Rebecca L. Williams

Becky Williams, a registered nurse with hands-on health care experience, is the chair of the Health Information Technology/HIPAA Practice Group.

A nationally recognized authority on HIPAA and the HITECH Act, Becky focuses much of her practice on privacy, security, and health care regulatory issues. She counsels clients on health care privacy and security compliance (e.g., HIPAA, the HITECH Act and their state counterparts).She regularly works on structuring and developing processes and documentation for the electronic sharing of health information, health information exchange and electronic health record “provisioning donation”. Becky is a health care regulatory attorney who advises clients on anti-kickback, physician self-referral (e.g., the Stark Law), tax exemption, patient care, health care quality, governance and other health law issues. She also works on contracts and transactional matters.

Becky has written numerous publications, articles, briefings, chapters and other publications. She also is a contributing author to the Employee Benefits Institute of America’s HIPAA Portability, Privacy and Security Manual. Becky is a frequent national speaker and regularly quoted in national health law publications.

Practice Highlights

• Develops effective HIPAA compliance strategies and counsels health care provider and health plan clients, as well as health care vendors and TPAs, on addressing ongoing HIPAA issues
• Structures arrangements – and develops implementing documents such as contracts, terms of use, bylaws, policies and procedures – for electronically sharing health information
• Assists clients in responding to data breaches, including providing notification of such breaches and addressing mitigation efforts
• Represents hospitals and health systems in EHR provisioning, including providing physicians and hospitals with subsidized technology – often called EHR donations – to promote electronic data sharing in compliance with Anti-Kickback Statute, Stark Law and tax-exemption requirements
• Performs covered entity and business associate analyses and develops structures for complying with HIPAA
• Provides guidance with respect to risk analyses and risk management
• Develops privacy, security and breach notification policies and procedures and related documents, including notices of privacy practices and authorizations
• Drafts and negotiates business associate contracts from both a covered entity and business associate perspective
• Advises a variety of clients in addressing compliance issues, conducting internal investigations, and developing corrective action plans
• Creates innovative methods for alternative uses of health information, including quality reporting and promotion of research and public health
• Develops effective approaches in establishing and sharing information through personal health records and shared care plans
• Advises hospitals, health systems and others in the health care industry in resolving Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute issues including those arising out of organizational structures, physician relationships and vendor agreements
• Represents hospitals, health systems and other health care providers in procuring software and technology to support their electronic health records
• Counsels numerous health care clients in general regulatory, transactional and contract matters