Sarah E. Swank

Bar Admissions

• District of Columbia
• Maryland
• New York

Education

• Villanova University School of Law (J.D., cum laude, 1999)
  • Environmental Law Journal
• Skidmore College (B.A., cum laude, 1996)
  • Psi Chi (National Honor Society in Psychology)
  • Pi Sigma Alpha (National Political Science Honor Society)
  • Periclean (Skidmore Honor Society)

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Sarah E. Swank

Experience

Sarah Swank is a principal in the firm's Health Law Group and co-founder of the Ober|Kaler Health Care General Counsel Institute. She provides advice and guidance on a wide range of health law issues, including health care reform, Stark, antikickback, health information technology (meaningful use, HIPAA privacy, HITECH breach reporting), clinical research and IRBs, health care transactions, governance, due diligence, EMTALA and compliance. Sarah provides guidance to health care organizations of all types on the development of accountable care organizations (ACOs), and she speaks and writes nationally on ACO integration models, EHRs and telemedicine. Sarah works with clients to navigate the complex and changing legal framework facing health care entities today and to guide them through business and strategic planning issues.

Before joining Ober|Kaler, Sarah was Associate General Counsel of Trinity Health, the tenth largest  health care system in the US, assigned to Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, Maryland, where she directed legal affairs, legal staff and budget for the 450-bed hospital. For the nearly eight years that Sarah oversaw the legal department at Holy Cross Hospital, she worked closely with executive leadership, management, privacy officer, the medical staff and the Board of Trustees on various health law, corporate law and compliance issues. Sarah drafted, reviewed and negotiated large hospital-based physician agreements and various other operational contracts (e.g., IT, supply chain, education affiliation, construction, managed care, emergency preparedness), while overseeing the contract management process for over 700 physician and operational contracts annually. She sat on the Board of Directors for an open-MRI joint venture between the hospital and a radiology group and on the hospital’s compliance committee, IRB, safety committee and accreditation leadership committee. She also provided counsel on governance and corporate issues, including forming and advising the hospital’s foundation, creating and dissolving joint ventures and preparing corporate documents. Sarah managed and provided strategic direction to the hospital’s litigation and claims, including such matters as medical staff, employment, privacy, contract, corporate and collections.

Sarah started her health law career at Couch White (now Greenberg Traurig) in the Albany, New York office as a Health Law and Government Affairs Attorney, where she counseled and advocated for a health plan association and provider associations, health plans and IPAs on state and federal legislative and regulatory issues. She also advised clients on HIPAA privacy issues, drafted and negotiated managed care and IT contracts, formed business entities, assisted in the creation of joint ventures, advised on corporate governance issues and conducted venture capital due diligence.

Sarah was selected as a contributing author for "Top 10 Health Law Issues – 2013," an annual look at health law hot topics published by the American Health Lawyers Association. She contributed a piece on quality-based health care models.

Professional Memberships

• American Bar Association
• American Health Lawyers Association
  • Accountable Care Organization Credentialing Work Group, Co-chair
  • ACO Task Force
  • Physician Counsel Working Group
• American Telemedicine Association
• Association of Corporate Counsel
  • Washington Metro Area Chapter, Past Member

Community Service

• Arts Education in Maryland Schools Alliance
  • Board Member
• Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
  • Nike Women's Half Marathon Host Committee

Professional Background

• Associate General Counsel, Trinity Health (Holy Cross Hospital)
• Health Law and Government Affairs Associate, Couch White (now Greenberg Traurig)
• Appellate Court Attorney, New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division Third Judicial Department