Partner Profile: Julie Meadows-Keefe July 23, 2012

We had the opportunity to sit down with one of our consultants, Julie Meadows-Keefe. Julie provides strategic guidance to Uber Operations on HIPAA and HITECH, specifically related to data integration,privacy and information exchange.

How did you become interested in Healthcare law?
I was interested in healthcare law from the beginning. I started my law practice defending physicians in malpractice cases and the aspect of that I enjoyed was learning so much about the standards of care in medical practice. Now, having shifted over to HIPAA/HITECH compliance, what is so interesting about it now is how fast moving it is. So much change is going on in healthcare delivery systems with the recent Affordable Care Act decision and the HITECH dollars that has streamed to providers to digitize their records.. It’s moving so fast and many providers and others don’t understand how the changes apply to them. . I enjoy talking about it and educating patients and professionals.

What do you think that people should understand about the Health Care industry?
At the heart of all of it is trying to make the system more efficient for people. This includes delivering care more efficiently and effectively, providing treatments that are most likely to help, aggregating and compiling data, and facilitating communication between different healthcare providers. This will all provide better and quicker healthcare and safety for patients. In order for patients and providers to trust the technology, privacy and security have become even more crucial.

What are some skills a lawyer needs to be involved in healthcare?
A lawyer needs to be conversant with technology and its relationship to healthcare. If a lawyer wants to succeed in a healthcare practice, he or she should seek to understand legal aspects of technology and compliance. Knowing about technology in law can set you apart. It’s important for lawyers today to have an entrepreneurial spirit.

What do you think are some important entrepreneurial skills?
Think about other things to do with your degree. Market your brand. It’s important to analyze issues and be able to argue both sides. Think about the future of law. Develop your niche. Think outside the traditional box.

About Julie Meadows-Keefe
Julie Meadows-Keefe was born in Sarasota, FL and is a native Floridian. She graduated in 1990 from Stetson University in Deland, Florida, with a BA in political science. She then graduated from Florida State University College of Law in 1993. Ms. Meadows-Keefe’s first position after law school graduation was defending physicians involved in medical malpractice litigation. She continued in private practice until 2001, when she joined the Florida Department of Health as Assistant General Counsel, where she headed the nursing prosecution section. She was promoted to Chief Legal Counsel in 2005 and in that capacity provided legal guidance to many divisions including the Institutional Review Board, the Office of Statewide Public Health Research, the Office of Public Health Nursing, eleven county health departments and Children’s Medical Services, the statewide managed care entity providing care to low income children with special health care needs. Since 2008, she served as the HIPAA Privacy Officer for the Florida Department of Health where she had the responsibility for coordinating and assuring HIPAA compliance for 67 county health departments and clinics. She has served on state and national Health Information technology work groups as a statewide privacy expert. She also served as the Ethics Officer and Public Records coordinator for the Department. Ms. Meadows-Keefe also performed extensive legislative analysis on bills affecting the department of health.

Julie’s current practice is with a law firm in Tallahassee where she focuses on practitioner defense and compliance issues, with a strong emphasis on HIPAA/HITECH. Julie is passionate about educating providers pro-actively to help keep them ahead of the curve in the rapidly-evolving area of health care technology, health care licensure and privacy. She is available to assist practices in reviewing their compliance policies, and providing engaging and relevant HIPAA training. With an interest and expertise in social media, Julie can also assist providers with managing their reputations online and drafting social media policies for practices. She has presented at a local, state, regional and national level on professional licensure issues, open government, privacy and health information technology.

Julie on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/julie-meadows-keefe/9/836/b1