April E. Schweitzer

What do you focus on?

As a former public health project manager, I relish the opportunity to work with a variety of health care clients to implement strategies that will ultimately impact patients. I am particularly interested in helping clients think strategically about the practical realities of functioning in an ever evolving health care environment. Currently, I work in a range of areas including:

Health Care Transactions

I work on transactional matters including mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures as well as corporate governance, licensure, tax exemption and formation issues.

Hospital/Physician Alignment

I provide counsel regarding the regulatory and operational requirements of hospital/physician alignment strategies such as clinical integration networks and accountable care organizations.

Federally Qualified Health Centers

My practice consists of representing federally qualified health centers in connection with various affiliation agreements, transition of services agreements, Federal Tort Claims Act issues, managed care contracting and grant applications.

Fraud and Abuse

I provide counsel to clients regarding the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, the federal Stark law and state law equivalents. I also work on Medicare and Medicaid regulatory compliance, including self-disclosures.

What do you see on the horizon?

In this time of transformation in health care, consolidation is likely to continue as providers join forces to harness the power of big data and leverage new technologies to fundamentally alter how health care is delivered and paid for in the United States. In addition, we are witnessing a fundamental shift to value-based contracting, which we expect to continue in the coming years.

Presentations

• Presenter, “Provider Networks and the Transition to Value-Based Care,” Chicago Bar Association Health Law Committee, October 24, 2018
• Presenter, “What You Should Know About Federally Qualified Health Centers,” DePaul University College of Law, November 28, 2017
• Presenter, “Overcoming Common Barriers to Clinical Integration,” ABA Health Law Section and the Chicago Medical Society’s 2017 Physicians Legal Issues Conference, June 8, 2017
• Presenter, “EMTALA,” Norwegian American Hospital, March 8, 2017
• Moderator, “Early- and Mid-Career Attorney Discussion Panel and Networking Event,” Illinois Association of Healthcare Attorneys, September 17, 2015
• Presenter, “Bridging the Gap: Capitalizing on Generational and Gender Differences,” AHLA Women’s Leadership Institute, April 15, 2015
• Panelist, “Women in Law Panel,” Loyola University Chicago School of Law Women's Law Society, October 28, 2014
• Presenter, “Bridging the Generation Gap: Staying on Top of Hot Topics and Capitalizing on Differing Perspectives,”Illinois Association of Healthcare Attorneys 32nd Annual Health Law Symposium, October 22, 2014
• Panelist, “Health Law Panel,” DePaul University College of Law, October 7, 2014
• Panelist, “Health Law Society Career Panel,” Northwestern University School of Law, October 2, 2014
• Panelist, “Health Law Society Career Panel,” The John Marshall Law School, November 19, 2013
• Attorney Representative, “Practice Tracks: Health Law,” Chicago Bar Association, November 16, 2013

Publications

• “Accountable Care Organizations: Past, Present, and Future,” published in Health Law and Compliance Update, 2016 edition, Wolters Kluwer, November 2015
• “User Fees, Biosimilars on FDA Priority List for 2016,” American Health Lawyers Association, December 31, 2015
• “Trends to watch for in health care and delivery system transformation,” American Health Lawyers Association, June 1, 2015