Hospital counsel to focus on new health regs
by Cindy AbolePublic Relations
There’s a new face around the hallways and offices of MUSC’s Medical Center. It’s a face that bears all of the confidence, skill and savvy that has brought health law attorney Annette R. Drachman to MUHA.
Annette
R. Drachman
As the medical center’s new director of legal affairs, it is her job to advise and guide hospital employees about legal matters relating to MUSC hospital and the changing face of health care legislation.
“We are pleased to have Annette as a member of our team,” said W. Stuart Smith, vice president for Clinical Operations and executive director of MUSC Medical Center. “She brings a lot of experience and expertise that we need to function effectively.”
Her presence within the medical center fills an expanding need for having an in-house expert to support physicians, nurses and other professional staff. With changes in policy and legislation, her knowledge and expertise is needed to help explain the details involved in medical staff issues, patient confidentiality and privacy to managed care contracting and insurance payment issues.
“Health care today is constantly evolving and maturing and so are the needs of physicians, nurses and other hospital staff,” Drachman said. “It’s my job to help educate staff in the areas of health law and the way our employees practice medicine and provide services.”
A Charleston native, Drachman joined MUSC in May, but has roots grounded within the Lowcountry medical institution for many years. In addition to her law degree from the University of South Carolina, she is a 1999 graduate of the Master in Health Administration (MHA) curriculum, a program in the College of Health Professions that she began almost a decade before. Her father, Grady Roney, and older sister, Dionne, are both graduates from MUSC’s College of Pharmacy.
Drachman completed her undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill before returning to Charleston in 1989, to begin her studies in the MHA program. But the aftermath of Hurricane Hugo and other conflicts steered her towards her ultimate desire and ambition, the chance to study law.
It was through a summer law clerkship and her interest in health administration that drew Drachman towards a new and upcoming specialty, health law. Upon graduation, she worked and eventually emerged as a partner in two East Cooper law firms before striking out on her own in private practice. In May, she was named the hospital’s new counsel.
“I function in a role similar to what university counsel Joe Good has done for years,” Drachman said. “As the MUSC Hospital Authority emerged from the university, it became evident that the hospital needed its own legal counsel. It’s difficult to have one lawyer to represent an institution of this size. On a legal perspective, we really are two different legal entities focusing on specific interests. For me, it's handling the business side of health care.”
“Annette brings the right experience, personality and savvy to do this job,” said Good. “Within three months, she has already demonstrated that she can comfortably and effectively bring physicians, administrators and hospital staff together on a variety of issues.”
Drachman will work closely with medical center employees to help interpret legal issues dealing with managed care, compliance and risk management to understanding health privacy legislation and the newly approved Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).
“It's unbelievable how today's medical and legal fields intertwine,” Drachman said. “Almost everything involved in medicine has some sort of legal issue. As a result, it has given me a lot to do.”
Much of Drachman’s workload relates to patient privacy legislation. With the passage of HIPAA and the establishment of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations’ (JCAHO) new patient safety standards, individuals can be reassured that they are receiving the best and most effective care and treatment.
Behind electric utilities, health care ranks as the nation's second most highly-regulated industry. It creates a challenge for practitioners to interpret and enforce these rules while providing patient care, according to Drachman. Understanding how these regulations will be interpreted by the courts or by the offices that interpret them will be a continual learning process.
As a result, Drachman hopes to see more collaboration with her health law colleagues in other hospitals. She is open to working locally with her counterparts at Roper and Bon Secours St. Francis hospitals and other hospitals statewide.
“The more that we become inundated with federal law, the more we will
all have to work together to try to resolve some related issues that we're
being faced with,” Drachman said. “Communicating and working together
will prevent us from having to recreate the wheel over and over again.”