Welcome to Health-e Law, Sheppard Mullin's podcast exploring the fascinating health-tech topics and trends of the day. Our digital health legal team, alongside brilliant experts and thought leaders, share how innovations can solve some of healthcare's (and maybe the world's) biggest problems if properly navigated.

In this special episode, partners Sara Shanti and Caroline Metnick join Phil Kim to discuss Sheppard Mullin's recent attendance at ViVE 2024, the premier conference for digital health innovators primarily focusing on optimizing patient care and improving the patient user experience.

What We Discussed in this Episode:

  • What were some notable takeaways from ViVE 2024?
  • How is AI poised to improve healthcare delivery?
  • How might virtual care models help reduce burnout among clinicians and improve access to care?
  • How were the perils of AI addressed, particularly its potential to perpetuate healthcare bias? Including automating bias.
  • Why is ethical AI governance critical in healthcare?
  • How is data driving both opportunity and risk in the healthcare sector?
  • How stakeholders struggle with data fragmentation and data as a valued asset.

About Carolyn Metnick

Carolyn Metnick is a partner in Sheppard Mullin's Corporate Practice Group in the firm's Chicago office and a member of the Healthcare and Privacy & Cybersecurity Teams.

Carolyn represents a range of healthcare industry clients, including hospitals and health systems, physician organizations and digital health companies. She advises on healthcare regulatory and transactional matters, focusing on health information privacy and security.

Carolyn advises clients on a range of privacy and security laws, including HIPAA and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). She also counsels businesses in data breach investigations and compliance with federal and state breach notification laws. Carolyn is a Certified Information Privacy Professional/United States (CIPP/US) and a Certified Information Privacy Professional/Europe (CIPP/E).

Carolyn also represents healthcare industry clients in transactional matters, guiding clients through joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, and advising on healthcare regulatory issues. Her background as a former litigator helps inform her transactional work.

About Sara Shanti

A partner in the Corporate Practice Group in the Sheppard Mullin's Chicago office and co-lead of its Digital Health Team, Sara Shanti's practice sits at the forefront of healthcare technology by providing practical counsel on novel innovation and complex data privacy matters. Using her medical research background and HHS experience, Sara advises providers, payors, start-ups, technology companies, and their investors and stakeholders on digital healthcare and regulatory compliance matters, including artificial intelligence (AI), augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), gamification, implantable and wearable devices, and telehealth.

At the cutting edge of advising on "data as an asset" programming, Sara's practice supports investment in innovation and access to care initiatives, including mergers and acquisitions involving crucial, high-stakes and sensitive data, medical and wellness devices, and web-based applications and care.

About Phil Kim

A partner in the Corporate and Securities Practice Group in Sheppard Mullin's Dallas office and co-lead of its Digital Health Team, Phil Kim has a number of clients in digital health. He has assisted multinational technology companies entering the digital health space with various service and collaboration agreements for their wearable technology, along with global digital health companies bolstering their platform in the behavioral health space. He also assists public medical device, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical companies, as well as the investment banks that serve as underwriters in public securities offerings for those companies.

Phil also assists various healthcare companies on transactional and regulatory matters. He counsels healthcare systems, hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, physician groups, home health providers, and other healthcare companies on the buy- and sell-side of mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and operational matters, which include regulatory, licensure, contractual, and administrative issues. Phil regularly advises clients on matters related to healthcare compliance, including liability exposure, the Stark law, anti-kickback statutes, and HIPAA/HITECH privacy issues. He also provides counsel on state and federal laws, business structuring formation, employment issues, and involving government agencies, including state and federal agencies.

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