Legal software firm gets boost under new leadership
A prominent law firm started a software company in 2007, but it grew fairly slowly until an outsider came in two years ago and revamped the operation.
Hall Render Killian Heath & Lyman PC
Articles
Buyer of mostly vacant office complex scores 3 tenants
After buying 500 N. Meridian in June, Ambrose Property Group has snagged three major tenants from OneAmerica Tower.
Hall Render opens Denver, Philly offices
Indianapolis-based Hall Render Killian Heath & Lyman PC, one of the nation’s largest health care law practices, has expanded by opening offices in Denver and Philadelphia.
Company news
A feed additive for animals made by Greenfield-based Elanco Animal Health sparked two federal lawsuits last week filed by environmental and public health groups against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. According to Reuters, the suit seeks to reverse the FDA’s recent approvals of products containing ractopamine that are used to boost the weight of […]
People
R. Graham Cooks, a professor of chemistry at Purdue University, has been awarded the biennial Dreyfus Prize for advancements in mass spectrometry. Cooks will receive $250,000 and a medal. Cooks created a new way to analyze chemicals in their natural environment, without having to put them in a vacuum tube. The technique allowed for chemical analysis of fingerprints at crime scenes, and was incorporated into the storyline of an episode of the TV show "CSI: Miami" in 2008.
Julie Lappas has joined Hall Render Killian Heath & Lyman’s Indianapolis office, helping health care providers comply with federal and state anti-kickback, privacy and licensure laws. Lappas previously worked as a sales representative at Eli Lilly and Co., before earning her law degree at The George Washington University Law School. She also holds a bachelor’s from Indiana University.
People
Kerry Dinneen has been promoted to vice president of major gifts from major gifts officer for Eskenazi Health Foundation, the fundraising arm of the Eskenazi Health hospital and health system. She previously worked in employee relations and human resources at Cummins Inc. and as director of human resources for the International Group. Dinneen holds a bachelor’s degree in history and cultural studies from Princeton University and a master’s in public and private management from Yale University.
OurHealth, an Indianapolis-based operator of employer-based health clinics, has hired Robert Renihan as operations manager. He previously worked for Novia CareClinics as a practice administrator and at WFHB Firehouse Broadcasting as an audio engineer. Renihan holds a bachelor’s degree in telecommunications from Indiana University.
Attorney Robert Markette Jr. has joined the Indianapolis office of law firm Hall Render Killian Heath & Lyman. He focuses on representing home health, hospice and private duty health care providers. Markette holds a bachelor’s degree from Hanover College and a law degree from Indiana University Maurer School of Law.
People
Mark Dahlby has joined Indianapolis-based health care law firm Hall Render Killian Heath & Lyman as an associate attorney. Dahlby counsels health care providers, medical-device manufacturers and other life sciences clients on regulatory and compliance issues, as well as on transactions. Dahlby holds a bachelor’s from the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse and earned his law degree at the University of Wisconsin Law School.
The Indianapolis-based regulatory consultancy Anson Group has added Gregory Davis as a principal regulatory consultant. Davis, whose expertise is in biosimilar drugs, earned his doctorate in analytical chemistry from Purdue University.
Company news
Indiana University Health Morgan Hospital in Martinsville stopped delivering babies on Friday and instead will direct pregnant women to IU Health Bloomington Hospital, which is a 30-minute drive farther south. In 2012, only 3 percent of deliveries at Bloomington Hospital were for moms from Morgan County. But IU Health made the change because the hospital in Martinsville was delivering only 218 of the 1,200 annual births in Morgan County, according to an evaluation by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. The group recommends a hospital have at least 300 births in order to continue its obstetrics program. The change is also being made because many of the women seeking obstetric services at IU Morgan are high-risk patients and the hospital does not have the facilities to serve them, said Amy Wozniak, IU Health Morgan's director of public relations, in a statement. IU Health Bloomington Hospital delivers about 1,900 babies each year. “We understand this affects our community as well as some IU Health Morgan Hospital employees. We believe, however, that this decision is best for our patients,” said Doug Puckett, CEO of IU Health Morgan Hospital.
Indianapolis-based Hall Render Killian Heath & Lyman PC, the nation’s largest health-care-focused law firm, has officially launched a pharmacy practice. Though the practice area is new, several lawyers within the firm have used their pharmacy-related knowledge and experience to serve clients for several years, said John Hall, the firm’s president and managing partner. The lawyers typically counsel retail and mail-order pharmacies, hospitals and long-term-care providers on a variety of issues: regulatory compliance and enforcement support, development and maintenance of compliance programs, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, private-payer reimbursement, fraud and abuse, and litigation. Hall Render’s pharmacy practice is led by Susan Bizzell, a shareholder of the firm, and is the latest addition to the firm's more than 60 health-care-related specialties. The pharmacy practice consists of about 10 lawyers. With 97 local attorneys, Hall Render is ranked as the city’s seventh-largest law firm, according to IBJ’s most recent statistics.
Indianapolis-based Pearl IRB LLC, a life sciences consultancy operating as Pearl Pathways, announced Jan. 29 that it plans to add 38 jobs by 2016 as part of a $355,000 expansion. The company, in Indiana University’s Emerging Tech Center near the Central Canal, will use the investment to lease and equip a 2,000-square-foot facility at 29 E. McCarthy St. Pearl Pathways plans to move in March and is hiring additional regulatory-affairs, quality-compliance and clinical-trial specialists. The Indiana Economic Development Corp. said it will provide Pearl Pathways up to $750,000 in performance-based tax credits and up to $75,000 in training grants based on the company's job-creation plans. Founded in 2010 by former Eli Lilly and Co. employees Diana Caldwell and Gretchen Miller Bowker, Pearl Pathways provides research and product development services for drug, biologic and medical device companies.
Zimmer Holdings Inc. predicted revenue and profit will pick up steam in 2013 after its fourth-quarter profit fell 2 percent due to large accounting charges. The Warsaw-based maker of orthopedic implants said it expects revenue to grow this year 2.5 percent to 4.5 percent, when adjusted for foreign currency fluctuations. It expects earnings per share, excluding special charges, to range between $5.65 and $5.85. Those results would mark growth of 7 percent to 10 percent over last year’s adjusted earnings per share of $5.30. In the fourth quarter, Zimmer’s reduced profits still beat estimates of Wall Street analysts. Zimmer earned $152.8 million, or 88 cents per share, in the quarter. The company took a $96 million charge to write down the value of its U.S. spine business, which it says is pressured by lower utilization and lower prices. Excluding that charge and $69 million in other special charges, Zimmer would have earned $1.51 per share. Analysts expected $1.49, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters. For all of 2012, Zimmer’s profit fell 1 percent, to $755 million, from the previous year. Excluding special charges, the company would have earned $932.5 million, an increase of 3 percent. Revenue totaled $4.47 billion, virtually unchanged. Wall Street analysts have said 2013 could be a “breakout” year for Zimmer, which has suffered through several years of slow growth. However, they also worry the company is more exposed than its peers to changes coming in 2014 from the U.S. Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act. Zimmer shares have risen 23 percent in the past 12 months.
Law firm adds pharmacy practice
Hall Render Killian Heath & Lyman will draw on existing expertise within the firm to create the 10-member group.
People
Dr. Elizabeth Nowacki, an obstetrician and gynecologist, has joined the medical staff at St. Vincent Medical Center Northeast in Fishers. Nowacki earned her bachelor’s in biology from Grinnell College in Iowa and a master’s degree in physiology and biophysics from the Indiana University School of Medicine. She received her medical degree from the Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Before joining St. Vincent, Nowacki practiced at Hancock Regional Hospital in Greenfield.
Dr. Cynthia Seffernick, an obstetrician and gynecologist, has joined the medical staff at St. Vincent Medical Center Northeast in Fishers. She received her bachelor’s in biology from the University of Toledo and her medical degree from the Medical College of Ohio in Toledo. Before joining St. Vincent, Seffernick practiced at Dearborn County Hospital in Lawrenceburg.
Attorney Ellen Chambers has joined Hall Render Killian Heath & Lyman’s Indianapolis office, focusing on health care providers. She holds a bachelor’s from Iowa State University, a master’s of health administration from the University of Iowa, and a law degree from the University of Iowa College of Law.
Attorney Joel Swider has joined Hall Render Killian Heath & Lyman’s Indianapolis office, focusing on contracts, transactions and taxes for hospitals and physicians. He holds a bachelor’s from the University of Virginia and earned his law degree from Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law.
Attorney Drew Howk has joined Hall Render Killian Heath & Lyman’s Indianapolis office, practicing health care litigation. He holds a bachelor’s from Wabash College and a law degree from the Saint Louis University School of Law.
Gwen O’Malley has been named primary care executive director at Community Physician Network. She was previously practice director for the physician network. O’Malley has a bachelor’s from St. Mary of the Woods College and a master’s from Indiana University. Before coming to Community in 2010, she was director of operations for specialty care at St. Francis Medical Group.
People
Dr. Kristina Whitesell, a pediatrician, has established a practice with Franciscan Physician Network Heartland Crossing Pediatrics in Camby. Whitesell earned her medical degree at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and also earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota.
Indianapolis law firm Hall, Render, Killian, Heath & Lyman has hired attorney Janelle McIntyre as part of its Indianapolis litigation group. McIntyre completed her undergraduate studies at Indiana University and earned her law degree at IU McKinney School of Law.
After nearly 30 years as an attorney at Indianapolis law firm Riley, Bennett & Egloff, Mary Reeder has accepted a position as in-house general counsel at Reid Hospital & Health Care Services in Richmond.
Victor Vinci has joined Bloomington-based Cook Pharmica as chief scientific officer. Prior to joining Cook, Vinci worked many years at Eli Lilly and Co. in Indianapolis. He also spent six years at Merck & Co. Inc. He holds a master’s degree and a doctorate in microbiology from The Ohio State University. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and microbiology from Bowling Green State University.
People
Hall, Render, Killian, Heath & Lyman PC named attorney John Williams as the head of its new federal legislative and regulatory advisory advocacy practice. The Indianapolis-based health law firm also named two of-counsel attorneys to the practice: Andrew Woods and Andrew Coats, both of whom are also part of the Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm Liberty Partners Group. Williams holds degrees from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and George Mason University School of Law. Woods completed his undergraduate studies at North Carolina State University and earned his law degree at University of North Carolina School of Law. Coats, the son of U.S. Sen. Dan Coats, holds a bachelor’s degree from James Madison University and a law degree from Indiana University.
Dr. Keith Knuth has joined the faculty of the Indiana University School of Medicine Department of Ophthalmology at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Eye Institute. He will see patients at the Glick Eye Institute’s Spring Mill and Mooresville locations. Knuth earned a bachelor’s degree from Purdue University and completed his medical degree at the IU School of Medicine. He also holds an MBA degree from Butler University.
Tony Origer, a chiropractic physician, is now seeing patients two days a week at the Carmel office of Methodist Sports Medicine / The Orthopedic Specialists. Origer is continuing to manage his practice, Performance Chiropractic & Sports Rehabilitation, in Greenwood. Origer did his chiropractic training at Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa. He has done work for the Indianapolis Indians, as well as the athletic teams at the University of Indianapolis and Franklin College.
2012 Forty Under 40: John P. Ryan
John Ryan, 39, started with Hall Render Killian Heath & Lyman P.C. straight out of Indiana University law school and took only 12 years to ascend to president and managing partner of the Indianapolis-based law firm.
Hall Render is country’s second-largest health care law firm
The Indianapolis-based firm has held the rank the past three years and has been listed among the top-five health care firms since 2004.
Q&A
Angela Smith, an attorney for hospitals and physicians at Indianapolis-based Hall Render Killian Heath & Lyman P.C., spoke about Medicare’s value-based purchasing program, a federal initiative that will attempt to shift health care payments from the fee-for-service model to one based on health outcomes. On July 1, hospitals began being scored on their performance in 13 categories, including processes, patient outcomes and patient satisfaction surveys. How hospitals score could boost or diminish all their Medicare payments by as much as 1 percent, beginning in October 2012.
People
Indianapolis-based Northwest Radiology Network P.C. has hired Dr. Marc Underhill, a graduate of Boston College and the Indiana University School of Medicine. He most recently was an interventional radiology fellow at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
Northwest Radiology also hired Dr. Vincent Flanders, a graduate of the University of South Florida and the Duke University School of Medicine. He recently completed a fellowship in interventional radiology and abdominal imaging at Harvard Medical School’s Massachusetts General Hospital.
Indianapolis-based Hall Render Killian Heath & Lyman P.C. hired associate attorney Jarrod A. Malone, whose practice focuses on professional liability defense for dentists, physicians, hospitals and lawyers. Malone is a graduate of the IU School of Law in Indianapolis.
Medicare rules hammer hospitals, docs
Being an accountable care organization will be the major leagues of health care after the federal Medicare program set a high bar for the new kind of doctor-hospital organization.
Company news
In a deal with Eli Lilly and Co., New York-based Advion BioSciences Inc. will open a 22,000-square-foot drug discovery bioanalytical laboratory in May at the Purdue Research Park in Indianapolis. Lilly, the Indianapolis-based drugmaker, will move its own drug-discovery bioanalytical operations to Advion as part of the partnership and retain some oversight. The lab initially will employ 49 people and could ramp up to 66 workers by 2015. Lilly expects 26 employees to lose their jobs but will be able to apply for limited positions within Lilly or at Advion’s Indianapolis lab. Advion will focus on earlier-stage, drug-discovery bioanalytical services, which evaluate how a potential new medicine is absorbed and metabolized in experimental models. Many of the activities performed at the lab are required for the preparation of a molecule’s entry into human testing. Indiana Economic Development Corp. offered Advion up to $650,000 in performance-based tax credits and up to $30,000 in training grants based on the company's job-creation plans. Develop Indy will provide additional training funding and support property-tax abatement from the city of Indianapolis.
Hall, Render, Killian, Heath & Lyman added 24 attorneys last year as the health reform law generated a wave of legal work for its clients. Of those new hires, four were added to Hall Render’s headquarters office in Indianapolis, with the rest spread among the firm’s offices in Milwaukee, Louisville and Troy, Mich. Hall Render already had the second-most health care attorneys of any firm in the nation, according to a ranking published in June 2010 by Modern Healthcare magazine. Hall Render now has more than 150 attorneys who are members of the American Health Lawyers Association. The firm with the most health attorneys last year was Atlanta-based King & Spalding, with 229.
Judge’s ruling raises uncertainty for health care execs
After a federal judge in Florida struck down the entire health reform law, investors shrugged. But the uncertainty for executives in health care companies increased.
Law affects hospitals with doctor-held debt
Health care reform put strict limits on physician-owned hospitals, but it seems the law also restricts hospitals that have physician-owned debt.