Overview
Emily Jane Cook serves as counsel to clients in the healthcare sector from start-ups to established market leaders on a wide range of critical regulatory matters to ensure compliant business operations. Her guidance allows these organizations to prospectively and retrospectively manage the risks associated with operating in a high-complexity and highly-regulated sector.
A national authority on the 340B drug pricing program, Emily also helps clients across the country navigate a wide range of complex federal and state healthcare regulations. Her counsel encompasses issues such as navigating federal and state fraud and abuse laws, development of innovative models for healthcare delivery, Medicare provider-based and co-location rules, pharmacy laws and licensure, graduate medical education, and federally qualified health centers. This depth of knowledge across many regulatory issues allows her to provide her clients with comprehensive legal advice and guidance, which allows them to fully evaluate risks in their business and clinical operations. She works closely with colleagues in McDermott’s diverse practice areas to deliver fully realized solutions for her clients.
Emily’s deep insights into US healthcare regulation stem from her previous tenure at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). For more than five years, she worked with providers and across government agencies to address regulatory barriers to healthcare delivery. She advised senior HHS leadership on Medicare and Medicaid regulation and reimbursement issues affecting rural communities and providers, and served as senior policy advisor to the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services.
Emily is an active member of the American Health Law Association, where she most recently served as the Chair of their Medicare and Medicaid Institute. She is also a member of the firm’s Health/White Collar cross-practice group.
Results
- Obtained favorable outcomes for clients in false claims act whistleblower actions, government investigations, regulatory appeals and self-disclosures to federal and state regulatory agencies, preserving government program participation and avoiding administrative penalties.
- Counseled numerous large national health systems and academic medical centers from coast to coast through the development and implementation of innovative care models, including collaborative care models across facilities and between different types of clinical professionals, intended to maximize care quality and efficiency while maintaining regulatory compliance.
- Successfully appealed adverse findings in government audits of 340B programs for multiple hospital clients and negotiated corrective action plans, enabling the hospitals to continue leveraging program participation for their patients and communities.
- Led successful advocacy efforts to obtain changes to established or proposed federal regulatory requirements and obtain favorable interpretations of regulatory requirements from government regulators, reducing clients’ regulatory burdens and enhancing reimbursement opportunities.
Recognitions
- Lexology, Legal Influencer for Healthcare and Life Sciences – US, Q1 2023 and Q4 2024
- Chambers USA, Healthcare, 2021-2025
- Best Lawyers in America, Healthcare Law, 2019-2026
- Thomson Reuters, Stand-out Lawyer – independently rated lawyers, 2021-2025
- JD Supra, Readers’ Choice Awards, Top Author in Life Sciences (2024), Top Author in Healthcare, 2025
- Super Lawyers, Southern California Super Lawyer, Health Care, 2021-2023
- Mondaq, Thought Leadership Award – Food, Drugs, Healthcare, Life Sciences, UK, 2023
- Daily Journal, Top Health Care Lawyer, 2022
- BTI M&A Client Service All-Stars, 2021
- Acritas Stars, Independently Rated Lawyers, 2020
- Super Lawyers, Southern California Rising Star, Health Care, 2012 to 2020
- Legal 500 US, 2017
Community
- American Health Lawyers Association, Planning Committee for Institute on Medicare and Medicaid Payment Issues
- California Lawyers Association, Health Law Committee, chair, 2019 to 2020, member, 2024
- McDermott Gender Diversity Committee, member and mentor
- Representing Hospitals and Health Systems Handbook, American Health Lawyers Association, contributing editor
Credentials
Education
University of Chicago Law School, JD, with honors, 2009
University of North Carolina, MSPH, Delta Omega honor, 2001
Duke University, BA, cum laude, with distinction, 1998
Admissions
California
