Neil W. Hoffman Ph.D.

Partner

Direct: 404.873.8594
Fax: 404.873.8595
Atlanta
171 17th Street NW
Suite 2100
Atlanta, Georgia 30363

Biography

Neil is a partner in the Healthcare practice and a member of the Life Sciences industry team. He has more than 20 years of experience in providing legal representation to clients operating in the healthcare and life sciences industry, one of the most heavily regulated sectors of the economy.

Neil focuses his practice on providing transactional and regulatory representation to health and life sciences clients, including hospitals and health systems, long-term care providers, home health providers, and hospice providers, both regional and national, as well as academic medical centers, medical groups, allied professionals, pharmaceutical and device companies, and clinical research organizations. His particular areas of focus include federal and state fraud and abuse laws (such as Stark law and the federal Anti-Kickback Statute), healthcare mergers and acquisitions, healthcare lending arrangements, health regulatory due diligence, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, privacy and security under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and applicable state law, medical-device transactions, and clinical research and applicable regulations of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). He is experienced in helping clients to structure transactions and service models for regulatory compliance while achieving business objectives.

Neil previously held research positions at the Neuropsychiatric Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Department of Psychobiology at the University of California, Irvine, where he studied neuronal signaling properties and pathways relevant to hormonal and reproductive activity and participated in multi-disciplinary epilepsy research. He has co-authored publications of original research in peer-reviewed journals in these fields.

Experience

  • Represented a publicly traded REIT in a $1.125 billion acquisition and restructuring of a senior housing provider that operates 96 senior-living communities as well as pharmacies in the Midwest.

  • Advised a large pharmacy operator in its acquisition of more than 20 Missouri pharmacies out of bankruptcy. In order to effect the acquisition, AGG handled preparation of transaction documents, filings, and interactions with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, State Board of Pharmacy, and the State Medicaid Agency. AGG also reviewed the purchase agreement from both a healthcare regulatory and FDA-perspective.

  • Represented a healthcare operator in its acquisition of a Georgia continuing care retirement community (CCRC) and provided transaction support, including limited diligence, the filing of certificate of need, Medicare, Medicaid, and multiple licensure applications, as well as ancillary license applications, structuring advice, and negotiated regulatory components of the underlying deal documents. The CCRC had a skilled nursing facility, assisted living community, personal care home, and independent living component and was regulated by both the Georgia Department of Community Health and Office of Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner. The transaction required a unique focus on the nursing facility’s certificate of need, which was initially obtained in the 1990s during changing certificate of need requirements. The client ultimately received a favorable determination from the Georgia CON agency and closed the transaction on its originally scheduled closing date.

  • Assisted a national REIT in its minority investment in a portfolio of a variety of healthcare providers, including assisted living, memory care, hospice, and private-pay in-home care. The providers were located in multiple states, including Arizona, California, Illinois, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin. AGG’s involvement included in-depth diligence, including a review of the providers’ licenses, permits, certifications, and accreditations, PEPPER reports, government investigations and surveys, hospice cap calculations, compliance program, background screening, HIPAA, medical directorships, admission agreements, commercial payor audits, and corporate practice of medicine. AGG also assisted with preparing the underlying investment agreement and related disclosure schedules.

  • Represented a longstanding long-term care provider in its sale of over 50 facilities, which included skilled nursing, assisted living, and independent living facilities in 11 states, including Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. AGG prepared all filings associated with the stock transfer of the providers, including all pre- and post-closing filings, and advised on regulatory components of the deal document. The transaction was valued at over $400 million.

  • AGG advised on an asset transaction for a skilled nursing facility operator which operates senior-care facilities in several small Georgia communities. Because the transaction involved a hospital authority owner of the real estate, AGG handled the filing of a full certificate-of-need application, a 60-day process that requires gathering a significant amount of information and data.

  • Advised Griffin-American Healthcare REIT III, Inc. and NorthStar Healthcare Income, Inc. in their $1.125 billion joint-venture acquisition of controlling interest in Trilogy Investors LLC, the parent company of Trilogy Health Services LLC, a leading owner-operator of integrated senior healthcare campuses, operating approximately 100 properties comprised of more than 10,000 beds throughout Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky.

  • Advised multiple clients (both covered Entities and Business Associates) on updating of policies, forms and training materials in light of HITECH Act and breach reporting.

  • Assisting with regulatory filings for national provider of provider of short-term post-acute, rehabilitation, skilled nursing and long-term care services.

  • Advised academic medical center in developing a business model for technology seed funding under federal grant programs, as well as in the development of intellectual property policies and procedures.

  • Advised academic medical center in the development of intellectual property policies and procedures.

  • Advised data network services provider contracted with government agencies and providers of health care and human services, including homeless shelters, with respect to the sharing of TB information in compliance with applicable privacy laws, including HIPAA.

  • Advised health system in connection with an OIG audit of billing records concerning the replacement of implantable, cardiac devices.

  • Advised home health provider in the development of a consortium model and in its successful application for participation in the Medicare Independence at Home Demonstration.

  • Advised long-term care provider, with facilities in multiple states, in revising HIPAA privacy policies and procedures, notice of privacy practices, and other HIPAA documentation for use company-wide following 2013 rule changes. Also worked with local counsel to include relevant state-law provisions in privacy policies and procedures.

  • Advised multi-state hospital system on various regulatory matters, including credit balances and state unclaimed-property requirements.

  • Advised national health system in contentious contractual negotiations with major health plan.

  • Advised national health system on various regulatory matters, including developing policies regarding credit balances consistent with federal law and state unclaimed-property requirements, structuring charity policies for state compliance, HIPAA and state-law requirements for responding to medical record subpoenas and document production requests, developing policies for perfecting medical liens, and issues pertaining to revenue-cycle management.

  • Advised national hospital system in structuring charity policies for state compliance.

  • Advised provider organization in forming an accountable care organization (ACO) and in its successful application for participation in the Medicare Shared Savings Program.

  • Advised various providers in responding to security breaches involving health information, including reporting and notification obligations under HIPAA

  • Advising a home health client on its successful application for participation in the Medicare Independence at Home Demonstration.

  • Assisted in negotiating managed care contracts with various health plans.

  • Assisted in regulatory aspects of an acquisition transaction resulting in the formation of one of the largest providers of long-term care services in the U.S., including assisting in the negotiation of transaction documents and obtaining regulatory approvals.

  • Assisted in representing health system with respect to regulatory compliance issues in developing an innovative, long-term arrangement with a major supplier of medical equipment.

  • Assisted in the expedited sale of Midwest-based ambulance provider.

  • Counseled home health provider in structuring “house call” service model for Stark/Anti-kickback compliance and satisfying Medicare reimbursement rules.

  • Represented a hospice provider in the acquisition of a hospice company with more than 60 locations in 14 states.

  • Represented a private investment management firm in an $870 million acquisition of the real estate and transfer of operations to 4 separate operating entities for over 160 senior care facilities across 12 states, including both skilled nursing and assisted living facilities.

  • Represented a private investment management firm in an acquisition of a 5,000-person community-based organization that provides services and support for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities across the U.S.

  • Represented medical-device manufacturer in various transactional and regulatory matters, including negotiating a multi-state distribution agreement, clinical and pre-clinical trial agreements, and terms-and-conditions of sale and placement arrangements with various providers, and analyzing same for regulatory compliance, including fraud-and-abuse analyses.

  • Represented neurology clinic in negotiating and drafting complex agreements with a non-profit health center concerning the use of imaging equipment, personnel, and office space and structuring this arrangement for Stark/Anti-Kickback compliance.

  • Represented one of the nation’s largest private post-acute care providers in a merger with a publicly traded post-acute care provider resulting in a combined publicly traded company with annual revenues of $5.5 billion.

Credentials

  • University of California Berkeley School of Law, Juris Doctor
  • Tulane University, Doctorate - Psychology, Concentration in Neuroscience
  • Tulane University, Master of Science - Psychology, Concentration in Neuroscience
  • Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, Bachelor of Arts - Psychology,
    summa cum laude
  • State of Georgia 1998

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