Media Mentions
2011
“U.S. District Court Judge in Rhode Island Says Network Owes Fiduciary Duty to Nonprofit Hospital”
Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly, October 20, 2011
Christopher Jedrey, asserting that a recent court ruling leaves no doubt that there is fiduciary duty between health systems and nonprofit hospital subsidiaries, advised organizations “to make sure the ‘purposes clauses’ of the articles of organization of the subsidiaries say that they exist to support the system as a whole.” If that is done, he added, “The likelihood of a conflict of interest is low.”
“McDermott Advises Atrius Health on Integration of New Group Affiliate”
Healthcare Finance News, June 23, 2011
Christopher Jedrey, Charles Buck, Ashley Fischer and Carla Hine represented Atrius Health Groups in negotiations and regulatory approvals to add a sixth nonprofit community-based physician group. The transaction will make Atrius Health the largest physician-led health system in Massachusetts. The article noted that Chambers USA ranked McDermott as the only tier one US health law practice in 2011.
Charles Buck, Ashley McKinney Fischer, Carla A. R. Hine, Christopher M. Jedrey, Antitrust & Competition, Health
2010
“Hospitals after Healthcare Reform: ‘Big Guys Getting Bigger’”
Fortune, November 11, 2010
Christopher Jedrey stated that under the new healthcare reform law, “the costs of care risk to the providers” will be “way too much for most systems to bear alone.” The result, he said, will be “a lot more activity” involving consolidation of providers, which “will be big guys getting bigger.” Mr. Jedrey predicted that “you’ll see … changes in two directions. The percentage of for-profit hospitals will increase, and the non-profit sector will become more dominated by large systems. What will decrease will be the number of free-standing non-profits ….”
Christopher M. Jedrey, Health, Health Care Law Reform
“Caritas Says It Will Continue to Fund Workers’ Pensions”
Boston Business Journal, October 22, 2010
Christopher Jedrey, who represented nonprofit Caritas Christi Health Care system in its acquisition by a private equity firm, said that, while not required by law to fund its 13,000 pension plans, the system believes it “has a moral obligation” to arrange for funding because “these are their current and former employees.”
"Speakers: ACO Regulations Uncertain, But Providers Should Still Start Integrating"
BNA’s Health Care Daily Report, October 14, 2010
Christopher Jedrey discussed regulation of accountable care organizations (ACOs). ACOs are evaluated for Medicare reimbursement on overall cost and quality of care, and Mr. Jedrey noted that this will require hospitals and physicians to change their current fee-for-service model that rewards volume of services provided. That paradigm shift will change the financial incentives of these providers, moving them toward bundled and shared savings payments, he added. Although participation in an ACO is voluntary and under current rules there is no clear incentives for physicians to join one, Mr. Jedry said that in the new health reform environment providers “will be leaving a significant amount of money on the table” if they do not integrate with an ACO.
Christopher M. Jedrey, Health, Health Care Law Reform
Christopher Jedrey was quoted by The Wall Street Journal (August 16) in a story on increased private equity investments in the health care sector. Citing the fragmentation among health care providers when compared to insurers, Mr. Jedrey said acquisitions and other forms of consolidation show that the “provider side is bulking up to catch up with the payer side.” He added that private equity mergers and investments will help providers make technology investments and other performance enhancements required by the health reform law, such that the recent increase in consolidation is an “intensification of an existing pattern” toward cost saving.
Christopher M. Jedrey, Health, Hospital and Health System Transactions, Life Sciences & Medical Products
Daniel Melvin and Christopher Jedrey discussed in Healthcare Finance News (May 11) how the new health care reform law could impact consolidation in the provider sector. Mr. Melvin noted that “all of the costs and [provider] pay cuts” in the law "are going to change the rules of the game. Health reform is likely to mean the acceleration of consolidation." Mr. Jedrey stated that the law’s extension of coverage to millions more people means that "cost control will follow." This will spur consolidation, he said, because "the healthcare provider market is currently fragmented, causing duplications of overhead and services, creating more costly and sometimes sub-optimal care." Mr. Jedrey expects that physician groups and solo practices are less likely to be able to handle consolidation, to which Mr. Melvin added, "[W]e’re going to see clinical integration in healthcare, rather than full integration."
Christopher M. Jedrey, Daniel H. Melvin, Health, Life Sciences & Medical Products
Christopher Jedrey was quoted on May 7 by the Boston Globe concerning six Catholic hospitals in Boston that are being purchased by a private equity firm. Mr. Jedrey, who represented the hospitals, stated that “a primary public interest served by the transaction is that it will provide the resources necessary to transform a crucially important, but financially challenged, system into a financially sustainable, lower-cost, high-quality, community-based provider of hospital and other health care services in the Commonwealth.” He added that the hospitals, which had previously been operated as non-profits, will contribute substantial tax revenue as for-profit institutions while continuing to spend on free care for the uninsured and on community services.
Christopher M. Jedrey, Health, Hospital and Health System Transactions, Nonprofit Organizations
Christopher Jedrey and Daniel Melvin both spoke to BNA’s Daily Health Care Report (April 15) about the impact that the health care reform law’s lower reimbursement rates will have on hospitals. Mr. Jedrey said that the law has provisions that can “soften the blow” for hospitals that perform well on quality measures, but smaller hospitals and academic medical centers may lose their market share of payments to lower cost providers. "Hospitals that don’t control the flow of ‘at risk’ funds into the provider system will become vendors to those that do," he stated. Mr. Melvin noted that increased costs and reimbursement costs "will change the rules of the game" for ancillary service providers, adding that this will put pressure on such providers to make "strategic decisions" on whether to consolidate or to form partnerships, joint ventures or otherwise join higher paid primary care hospitals.
Christopher M. Jedrey, Daniel H. Melvin, Health, Health - General Counsel
Christopher Jedrey was interviewed February 24 by Health Leaders Media concerning the interaction between potential health reform legislation and ongoing consolidation in the health care industry. "Consolidation is ongoing on the provider and the insurer side, and will come from the cost and quality pressures that are driving reform legislation," Mr. Jedrey said. He noted that the last reform effort in the 1990s was a major driver for consolidation on the insurer side, and now believes that "the pendulum is swinging back" toward more consolidation among providers, both physicians and hospitals. "Providers are scrambling to catch up with the insurers to consolidate and achieve a similar level of cost efficiencies, particularly as physicians seek to participate in the value-based purchasing systems of hospitals," Mr. Jedrey stated, "and insurers are working collaboratively with the provider community to help realize their cost reduction goals."
Christopher M. Jedrey, Health, Health - Insurance
2009
Christopher Jedry was cited in April 2 press reports on Business Wire and M2 Presswire concerning his online seminar, "Foundation Model Proposal for a Hospital." The seminar presentation is viewable on computer or iPod, and offers innovative ideas and best practices for structuring such a proposal.
2008
Christopher M. Jedrey was selected for Nightingales Healthcare News' 2008 list of "Outstanding Hospital Lawyers," which appears in the July/August 2008 issue.
Christopher M. Jedrey, Academic Medical Centers, Health, Hospital and Health System Transactions
Christopher M. Jedrey was quoted in a January 25 article of Biotech Law Weekly in an article regarding the Dublin – Research and Markets video seminar with Mr. Jedrey focusing on the "Research and Markets: Understand the Strategy and Structure of Healthcare Transactions." The goal of the video seminar was to provide lawyers and executives with essential information about understanding the strategy and structure of healthcare transactions.
Christopher M. Jedrey, Health, Hospital and Health System Transactions
Christopher M. Jedrey was quoted in the January 2008 issue of ABI/INFORM in an article regarding community hospitals being clinically integrated. "A handful of recent FTC decisions offer more guidance for providers considering clinical integration. Providers need to demonstrate evidence of substantial commitment of staff and resources, shared electronic medical records, and incentives, such as enough shared financial risk. They also need to impose substantial penalties against outlier physicians who fail to embrace standardized best practices or improve the care they deliver. Providers need to convince the government that behavior will change," Mr. Jedrey said.
2006
Michael Anthony, Bobby Burchfield, Gordon Greenberg, Christopher Jedrey, Ray Lupo, Terry McMahon, Michael Pope, Richard Smith and Jeffrey Stone will be recognized in the fall edition of Lawdragon magazine on its annual survey of the top 500 lawyers in the United States, the Lawdragon 500.
Michael F. Anthony, Bobby R. Burchfield, Gordon A. Greenberg, Christopher M. Jedrey, Raphael V. Lupo, Terrence P. McMahon, Michael A. Pope PC, Richard W. Smith, Jeffrey E. Stone, Corporate, Health, Intellectual Property, Trial
Doug Mancino and Christopher Jedrey were quoted in the July 5 issue of Tax Notes Today in an article discussing reactions to a recent questionnaire the IRS sent to tax-exempt hospitals inquiring about compensation practices and how much community benefits provide. "While the questionnaire asks good questions, answering some of them calls for multifaceted responses that don’t lend themselves to easy yes-or-no answers," said Mr. Mancino. Chris Jedrey also mentioned that he thinks bad debt is often synonymous with charity care. "I understand why the IRS wants to treat them as separate and distinct. However, a lot of hospitals don’t see a ‘clear bright line’ between bad debt and charity care," Mr. Jedrey added.
Christopher M. Jedrey, Health, Tax Exemption
Chris Jedrey was quoted in the February 10 issue of The Boston Globe regarding electronic medical records. "Without electronic records, physicians will have difficulty performing in the future under insurance companies' pay-for-performance contracts," said Mr. Jedrey.
2005
Christopher Jedrey was quoted in the October 2005 issue of The Exempt Organization Tax Review in an analysis of the Internal Revenue Service's proposed regulations addressing intermediate sanctions. Mr. Jedrey said the proposed regulations "provide useful guidance on significant, but in practice rarely encountered, circumstances."
Christopher M. Jedrey, Health, Tax Exemption
2004
Christopher Jedrey was quoted in the October 4 edition of Modern Healthcare in an article regarding hospital mergers. "Back in the early '90s, hospital mergers were the big thing. The theory was: 'Let's just do it. You agree at the board level, merge a bunch of hospitals into a system and we'll just work out any transitional issues that develop in the future.' Well, they often didn't work."
Chris Jedrey was quoted in August 2004 edition of HealthLeaders in an article regarding the merger of four multispeciality groups in Massachusetts. Harvard Vanguard, Dedham Medical Associates, Southboro Medical Group and South Shore Medical Center merged in January under a proposed tax-exempt nonprofit patent corporation, HealthOne Care System, Inc. "This is not a '90s-style integration system brought together to beat on the payors," Mr. Jedrey commented. Instead, HealthOne is a collaborative effort that even the managed care companies embraced, said Chris. More feet under the negotiating table has upped reimbursement in Boston's "very competitive" market, he added.
Christopher M. Jedrey, Health, Tax Exemption
Christopher Jedrey was quoted in the June 21 issue of American Medical News in the article regarding four medical groups that have joined to become the largest physician-directed medical enterprise in the Boston area. Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, Dedham Medical Associates, Southboro Medical Group and South Medical Center will remain subsidiaries of the yet-to-be-named parent company. "Harvard Vanguard was a big group to begin with, and they concluded they needed to do this to make it work. At the heart of it is the EMR. It's expensive," Mr. Jedrey commented.
