
Rachel’s practice involves a variety of regulatory, compliance, and transactional matters for a broad range clients across the health care industry, including health care systems, managed care organizations, pharmacies, device and pharmaceutical manufacturers, long-term and post-acute care providers, and private equity firms investing in the health care industry.
Rachel combines her industry knowledge and her deep understanding of the complex legal frameworks regulating the health care industry to provide her clients with practical, strategic guidance that supports innovation and business objectives. She is particularly well versed in the federal anti-kickback statute, the Stark Law, state fraud and abuse laws, beneficiary inducement prohibitions, provider-based rules, Medicare and Medicaid program requirements, and the federal Physician Payments Sunshine Act. She routinely advises clients on the legal, practical, and fraud and abuse implications of business arrangements and sales and marketing practices.
Rachel regularly assists with implementing effective health care compliance programs for clients in various health care sectors, including managed care organizations, health systems, and pharmaceutical manufacturers, to name a few. She has assisted both with developing brand new compliance programs for health care companies just starting out and maturing existing compliance programs to support health care companies’ efforts to expand. During a three-month secondment from Mintz, she also served as the interim chief compliance officer for a nonprofit managed care organization that offers Medicaid, Medicare Advantage, and Marketplace health plans.
On the transactional side, Rachel frequently serves as health care regulatory counsel in both M&A transactions and private equity investments, involving managed care organizations, pharmacies, and a range of health care providers. She has experience in complex due diligence, contracting matters, identifying fraud and abuse risks, and advising on regulatory issues relevant to the target.
Previously, Rachel was a compliance attorney with Sentara Healthcare, a health care system with 12 acute care hospitals and more than 300 sites of care in Virginia and North Carolina. Focusing on the physician contracting process, Rachel developed strategic solutions to operational problems and provided legal support for compliance issues across the system. Her in-house experience informs her pragmatic, business-savvy counsel to health care industry clients.
An active member of the American Bar Association’s Health Law Section, Rachel assisted in drafting several revisions to the group’s reference guide, Health Care Fraud and Abuse: Practical Perspectives, and organized and moderated a panel of senior government attorneys for an ABA networking event. She is frequently invited to speak on health care compliance and other health law matters. She is also a frequent contributor to the firm’s Health care Viewpoints.
Education
- William and Mary Law School (JD)
- University of Tennessee (BA)
Experience
- Served as the Interim Chief Compliance Officer at CareSource, an Ohio managed care organization offering Medicaid, Medicare, and Marketplace plans.
- Acted as special counsel for the initial public offering of Blued, China’s largest LGBT dating app and surrogacy facilitator.
- Represented a health care provider in a self-disclosure to CMS for potential Stark Law violations.
- Represented a health care provider under investigation by the Department of Justice for alleged violations of the anti-kickback statute and Stark Law.
Recognition & Awards
- Recognized by The Legal 500 United States for Healthcare: Service Providers (2021)
Involvement
- Member, American Health Lawyers Association (2011-present)
- Member, Health Law Section, American Bar Association (2016-present)
- Vice Chair, Health Law Committee of the Young Lawyers Division, American Bar Association (2017-2018)
- Member, Health Care Compliance Association (2014-2016)
Viewpoints
OIG Issues Favorable Opinion on Federally Qualified Health Center’s Smartphone Loan Program
May 6, 2022 | Blog | By Rachel Yount, Jean D. Krebs
OIG Approves Physician-Owned Medical Device Company
April 28, 2022 | Blog | By Rachel Yount
OIG Issues Another Favorable Advisory Opinion on Treatment-Based Patient Incentives
March 15, 2022 | Blog | By Rachel Yount
OIG Approves Online Retailer’s Discount Program
January 25, 2022 | Blog | By Rachel Yount
Removing Barriers to Second Chances
January 24, 2022 | Article
OIG Reiterates its Longstanding Concern about Joint Ventures between Health Care Providers/Suppliers and Referral Sources
December 1, 2021 | Blog | By Rachel Yount
OIG Revises and Renames the Provider Self-Disclosure Protocol
November 10, 2021 | Blog | By Karen Lovitch, Rachel Yount
OIG Issues Favorable Advisory Opinion on Hospital’s Warranty Program for Joint Replacement Procedures
September 20, 2021 | Blog | By Rachel Yount
PhRMA Updates its Code on Interactions with Health Care Professionals in Response to the OIG's Special Fraud Alert on Speaker Programs
August 17, 2021 | Blog | By Rachel Yount, Cody Keetch, Joe Ort
The changes to the PhRMA Code are undoubtedly in response to a November 16, 2020, Special Fraud Alert from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General (OIG), on “fraud and abuse risks associated … speaker programs.” (For additional information on the OIG’s Special Fraud Alert, please see our November 25, 2020 blog post.) Speaker programs are a common practice in the industry and generally entail pharmaceutical and medical device companies retaining health care professionals (HCPs) to speak or present to educate their peers on the companies’ drugs or devices.
Combatting Patient Leakage by Directing Physician Referrals: What is Permitted under the Stark Law?
July 29, 2021 | Blog | By Karen Lovitch, Rachel Yount
To the contrary, the Stark Law actually permits directed referral requirements, provided that certain conditions are met. CMS recently enacted changes to the Stark Law regulations, effective January 19, 2021, that provide additional clarity on how health care providers can permissibly use directed referral requirements. These recent changes have seemingly triggered new awareness and interest in how health care systems can utilize directed referral requirements to combat patient leakage.
News & Press
How New Kickback Rules Benefit Health Care Industry: Part 1
December 18, 2020
How New Kickback Rules Benefit Health Care Industry: Part 2
December 18, 2020
Events
Reducing Patient Leakage by Directing Physician Referrals, AKS Safe Harbors, and Stark Law Exceptions
Strafford
Online Event

HHS’s Holiday Gift to the Health Care Industry: Historic Changes to the Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark Law Regulations
View the Webinar Recording
