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Education
University of Michigan, A.B.
  with high distinction
  Phi Beta Kappa
University of Michigan, J.D.
  magna cum laude
  Order of the Coif

Admitted to Practice
Michigan  1978

Joanne divides her practice between two major areas of the law -- health care law and private adoptions and surrogacies. 

Experience

Health Care Law Practice

Joanne represents health systems, hospitals, prepaid in-patient health plans, nursing homes, homes for the aged, assisted living facilities, hospices and home health agencies regarding:

• State and Federal Regulatory Compliance
  • Licensure and Certification
  • Medicare/Medicaid
  • Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA)
  • Americans with Disabilities Act, Fair Housing Act, Rehabilitation Act of 1973

• Civil Rights Regulations
  • Vulnerable Adult Abuse Act
  • Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and the HITECH Act of 2009
  • Deficit Reduction Act
  • Human Subject Research and Clinical Trials
  • Mental Health Code
  • Medical Records Access and Retention

• Facility Opening and Change of Ownership

• State and Federal Administrative Litigation and Hearings
  • Michigan Administrative Tribunal
  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Departmental Appeals Board
  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General
  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Provider Reimbursement Review Board
  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Medicare Appeals
  • Michigan Peer Review Organization quality review hearings

• Patient Rights and Provider Ethics
  • End of Life decision-making
  • Surrogate decision-makers
  • Medical privacy
  • Recipient rights

• Minors and Legally Incapacitated Individuals

• Risk Management and Contract Negotiation

• Drafting a comprehensive Medicare compliance manual for a national health professional trade association

• Drafting a comprehensive HIPAA compliance manual for a national health professional trade association

• Defending nursing homes and nursing home professional staff against criminal charges of patient abuse/neglect

• Defending nursing homes and hospitals against Medicare/Medicaid, EMTALA, and licensure deficiency citations, civil money penalties, ban on admissions, loss of license, imposition of temporary manager, denial of payment for new admissions, Medicare/Medicaid de-certification, special focus facility designation, or closure.
  • Informal meetings with MDCH and CMS
  • Drafting plans of correction and credible allegations of compliance
  • Drafting informal deficiency review requests
  • Administrative hearings

• Defending nursing homes against Medicare recoupment of paid claims

• Defending hospital clinical research programs against FDA investigations and deficiency citations

• Assisting providers to implement and use electronic medical records

• Serving as legal advisor to two hospitals' Ethics Committees

• Serving as legal advisor to a mental health provider's Recipient Rights Advisory Board and Appeals Board

Joanne handles all aspects of adoption, surrogacy and assisted reproductive technology, including:

• Newborn adoptions (within Michigan and interstate)

• Intra-family adoptions

• Guardian adoptions

• Step-parent adoptions

• Adult adoptions

• Gestational surrogacies

• Traditional surrogacies

• Egg donations

• Embryo "adoptions"

• Representing birth parents, surrogate mothers, married and gay/lesbian adoptive couples, and single individuals in adoptions and surrogacies

• Defending against adoption revocations, rehearings and appeals

• Defending against birth father challenges to adoption

• Involuntary termination of birth parent's parental rights due to child neglect or abuse and adoption fraud

• Counseling adoption agencies about difficult adoption issues

• Counseling hospitals about their adoption responsibilities, and drafting a comprehensive adoption and surrogacy compliance manual for a national hospital system

• Defending adoption agencies against licensure deficiencies

Seminars and Speeches

• 6/4/2010  Individual and Group Competencies in Ethics Consultation, Advanced Bioethics Workshop, William Beaumont Hospital, Troy, Michigan

• 4/20/2010  In the Crosshairs: The Intersection of Management Prerogative and Resident Demand Across the Continuum, Aging Services of Michigan's 42nd Annual Conference and Trade Show, Grand Rapids, Michigan

• 4/7/2010  Legal Issues in Behavioral Care, Medical Education Services, Physician Development Network, Sterling Heights, Michigan

• 2/17/2010  In the Crosshairs: The Intersection of Management Prerogative and Resident Demand in Assisted Living Facilities, Skilled Nursing Facilities and Home and Community Based Service Programs, American Health Lawyers Association Long Term Care and the Law, Miami, Florida

• 10/2009  Planning for Pandemic Influenza, Teleconference Presentation for the Health Care Law Section, State Bar of Michigan

• 7/1/2009  Panelist - Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Practice of Health Law, American Health Lawyers Association, Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C.

• 2/21/2009  Quality of Care: It's Not Just for Clinicians Any More, American Health Lawyers Association, Long-Term Care and the Law, Las Vegas, Nevada

• 2/27/2008  When Residents And Family Harass Staff: The Tightrope Between Regulatory Compliance, Risk Management And Employment Liability, American Health Lawyers Association Long Term Care and the Law, New Orleans, Louisiana

• 10/22/2007  Outbreak! What Happens When Robin Cook Isn't Fiction Any More?, AAHSA Annual Meeting, Orlando, Florida

• 4/30/2007  Avian-Pandemic Influenza: Are Long Term Care Providers Prepared?, MAHSA 39th Annual Conference and Trade Show, Dearborn, Michigan

• 2/21/2007  Catastrophic Disease Preparedness & Response, American Health Lawyers Association Long Term Care and the Law Conference, Orlando, Florida

• 10/18/2006  Regulatory Update - Issues and Initiatives for Skilled Nursing Providers - Deficit Reduction Act, Michigan Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, East Lansing, Michigan

• 5/9/2006  CMS SNF/NF Survey and Certification Update, Michigan Association of Homes and Services for the Aging Annual Conference, Lansing, Michigan

• 2/15/2006  Treatment of Sex Offenders in Nursing Homes, American Health Lawyers' Association, Long Term Care and the Law Conference, Dallas, Texas

• 10/2005  Confidentiality of Mental Health, Substance Abuse and HIV information: HIPAA and beyond, Michigan Department of Community Health Office of Recipient Rights, 12th Annual Conference, Detroit, Michigan

• 5/2005  Long Term Care Survey and Certification Overview, Michigan Association of Homes and Services to the Aging Annual Conference, Battle Creek, Michigan

• 2/2005  Long Term Care Survey and Certification Overview, American Health Lawyer's Long Term Care and the Law Conference, San Diego, California

• 10/25/2004  Panel discussion of elder abuse, American Association of Homes and Services to the Aging Annual Member Conference, Nashville, Tennessee

• 2/19/2004  Legal and Clinical Approaches to Managing Disruptive Long Term Care Residents and Families - Suggestions for Avoiding Sanctions and Liability, American Health Lawyers Association, Long Term Care and the Law Conference, Orlando, Florida

• 10/23/2003  Hipaacolypse Now: Confidentiality of Mental Health Information in the Age of HIPAA - Michigan Department of Community Health, Office of Recipient Rights, 10th Annual Recipient Rights Conference, Midland, Michigan

• 10/18/2003  "Adoption Process, Procedure and Pitfalls", Lorman Educational Services, Southfield, Michigan

• 10/16/2003  "Practical Law" Adoption in Michigan, Bloomfield Cable Television, Channel 15

• 7/20/2003  "Due Process Panel Discussion on HIPAA", WDIV, Channel 4, Detroit, Michigan

• 6/17/2003  "HIPAA and Marketing", Lorman Education Services, Flint, Michigan

• 5/12/2003  "Attorney Assisted Adoption", William Beaumont Hospital Fertility Center, Royal Oak, Michigan

• 3/19/2003  "HIPAA and Medical Billers", MPAA Region 2 Billers' Task Force, Warren, Michigan

• 10/5/2002  What Every Optometrist Should Know About The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, American Optometric Association, Medicare Carrier Advisory Committee, Baltimore, Maryland

• 10/3/2002  Confidentiality of Mental Health Treatment Records, Michigan Department of Community Health, Office of Recipient Rights, Lansing, Michigan

• 9/27/2002  Will Your Marketing Department Be Ready To Comply With HIPAA?, American Hospital Association, Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development, Atlanta, Georgia

• 9/19/2002  What Every Hospital Should Know About The Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act Of 1996, North Oakland Medical Center, Pontiac, Michigan

• 6/28/2002  What Every Optometrist Should Know About The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, American Optometric Association Annual Congress, New Orleans, Louisiana

• 5/2002  HIPAA Compliance: Understanding and Implementing the Privacy, Security and Portability Regulations, Lorman Education Services, Detroit, Michigan

• 2/22/2002  HIPAA Compliance: Understanding and Implementing the Privacy, Security and Portability Regulations, Lorman Education Services, Dearborn, Michigan

• 12/6/2001  Legal Developments in Long Term Care, Dykema Gossett PLLC, Detroit, Michigan

• 11/2001  Attorney Assisted Adoptions in Michigan, William Beaumont Hospital Fertility Center, Royal Oak, Michigan

• 10/2001  HIPAA Privacy Rules, Michigan Alliance of Healthcare Access Professionals, Frankenmuth, Michigan

• 5/2001  When is a Nursing Home Quality of Care Incident More Than Just a Quality of Care Problem?, Michigan Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, Grand Rapids, Michigan

• 2/2001  Developments Under EMTALA and the Skilled Nursing Facility Consolidated Billing Rules, Healthcare Financial Management Association, Midland, Michigan

• 2/2001  Criminalization of Long Term Care Quality Issues, American Health Lawyers Association Long Term Care and the Law, Las Vegas, Nevada

• 8/2000  Health Care Compliance, Lorman Education Services

• 6/2000  Long Term Care: An Industry Under Siege, Grand Rapids, Michigan

• 5/2000  Long Term Care: An Industry Under Siege, Detroit, Michigan

• [Information about pre-2000 presentations available upon request].

Publications

• "Long-Term Care Facility Licensure and Certificate of Need," American Health Lawyers Association (Contributing Author)  (February 2009)

• "Community Pan-Flu Preparedness: A Checklist of Key Legal Issues for Healthcare Providers," American Health Lawyers Association and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Contributing Author)  (June 2008)

• "Medicare Compliance Manual," American Optometric Association  (August 2004)

• "The Sword and the Shield - Using and Surviving Litigation in Long-Term Care," Health Care Weekly  (June 2003)

• "HIPAA Compliance Manual," American Optometric Association  (December 2002)

• "The Modified HIPAA Privacy Rule: Final," Optometry  (October 2002)

• "Privacy Rule Offers Limited Data Set Options," Optometry  (September 2002)

• "Dipping Into The HIPAA Question Box," Optometry  (August 2002)

• "Getting to the HIPAA Finish Line on Time and In Control," Optometry  (July 2002)

• "Decide Now Whether to File for Extension on HIPAA EDI Compliance," Optometry  (June 2002)

• "HIPAA - the Government's Work in Progress," Optometry  (May 2002)

• "Proposed Privacy Rule Changes," Optometry  (May 2002)

• "HIPAA Privacy Rules: What They Are and What They Mean For Optometrists," Optometry  (August 2001)

• Health Care Records Retention Manual,  State Bar of Michigan - Contributor  (September 1996)

• "What Should You Do If the Professional Licensing Ax Falls On You?," Michigan Psychiatric Society Newsletter  (July 1996)

• "What Should You Do If the Professional Licensing Ax Falls On You?," Podiatric Profiles  (February 1996)

• "What Should You Do If the Professional Licensing Ax Falls On You?," The Michigan Optometrist  (January 1996)

• "What Should You Do If the Professional Licensing Ax Falls On You?," Oakland County Medical Society

Professional Associations

Ms. Lax is active in many organizations related to health care law and adoptions and surrogacy law. These include:

• State Bar of Michigan (1978 - present)
  • Health Care Law Section
    • 2009-2010: Chair, Health Care Law Section
    • 2008-2009: Chair-elect, Health Care Law Section
    • 2007-2008: Secretary, Health Care Law Section
    • 2005-present: Member Health Care Law Section Council
    • 2004-2005: Chair, Provider Subcommittee of the Substantive Law Committee
    • 2003-2004: Co-chair, Technology Subcommittee of the Substantive Law Committee
  • Family Law Section
    • Adoption Law Subcommittee

• Aging Services of Michigan, f/k/a Michigan Association of Homes and Services for the Aging
  • 2004-2005 Member, Professional Development Committee

• American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging
  • 2006-2009 Member, Core Legal Committee

• American Health Lawyers Association
  • 2008-2011: Vice Chair, Long Term Care, Senior Housing, In-home Care and Rehabilitation Practice Group
  • 2008-2011: Member, Advisory Council on Racial and Ethnic Diversity