Parades of Panels, Beads of Inspiration, and Exciting Elevator Encounters
New Orleans is a one-of-a-kind destination in the United States. Famous for Creole and Cajun cuisine, jazz music and brass bands, historic architecture, world-class museums and attractions, and renowned hospitality.
In February 2025 the city hosted Super Bowl LIX in the updated Superdome (which marks its 50th anniversary this year), immersed itself in the festive spirit of Mardi Gras, and welcomed an exclusive group of healthcare legal leaders for the winter iteration of the Healthcare Law & Compliance Institute.
With everyone’s physiological needs met via the outstanding amenities, quality service, exceptional meals, and beautiful setting, the attendees were primed and ready to engage with one another to share ideas, best practices, and lessons learned.
The Institute sessions covered a broad range of pertinent subject matter and substantive topics; the synopsis below provides some key highlights and visuals of a fantastic 48 hours of learning, information exchange, networking, and connection.
NEW ADMINISTRATION IN WASHINGTON
Day One of the Healthcare Law & Compliance Institute kicked off with a lively panel session that provided critical insights on a range of issues facing health systems; this time, however, the consistent theme was the uncertainty around how the recent change in the Administration was going to impact the healthcare industry and how it would bring shifts healthcare policy priorities and the regulatory landscape. Subsequent sessions and interactive discussions over the next two days covered the headwinds and tailwinds arising out of the 2025 regulatory and legislative landscape; the evolving situation with Medicaid, particularly in the context of supplemental payments and state-directed payment programs; and top priorities and management considerations given the latest enforcement and regulatory trends and impacts to healthcare industry.
EXTERNAL CONSIDERATIONS
Panel discussions and interactive workshops over the course of the three days addressed various key external issues faced by healthcare organizations: physicians, transactions, AI, cybersecurity, and emerging risks. Attendees enjoyed informative sessions on innovations in physician partnerships that facilitate alignment and growth while preserving physician independence; Advanced Practice Provider (APP) utilization as a means to ensure continued care delivery; and effective negotiations of Professional Services Agreements (PSAs). On the transactional side, attendees uncovered effective legal and communications strategies for seeking regulatory approval and getting a deal to closing; M&A lessons from bankruptcy proceedings; and real estate due diligence considerations for health care merger and acquisition transactions. In considering the relatively new challenges and opportunities presented by AI and the continuing trials served up by cyberattacks, attendees benefitted from two engaging panels that shared experiences and insights on governance and compliance considerations when controlling for the human factor in AI, and maintaining resiliency in the face of privacy and cybersecurity issues. The work will continue however as attendees grappled with emerging risks that are or will be front and center for healthcare general counsel, including the criminalization of healthcare and fallout post-Dobbs, continuing and more aggressive efforts by payors to drive down reimbursement, as well as state and federal efforts to ban non-competes and other workforce and labor issues.
INTERNAL CONSIDERATIONS
In order to meet these varied challenges, healthcare CLOs and GCs are having to position themselves not merely as the head of the legal function, but also as top business leaders with a broad and varied array of responsibilities. It was clear from dynamic CLO Panel that kicked off proceedings on the second day that legal leaders are often relied upon as quarterbacks when the best laid business plans go awry or when corporate crises strike, and are often entrusted with directing a company’s response, reporting to the board, directing corporate disclosures, navigating regulatory and enforcement issues, and even directing media strategy.
Culture and relationships were the central themes of a few sessions that explored: how organizations define their mission and form their culture, considering how reliance on mission and culture can guide healthcare providers through even the most daunting crisis and how an organization that loses sight of those concepts might struggle when confronted with such challenges; how to maximize the relationship between technology and healthcare which is now inextricably linked to better care and outcomes, greater administrative efficiency, and an improved patient experience; and the ever-popular and highly anticipated interactive Legal Department Operations Roundtables during which legal leaders formed smaller working groups to address efficiency and matter management, building and managing an effective team, and demonstrating the value of the legal department.
As healthcare organizations navigate legal compliance, transparency, executive compensation, leadership transitions, conflicts of interest, fiduciary duty, and ethical leadership, the Institute closed out with a dynamic discussion on contemporary challenges in Board Governance, providing strategies, tips, and tactics to maximize the CLO and GC relationship with the Board.
PHONE A FRIEND
Beyond the thought leadership gleaned from the various panel discussions and breakout sessions and the insights gained from the business meetings, attendees at the Institute had shared experiences that transcended the regular conference activities, whether they shared an elevator with a basketball player (the San Antonio Spurs were sharing our space) or wore beads while walking the streets of New Orleans to the iconic Brennan’s restaurant. It is these shared moments that build community, trust, and a “phone a friend” network of to tap into when situations arise, and you need advice from your peers or a sounding board.
THANK YOU!
Over the course of the two-and-a-half-day event, the networking and connection was incredible. The quality of the speaker faculty and the high levels of discussion amongst the attendees created fertile ground for learning and information exchange. Lastly, fantastic networking, delicious meals, and iconic adventures in the fine city of New Orleans made for an incredibly valuable and memorable experience and attendees left the Institute feeling refreshed and renewed.
We would like to thank our Speaker Faculty and Service Providers for their expertise and engagement, the Attendees for their participation and willingness to share, and our IPMI on-site team for their efforts and kindness.
ON TO THE NEXT ONE
To contribute to the next iteration of the Healthcare Law & Compliance Institute, whether sharing some insights and experiences as a member of the Speaker Faculty, suggesting topic areas for the agenda or joining the waiting list for attendance, please contact Nas Panwar at npanwar@ipmievents.com
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“It was such an incredible event! I feel like my pen was on fire taking notes and writing down insights. The content was helpful and relevant. I hope to attend the next one!”
