented medical staff leadership in in more than thirty peer review hearings.

• Developing, drafting, and revising medical staff bylaws and associated policies and manuals .

• Helping health care institutions respond to surveys and deficiency statements from state, federal, and private agencies; assisting in plans of correction and dispute resolution statements; representing clients in penalty negotiations

• Helping health care institutions obtain state licenses and interpret licensure regulations.

• Advocacy work on regulatory and legislative developments.

• Representing individual physicians, nurses and other providers in professional board matters.

Publications & Speeches

• Co-author, CONSENT AND HEALTH INFORMATION RESOURCE MANUAL, Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association 2009 and 2014 edition

• Co-editor, HIPAA TOOLKIT, Coppersmith Schermer & Brockelman PLC, 2013 edition

• “Peer Review in the Courtroom: How a Jury and Judge View the Work of the Medical Staff and Your Medical Staff Services Office,” National Association of Medical Staff Services presentation (October, 2015)

• “Medical Staff Law: Two Important Developments,” Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association presentation (July 2015)

• Topics for Graduating Nurse Practitioners, University of Phoenix School of Nursing presentation (February 2015)

• “Credentialing and Ongoing Peer Review: Roles and Responsibilities:” Presentation for Board/Medical Staff Leaders Workshop (December 2014)

• “2013 Arizona Department of Health Services Hospital Rules: Compliance Highlights,” Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association presentation (September 2013)

• ”Hospital-Employed Physicians: How Medical Staffs are Coping with the New Reality,” American Health Lawyers Association Annual Meeting presentation (July 2013)

• Presenter, “Peer Review - Investigation -- Corrective Action - Reporting: An Overview,” Hospital Executive Committee and Governing Board meetings (Sep. and Dec. 2018)

• Presenter, “Medical Staff Matters and Arizona Law and Regulations,” Hospital System Leadership Retreat (Oct. 2018)

• Co-presenter, “Legal Issues in Transgender Healthcare,” American Health Lawyers Association Annual Meeting (June 2018)

• Presenter, “What You Need to Know about the Suspension of Medical Staff Privileges,” Arizona Association of Medical Staff Services (Apr. 2018)

• Presenter, “Medical Staff Tools for Addressing Disruptive Physician Conduct,” Hospital Medical Executive Committee meeting (Feb. 2018)

• Presenter, “Peer Review, Negligent Credentialing, and Effective Committee Minutes,” Hospital System Medical Staff Services Professionals Learning Day (Nov. 2017)

• Presenter, “Credentialing and Ongoing Peer Review: Roles and Responsibilities,” Hospital and Medical Staff meeting (Oct. 2017)

• Presenter, “ACA Section 1557’s Anti-Discrimination Provisions: Alive & Placing Obligations on Providers, Insurers, and Health Care Employers,” Arizona Society of Healthcare Lawyers (Aug. 2017)